Anyone else feel the same ?

Well, I did not know they tested them, must have forgot that detail in the book. Obviously he starved to death, I thought the side effects from the seeds he ate, or didnt eat, was digestion blocking. Hes dead either way. Would you feel different had he made it out, even as un prepared as he was? Doesnt really matter though, he didnt make it. I am not gonna knock him for his ideals, just his lack of knowlage in the outdoors.

The Author of the book was/is not interested in facts. The seeds have since been tested by other people. (I read an article about it in a magazine) They probably remain in the bus along with the other crap he left there. Apparently it has become a shrine for idiots to visit who are enraptured with his story.

In any case, there is nothing wrong with his ideals. Hermits abound. Leaving society behind is not unusual. If he was less crazy, he would have had better luck.
 
I think the newest edition of the book mentions the test results and has some new theory, but I have not seen it. "Rabbit starvation" was probably a factor.
Even when plants aren't technically poisonous they can wreak havoc on your GI tract. It is sometimes better to eat nothing.

If nothing else McCandless is an important talking point. Cautionary tales have as much merritt as success stories.
 
The Author of the book was/is not interested in facts. The seeds have since been tested by other people. (I read an article about it in a magazine) They probably remain in the bus along with the other crap he left there. Apparently it has become a shrine for idiots to visit who are enraptured with his story.

In any case, there is nothing wrong with his ideals. Hermits abound. Leaving society behind is not unusual. If he was less crazy, he would have had better luck.

Wow, people actually make pilgrimages to the bus? Thats a little weird.....:eek:

What are they looking for, an image of the Virgin Mary emblazoned into the matress? People are strange!!!!!
 
Wow, people actually make pilgrimages to the bus? Thats a little weird.....:eek:

What are they looking for, an image of the Virgin Mary emblazoned into the matress? People are strange!!!!!

They're unsatisfied Weight-Watchers' members, looking with hope towards potato seeds as the new diet revolution.
 
They're unsatisfied Weight-Watchers' members, looking with hope towards potato seeds as the new diet revolution.

That is too funny man! Yea I can totally see Kristi Alley in the woods w/ a solid gold Mora looking for some hope!
 
Cities and modern living are the saviors of humanity. I'll bet nobody here would want to leave for the hills without the benefits that have been gained and will be gained in the future. Few folks totally like cities and progress, but only the self deluded and insane totally reject modernity and it's fruits.
 
Never seen the movie, however I did read about it. If I wanted to pull off any degree of almost total *successful* seclusion in the bush, I would do what Dick Proenneke did, shown in "One Man's Wilderness" (there is a book by the same title). Having spent a lot of time in the Alaskan bush myself; It doesn't take much to figure out that if one does not possess the skills of a Dick Proenneke, his chances of surviving, or even getting by with any degree of comfort are extremely minimal. Too, even Dick's survival was completely dependent on a steady resupply of food and equipment by bush planes. Living deep in the remote bush looks like fun and entertainment on the Disney movies, but they leave out the hard work and sweat, the constant awareness of ones safety and health, the need for some social contact lest you become a fruit cake, and a host of other needs too numerous to list.

I was born and raised in the country on a remote farm, sent to Vietnam, moved to the big city to get my college degree, moved back to the country. Never did see or experience a thing in the city that could excite my soul more than country living could do. These day, how people can deal with the volume of stress heaped on them in the city, on their families, is beyond me. To each his own. After I retired in my mid-40's, we moved into the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. We now own acres and acres of prime timber and woods, a nice ranch located at the end of the electrical lines. Too, we are surrounded by many, many thousands of heavily wooded acres of National Forest, BLM, and State lands. The largest wilderness area in the state is literally right out our back door. However, if you do chop your toes off, have a serious accident, heart attack, etc., it is 60-minutes to the closest hospital...if the weather is good. You don't "run down to the store" to get something. It is a "trip to the city." While you are there, better catch a movie and some dinner because none is to be found in the mountains. Can't count the number of folks that have moved into the mountains around here in the summer, with the romantic notion that all was beauty, play time, and escape. Usually, after the first winter, when they have had snow up to their butts, monstrous trees down across their roads and driveways blocking them in (they with no logging skills, heavy equipment, heavy snow removal equipment, etc.), the "for sale" signs come up first thing in the spring. Living remote is for the very, very few who are willing and able to tolerate the hard work. "Remote living" and "leisure" are terms that don't go together...unless someone else is hired to do the work for you. :)
 
