As many people that have been saying "No way, Jose. You'd have to be an idiot to want to be in a survival situation." I guarantee you there are people reading this that wish they could.
I think they're just scared to post.
I don't want to post because I don't want to reveal how unusual I am, I've always enjoyed getting into situations, and I have had countless adventures and tight scrapes.
One quick example of what was a way of life for me was, I used to just walk out of someones house with no money and no ID, then start hitch hiking around the country, one time I had $40.00, but the rest of the time I followed my rule of totally empty pockets.
During my months long adventures I ran into conditions I had never known, from deserts and mountains to blizzards and violence. once I went 4 months without shoes on a several thousand mile adventure, I finally stopped the adventure after I was worn out and had lost 60 pounds. I did variations of that for 20 years.
When the army wanted me to be a jump master I turned down the opportunity, because I recognize that there is something in me that craves chaos and challenge, and I was afraid that that impulse may make me overlook a detail on a jumper I was inspecting.
After the army when it was time to leave Washington state, to go back to Texas with my young wife, I asked everyone what road to take, I noticed everyone kept saying that one route through the mountains would be too dangerous, and probably impassable at that time of year, so naturally that was the route I took, we ran into a blizzard and ran out of gas but I got gasoline from a snow plow a mile or two away so nothing much happened, but I sure enjoyed it.
I have learned to have two standards, one where I will take many chances, and another one for when someone is with me.
The last time I spent the night in the wilds in 25 degrees without a bag or a jacket, I learned that I could lay on the ground, put my candle lantern next to my head with a space blanket over me and actually doze off for a few minutes at a time (it is southern California, so I can't build fires etc).
The only way to get myself into that situation was I had to just strike out into the dark into the mountains, in the daylight it was pretty easy to find my way back.
Getting yourself into situations can be a little heartbreaking if you think you aren't going to make it, but many of them have moments of real pleasure.
If you are comfortable with the fact that you are going to die somewhere anyway, dying while you are meeting exciting challenges, alone with nature, isn't the worst way to go.
