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Role: Chris McCandless
Audience: College Students
Format: Map
Theme: The dangers of conformity -
I, Chris McCandless, after graduating, decides to travel around the world. It would be the last time my family had contact with me
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I arrives to Lake Mead. Several days later, my yellow Datsun car gets caught in a flash flood and I am forced to abandon it. I then go on foot for two month from Lake Mead to Lake Tahoe. I meet Jan and Bob Burres. I learns that I don't need "essentials" such as my car, as I felt "exhilarated" by seeing the flash floods wreck my car. This was my first steps towards transcendentalism. -
I then made my way towards Carthage, where I got picked up by a man named Wayne Westerberg. He recruited me to work for him and I accepted. Westerberg became a staple in my life, as I wrote letters to him periodically. Westerberg affected my by providing me a family that was needed in my life. I learned that there were people in the world who would care for me, treat me like family, and make bonds with me.
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I travel along the Colorado River with nothing but my canoe and basic necessities. I experience the effects of not living in conformity by surviving on only 5 pounds of rice and whatever marine life I managed to catch during this time period. This shows that I did not need the three meals per day society had made normal.
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I settled in Bullhead City and got a job at McDonalds. For the next two month, I lived a pretty average life as a citizen, even opening a bank account. Eventually, I realized that I was tired of this lifestyle, tired of the standards that society has set upon me, and got out of this town.
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I stumbled into Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in January of 1992, where I met an old man named Franz. He and I got along very well and we quickly became very close, spending a lot of time together. I then, with Franz's help, made my way towards Alaska. In April, I wrote him a letter telling him to drop everything and leave the the lifestyle that the world had set upon him. I'm hoping that he did so.
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I made my way to Alaska and settle in an abandoned bus. I found fresh berries to eat and even kill a moose. Problems arise as on July 5th, the river I was going to cross is now a raging river. I eventually died of starvation on August 19, 1992. Although I had died, I accomplished my life goals of living transcendentally and ridding myself of all things unnecessary. I died happily and knowing that this was the way that I wanted to live and die.
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My message to college students around the world is to live out your dreams. Like I told my good friend Franz, I tell you: the light is simply waiting out for you to grasp it and all you have to do is reach it. Live outside of societal norms and live transcendentally. Do not stay cramped up, stuck in the endless loop of society. Feel free to explore the world and experience the true natures of our planet.