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Emory University
When Chris Finished High School in Virginia, He attended Emory University for 4 years. He did this to appease his mother and father, even though he really did not want to attend college because of his belief that it was a complete waste of time. In between years at college he took trips across the US to explore and connect with his naturalist side. In his senior year, Chris got an apartment that provided him with just the bare essentials like water and electricity. -
Graduating Emory University
When Chris graduated, he decided to donate the 24,000 dollars in his savings account to OXFAM America, a charity dedicated to fighting hunger. This money was supposed to go towards law school but Chris wanted to show that he didn't need to depend on others for help and that he could go live on his own. Money made Chris feel as though he was trapped in a societal system that he wanted to escape badly. -
Texas
When Chris decides to embark on his adventure, the first places Chris visits are Dallas & Houston. He heads west right after college and on his first night he gets what was left of his money stolen from him after leaving his window open. After that, he hides his money in a hole next to his car from then on. This experience further builds on Chris’s distrust of society and his urge to escape it. -
Jan Burres/Hitchhiking
The experience of hitchhiking soon became very important to Chris and his journey because it is how he is able to travel and meet all the people that help him along the way. The first person he meets this way is Jan Burres. They immediately share a strong connection and Jan and her boyfriend take Chris under their wing for a while and provided him with shelter and food. After they split ways, they remained in contact by way of postcards and letters. -
Carthage, SD
This stop on Chris's journey is important because this is the first time he visits Carthage and he forms a lasting bond with the town. It is here where he meets Wayne Westerberg, the operator of a grain elevator. Chris works for Wayne for a while in order to make some money to keep him on his journey. Wayne is one of the select few that Chris remains in contact with after leaving. This is also one of the few places Chris decides to return to in the future. -
Canoeing Down the Colorado River
When Chris finds a secondhand canoe for sale, he buys it to paddle down the Colorado river down to the Gulf of California. This experience shows his tendency to react to impulse decisions. Because he survives for 36 days on only a 5-pound bag of rice and marine life, he gains the confidence to commit to his exploration of the Alaskan wilderness. He does not do enough research on the waterways and becomes stranded in the canals and gets help from a few hunters that take him to the Gulf. -
Bullhead City, AZ
Bullhead city is an important part of Chris's journey because he loves the town's atmosphere and stark desert landscape. He resides here for several months, the longest he is stationary during his trip. He thinks for a while that his adventure might end there but eventually decides to resume his nomadic life. -
Slab City, CA
When Chris reunites with Jan and Bob, they stay in Slab City for a while. It is an abandoned military training facility in the barren southern California desert where people looking for a break from society reside. This is the point where you can see Chris's social side when surrounded by people with similar mindsets and ideologies on the important values of life. -
Salton City, CA
Salton City is a short stop on the way up to Alaska but is significant because this is where Chris meets and befriends Ronald Franz. We can see the lasting impression Chris made on this man in such a short amount of time. Chris's influence on Ron prompts him to change his entire lifestyle in order to conform to the ideals of self-reliance ad nature that Chris held so dearly. -
Jim Gallien
Chris's experience with Jim Gallien was an important event because it turns out that Jim would be the last person to see McCandless alive. Jim Gallien gives Chris some hiking boots and strongly advises him not to go out into the wilderness as he was not prepared with the proper equipment needed for such an excursion. -
The Stampede Trail
This marks the end of Chris's journey. Lasting only a few months, Chris becomes weak and unable to cross the river that he had crossed in order to get to the bus. This isolates him in the Alaskan bush for longer than he had anticipated and he is unable to gather the resources needed to keep himself alive.
