Into the Wild

Concluding the "safety theme", I had an interesting discussion with Monica who works at the hostel. She is from the Czech Republic, but has lived in Spain and Latin America for 7 years! She is fluent in Spanish, English, and obviously Czech, if not more. She said that when travelling in Brazil, some Brazilians were very worried about her travelling to certain more remote, beachy areas. When I travelled into inland China with friends from Hong Kong, these friends cautioned me strongly about rural parts of China: "Don´t wear an expensive watch, because sometimes they´ll cut your hand off just to steal your watch!" The question is not whether this has ever happened at least once, rather it´s whether this is a significant concern which should thus be presented to tourists. "Trust the locals" is generally the way to go. But there are overly-cautious locals too, in every country. I´ll conclude this little rant by sharing a story which touches both sides of the issue.

Into the Wild is a book and movie which incredibly inspired me. The subject of this biography is an adventurous, altruistic, and intelligent young man named Chris McCandless who was disillusioned with society. He spent a couple of years travelling the United States and Mexico, having fascinating experiences. He left a very deep impression on the new friends he encountered. Sadly he met his demise in remote Alaska, after surviving alone there for over 100 days. Though he was a little underprepared, he was also highly unlucky. Bad things do happen. Chris was overly idealistic apparently, and also could not reconcile with his family, unfortunately. But his fascination for freedom, his appreciation of nature, his likeability and altruism were deeply inspiring and moving for me before I started my own trip (though I intend a different ending!) He had a revelation that nature alone doesn´t cut it, because "Happiness only real when shared." His farewell note was, "I have had a happy life and thank the Lord. Goodbye and may God bless all."