Postcards and reveries

It occurred to me that everyone who goes on lengthy travels and blogs about it has a bit of Krakauer in them.

Make a radical change in your lifestyle and begin to boldly do things which you may previously never have thought of doing, or been too hesitant to attempt.

So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit within a man than a secure future.

The very basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun.

If you want to get more out of life, you must lose your inclination for monotonous security and adopt a helter-skelter style of life that will at first appear to you to be crazy. But once you become accustomed to such a life you will see its full meaning and its incredible beauty.”

― Jon Krakauer, Into The Wild

Yes, Jon Krakauer did die during his quest for the life he sought to live in the Alaskan wilderness, but the point remains: he died  because he was living  his authentic life as his own person, which exactly whom he wanted to be and the life he wanted to live. It boggles the mind to think that it’s considered nearly insane to have that kind of courage to be absolutely independently minded. Some say it’s stupid, while others think convention and a “safe” life are the very definition of a monotonous, slow death by boredom. We’re all going to die anyway, so take your pick: die after living a life that felt natural to you or die doing a life that was dictated to you from birth by forces in society, your culture, the world — anyone but you. It’s your life, so it’s your choice. Into The Wild is a must read for everyone with wanderlust who willingly gives up the comforts of a “normal” life in favour of a life where all rewards are found in the extremely challenging nature of forgoing society. It’s definitely worth the read; what better way to pass the time on a layover or a on a long plane ride to some far off land?

Be your own person and travel the world, even if it seems crazy to others. Don’t let your life pass you by without seeing how others live.

Related articles

• Make a radical … (scribblingstuff.wordpress.com)
• “Into the Wild” (greenpackin.wordpress.com)