[Nanzikambe]

    "But clearly he didn't know what he was getting into
    didn't prepare and unwittingly contributed to his own
    death."

In the postcard at the very top of the article Chris says:

"If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again I want you to know your (sic) a great man. I now walk into the wild"

And earlier he asks his friend to return all mail to sender for the foreseeable future.

That and everything else I've ever read has made me think he was entirely aware of the potential for danger in the wilderness. He walked in & did it any-ways.

Plenty people look to test themselves in nature's crucible with minimal preparation, fully cognisant of the risks. Sometimes they lose. I think looking down upon them with the rosy vision of decades hindsight from the comfort & safety of home does them a disservice. Their lives, their choices.

I hope Chris found what he was looking for.

[keenerd]

Alternatively, he was a clueless kid who fantasized about disappearing into the wilderness ala Hatchet or My Side of the Mountain. Cancelling your mail and talking melodramatically does not mean you intend to die, just that you intend to cut all ties.

[morganvachon]

I have a friend from high school who, at 40 years old, had an amicable divorce with his wife so he could go do something similar to Christopher's adventure, but here in the backwoods of Georgia. His philosophy is that we're all going to die sometime, so we should live the life we always wanted to live on this "ball of dirt and water hurtling around a ball of fire" as he puts it. I envy him, as I'm also an avid outdoorsman who never gets to go outdoors anymore (from the house to the car to work and back does not count as "outdoors"). My friend studied flora and fauna for years, both because he loves nature and in preparation for the rest of his life on his own.

So far he's been out there for the better part of a year, sleeping in a bivy sack, eating what nature provides, riding his mountain bike and towing his trailer with his few worldly possessions, a backwoods hobo by choice. He's documenting the entire adventure and plans to write about it. He is fully aware of successful adventurers before him, as well as those who died to soon like McCandless. Who knows how long he'll live this life, but he looks to McCandless as an inspiration, not a "clueless kid", and he's doing just fine.

[keenerd]

Your friend spent years studying. He also had the sense to pick one of the most hospitable and temperate locales in North America. And even in a friendly environment, he acknowledges that he needs more supplies than he could easily carry. I bet he also had multiple plans for bailing out if events went really sour. Just from what little you've said, he sounds responsible, level-headed and practical. He could probably accomplish anything he sets his mind to, and I look forward to buying his book.

But other than living outdoors, your friend has little in common with McCandless.

(Nothing says you can't consider someone to be both clueless and an inspiration. I consider all of history to be an inspiration to do better, including the less-clueful half of the past.)