Never slept better than when I am in the woods. Miss it every day.

I disagree with Rat & others 100% on McCandless. You have to open your mind a little to understand other peoples' motivation. Our(this forum) primary value is getting home safe- survival. Enjoy the outdoors and get home safe. His values were slightly different- he was willing & knew he was pushing saftey limits-- to enjoy the outdoors on HIS terms. He mentioned to several people before his Alaska trip that he might not live through it. He accepted that fact and went for what he desired- only cost one life.

No different that rock climbers that free climb. Climbing without ropes is the only way they feel alive. Damned site better than the idiot who cannot enjoy his Friday night without getting trashed and driving. He risks inoocent lives of others for his pursuit of happiness.

2Door


There you go.
Rat, did you read the book? Virtually every person he met remembers him, and not because he was a crazy lunatic. I think he was more sane then anyone, in a way, doing what he did.
Notice I said I think, no absolutes in my opinions.
 
One of the major contibuting factors to his death was his inability to cross the river he had crossed on his way in. The original ford had gotten too high for him to safely wade. What he didn't know was there was a hand cranked cable car about a mile further downstream. And this awas an area he had lived in for an extended period of time.

That alone qualifies him for a Darwin Award.

Superchump aside, I have alot of respect for people who can and do live off the grid, mainly for the hard choices they must make. You have to be willing to give up alot of the benefits of the modern world and live with the potential consequences. Not only that, you have to be willing to extend those consequences to anyone you bring along into your existence (spouse/companion, and especially offspring.) Living hours, even days, from civilization is really cool when life is good, not so cool when your child starts seizing from a 106 degree fever of unkown origin...

Back in my single days I've lived on a reservation in Montana and in rural northern Arizona. For the last seven years my family and I've lived in a pretty rural area of north Idaho. We get a fair amount of people moving up here wanting to 'get away from it all.' Some who end up quite surprised to find, when they go searching for immediate access to some modern convenience, that they truly have gotten away from it all.

In the specific case of my own family we have learned we can live just fine without alot of the amenities of civilization, but what we truly miss is family, so we are in the process of re-locating back east. Though, we haven't totally lost our taste for nature and we are heading for the appalachians of eastern Tennessee.
 
I wrote in another thread that I felt totally inspired by McCandless' adventurous spirit, and totally disturbed at the way he did things. It was a simultaneous, contradictory feeling.
 
I used to feel that way. Living in the wild was what made me feel real and alive. "Into the Wild" is a beautiful movie. Now that I am older - 51, the passion has left me for the wild. I like to visit it once or twice a year for short periods. Maybe I've gone soft. But I know that the creature comforts of civilization get harder to live without as I get older. I wish I still had that passion for the wild but I know thy self and its just not there.
 
I haven't seen the book. I haven't read the movie. I don't exactly want to bail out of civilization completely...but then I do, in a way.

This is the struggle of the extroverted misanthrope...you enjoy interacting with people, and you like people. You also have a strong dislike for humanity itself. I have a hard time with it!

I'm very social. I like to see my friends, like to be out doing things in town.

At the same time, I hate the restrictions I have to live with being in a civilized part of the world, and I hate the obligation to socialize.

I'd like to live on a fifty thousand acre ranch three hours outside of Vancouver, ideally.

