into the wild

When I was younger, I spent a couple summers in Alaska as an adventure tour guide. The first summer there, on the first day I arrived, a guy at the youth hostel in Anchorage handed me a beat-up copy of ‘Into the Wild‘. He just said, “Welcome to Alaska. Read this. It’ll change your life.” I love when books do that! I devoured Jon Krakauer’s book in a couple days, probably shirking some of my duties as guide to get an extra few pages in before packing gear or setting up tents or making dinner.

I won’t get into the details of the book now. Believe me, you should read it. Period. But a bit of exciting news just belatedly crossed the editorial desk here at The Poverty Jet Set! ‘Into the Wild‘ has been made into a big-budget feature film directed by Sean Penn! Sa-weet! The trailer looks friggin’ amazing!

Here’s something I didn’t expect. As I was trolling YouTube for a copy of the trailer, I found these excellent videos made by a couple of cool, yet nutty Alaskans (aren’t they all?) having their version of fun with a 4-wheel drive truck in the dead of winter, retracing the steps Christopher McCandless took on his fateful journey to the heart of darkness/the wilderness. Make sure to watch both parts of this really well done homemade exploration video! Here’s part one:


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  • Joelie Valenko

    I saw the movie, It was GREAT! i really loved it. it's very spiritual, and much lessons to learn from it! it's the best movie i've ever seen.

  • Hey, I was watching the movie "Into the Wild" and thought I'd check it out on the web, stumbled into your site. Just dropping a few words off.

  • Susan read that book--and by all accounts it is quite good, but I became too impatient with the young romantic fool to finish it. Made Timothy Treadwell look like a grizzled veteran (pardon the pun).

    Personally I admire Dick Proenneke, who spent 35 years thriving alone in the wild--he had a deep love and appreciation of the wilderness, but he was pragmatic, capable and had no illusions as to the nature of wild places and the challenges they pose. When he did wax poetic about Alaska, it was with a certain humility; his focus was on the living things around him rather than to employ the setting as a kind of mirror or backdrop.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

  • It's true. The kid didn't know what he was doing in the outdoors. But I don't think it promotes irresponsible outdoor activities. Just the opposite. But yeah, we'll see how the Hollywoodization does with the subject matter.

  • Ooo, that trailer does look good. But I always worry about movies glamourizing something that shouldn't be glamourized, especially when it comes to questionable outdoor adventure activities. The book was great and Krakaur always does a good job of teaching a lesson. Will people learn that same lesson watching the movie?

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