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Chris graduates Emory University
Chris has a good life with a degree from Emory University, a loving family, and a "perfectly good car... beloved 1982 Datsun B210." Graduated with a high cumulative average. -
Period: to
Travels to Lake Mead
Chris abandons Datsun in order to not get in problems with authorities. Traveled around Lake Tahoe, Sierra Nevada, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Chris accepts a ride from a man by the name of "Crazy Ernie" who offered Chris a job on a ranch in Northern Califonia. Chris strongly believes he doesn't need money and he burned his money for that reason. -
Chris's parents visit Chris' house
Chris had moved out of his house in June and donated $25,000 of his savings to charity. He had given away most of his possessions. -
McCandless is ticketed for Hitchhiking near Willow Creek
Chris abandons his fake name of Alex Supertramp and gives his parents address to the police. -
Wayne Westerberg
Works for Wayne but he was jailed. McCandless decided to head for warmer places. He was excited upon traveling more. -
Needles, California
Chris hitchhikes into Needles, California excited upon reaching the Colorado River. He bought a secondhand aluminum canoe to paddle down the Colorado River to the Gulf of California across the border with Mexico. -
Reaching Mexico Border
Chris' reaches the Morelos Dam and the Mexican Border. However he is denied access to enter because he had no identification with him. Writes in a diary in third-person sticking to the alternate name of Alex. He enjoys his journey with Mexicans he meets along the way. -
Arrive back to United States Border
When he went back, he buried the money he had. He subsisted on five pounds of rice and marine life he could get to eat. -
Return to Detrital Wash
Chris buried his backpack in the desert and entered Las Vegas with no money and no ID. Chris didn't get a chance to capture any pictures but he didn't think that was important. He thought "experiences, the memories, the great triumphant joy of living to the fullest extent" is the meaning of life.(p. 37) -
Bullhead City, Arizona
Chris hitchhiked down into California and headed to Bullhead City, Arizona. Although, the city wasn't the most appealing and yet McCandless had a strong liking for Bullhead. He stayed there for two months. He worked a full time job at McDonald's under his real name. Sent letters to Jan Burres about how it was complicated to be homeless and try to have a job. -
The Slabs, Nevada
Chris sends a letter to Jan Burres encouraging her and her boyfriend, Bob, to visit. McCandless had gotten tired of the city and described the city as full of "plastic people". He decided to leave to go to The Slabs, NV where a girl falls in love with him. However Chris didn't see her in that way because he was too focused on his journey. Chris finds himself and starts singing to express his joy. He focuses on the present instead of the past and doesn't mention details in the past when asked. -
Oh-My-God Hot Springs in Salton City
A man named Ronald Franz gave a ride to McCandless to Oh-My-God Hot Springs. Franz bonded with McCandless to the point where he wanted to adopt Chris as his own son. -
San Diego Streets
Chris mailed a postcard to Jan Burres about his boring stay in San Diego and planning to head up North to Alaska "no later than May 1st". McCandless is still motivated to continue his journey and he stayed in touch with the people that have helped him along the way as a sign of loyalty to them. -
Seattle
Chris writes a letter to both Burres and Franz updating them about his life. Chris shows that the homeless life doesn't bother him but instead reveal things for him and challenges him. -
Carthage, SD
Wayne Westerberg tells Chris that he has a job waiting for him in Carthage. Franz gave him a ride to Bullhead City and then to Colorado and Chris went to Carthage. While there Chris plans to travel to Alaska in May to keep the odyssey going. He writes in a letter to Franz that the meaning of life is to experience new things. He encourages Franz to stop living the "monotonous" life and instead to be nomadic. He believes that joy doesn't soly come from human connections. -
Departs from Carthage, SD
He leaves to begin his "great Alaskan odyssey". He leaves Wayne Westerberg. Chris doesn't communicate with anybody(Burres nor Wayne)anymore. He sees this odyssey as something he need to overcome on his own to see his strength with no distractions. -
Stuckey picks up McCandless
Chris wanted to spend the summer alone, "living off the land" as a experience he had always wanted to encounter. He didn't want any kind of help or people to communicate with. Stuckey gave a ride to Chris despite his company's rules and ended up liking Chris. -
Arrives in Fairbanks, Alaska
Stuckey dropped off Chris and he was the last person to see him before he died. Stuckey insisted that Chris calls his parents and prepare himself better for living off the land. Chris was stubborn to not call his parents or buy anything in order to accomplish his solo journey in Alaska. -
McCandless falls through ice
Chris refers to himself as Alexander Supertramo and he expresses how independent he has been by not depending on people, phones, pets, drugs, or anything like that. He calls himself "an extremist" because he wants to brag about all the adventure he did as he is proud of it. Chris doesn't regret his journey but instead he wants to continue his great adventure. -
Chris arrives to the bus
Chris starts off by killing small animals and he strives to be better so that he can kill more and bigger animals. He made housekeeping chores as if he wanted to stay in the bus isolated permanently. -
McCandless in Fairbanks
Chris argues that his real life has just begin by living in Fairbanks without any connection to anybody. He comes to the conclusion that the real meaning in life is to do what you love best and if living in the wild is what you love then you should do it. -
Call for Help
Chris writes in his journal a call for help with no food and extremely weak. Chris realizes that everything he had been saying was wrong. He didn't think the meaning of life was to live off the land alone and that communication with people was unnecessary. He notes in his journal, "Happiness only real when shared," and he decides he wants to go home. Unfortunately he was too weak and didn't know what direction to go to get home. -
McCandless Death
Chris body went to hell rapidly after he wrote in his journal a call for help. During the last days of his life, Chris wrote weakly that he needed to go back to reality and needed help. He was proud of how far he mad it but he didn't want to continue.