I know when I've spent time alone in the bush, I get bored after a while and I want to see some girls. When I am in town, I get sick of talking to people and I want to get back in the bush.

The ideal state for me to live in is the road trip, I think. I spend most of my time on my bike, not having to deal with anyone. Then, after a few days, I get to a city where I can socialize, but, not really knowing anyone there, I don't feel obligated to interact with anyone in particular. After a day or two I leave again, and I never have to worry about those people any more.

To be honest I don't know how healthy that is!
 
I know when I've spent time alone in the bush, I get bored after a while and I want to see some girls. When I am in town, I get sick of talking to people and I want to get back in the bush.

Ideal would be seeing girls - who don't talk - in the bush!
 
I don't really care one way or another about the McCandless story, but I definitely agree with Pitdog's original point. I'd gladly do without all the conveniences of city life to live in a wilderness setting permanently. Yes, it would be a lot of work, but healthy and rewarding in many ways too.

My problem, and I hope I'm not the only one here, is that I regard what I do on a daily basis (my, so called, career) to be very important. Its a "calling", if that makes sense to anybody, not just a job. And the simple fact is that its a calling that I can only fulfill in places where there are reasonalby large bunches of people. I'd gladly move to the mountains, if it were only my own needs and desires at stake, but for me that would ultimately be a selfish decision, so I resist it.
 
I have friends who have lived without electricity for over 20 years. Started in a grass hut, made an earth Yurt, then a cabin, now adding onto the cabin. The cabin is made from Hemlock found on the property, and milled with a portable mill that a friend brought over.

They grow most of their own food, some livestock. They are the happiest, most normal, well-adjusted people people I have ever met, and it's because their lives are simple and unadorned by all the stress and B.S. that we in society create around ourselves. I live for my visits up there and never want to leave.
 
I wrote in another thread that I felt totally inspired by McCandless' adventurous spirit, and totally disturbed at the way he did things. It was a simultaneous, contradictory feeling.

Amen to that.

The bloke I just finished writing about devoted, and risked, his life in heloing the Karen people in their war of independence aganst the Burmese Military Junta. He also robbed banks to raise funds.

People often try to resolve him in their minds by asking me if he's a hero or a villian. The answer is of course -he's both.

It is possible for Chris McCandless to be an inspiring example and clueless at the same time.
 
Thinking of a 2-week hunting trip up in the extremely remote area of the Little Delta in Alaska. We began talking about favorite Mexican food dishes in the hunting camp at night. Started dreaming about Mexican food in our sleep. It got worse...and worse (you know what I mean). Finally, the hunt didn't matter, Mexican food obsession took over. Pilot came in two days later to check on us. We went out with the pilot looking for the nearest Mexican restaurant (it was expensive). After a round of Chile Rellenos, tacos, burritos, chimichangas, arroz con pollo, all covered in guacamole, cheese, sour cream, etc., we were once again confindent we could finish out the next eight days of the hunt with the planned menu.

There will be those times when ya just *NEED* to compromise your solitude and sense of adventure and visit civilization again. Be it for just a little German food by your favorite chef, or that demon taco that can own your brain. :)
 
I'm not going to comment on the guy's skills or mental state. But I have to agree that civilization (at least modern/postmodern civilization) sucks.

Personally, i don't want to LIVE off the grid, although it's fun to leave now and then.
I posted a couple days ago about doing the walkabout thing off the grid when I was younger. The living skills were the easy part. The hard part, the real killer was lack of socialization. Humans are pack animals and we really suffer if we're away too long. I think I'm a lot like Misanthropist in that I like to socialize a bit (especially with the girls), but I can only take so much. After a while I get bitey-scratchy and have to go off on my own.

My ideal would be to go back to my viking heritage and live in some village off in the middle of the forest somewhere in my log hut, go to the great hall to feast and get with the women, and then go off hunting on my own. I.e. a social situation where I can depend on people, they can depend on me, but there's not too many, and we're not in farting distance of one another.
 
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