-
El Segundo, California
Chris Mccandleuss is born into an upper-middle class family. -
Annandale, Virginia
McCandless' family moves to Virginia so they could live closer to his father's place of work. -
Traveled Directly West
Mccandleuss drove his old Datsun straight westward from his home. -
Detrital Wash, Arizona
Chris decides to leave most of his belongings along with his car in a river in order to live a more simple life. He was sick of the mainstream lifestyle everybody had become accustomed to. -
Travels North West to California
After Chris found out the man he was working for was a con-artist, he stole a bike and traveled north. -
Northern California
McCandless hitches a ride from a woman named Jan Burres who quickly became close to Chris due to her not knowing where her son was. Chris learns that maybe it isn't so bad to have people close to you. -
Carthage, South Dakota
Alex (Chris' made up name) begins working for a man named Wayne Westerburg who soon become's Alex's closest friend. -
Mexico
After Westerburg gets arrested, Alex decides to head south in a cheap kayak to Mexico. -
Texas
While trying to flee back to America across the Tex-Mex border, Alex is caught by immigration police and is detained. However after explaining his situation, they allow him to enter but confiscate his handgun. -
Bullhead City, Arizona
McCandless decides to settle down for a while realizing that constantly traveling can be exhausting. He also learns that he was a great fry cook while working at McDonald's. -
"The Slabs"
After meeting back up with Jan and her boyfriend, Alex travels with them to a place called The Slabs which is a retired navy air base that has become a hub for drifters such as Alex. He decides that he does not fit in with these people because unlike them, he has set a greater goal for himself than just going from town to town. -
Salton City, California
While going into town for some supplies for his travels, Alex meets an old man named Ronald Franz, whom he quickly bonds with and learns some useful crafting techniques from. Franz treated Alex like a grandson. -
Heading to San Diego, California
Alex decides to continue his journey by heading to San Diego to experience what its like to be a hobo. He does not enjoy it very much. -
Carthage, South Dakota
After Franz drives Alex back to South Dakota, he begins working for Westerburg once more so he could get some more money for supplies. -
Fairbanks, Alaska
Alex decides to hike through Canada up to Fairbanks where he got a ride from a man named Jim Gallien, who was also the last person to see McCandless alive, up to Stampede Trail. -
Abandoned Bus Somewhere Near Teklanika River
After crossing the freezing cold Teklanika River, Alex arrives at an abandoned bus most likely left there to help individuals in his situation. He manages to survive for 3 months, then on August 18, 1992 a group of people stumble upon the bus where McCandless was found dead due to starvation. He had written a note explaining that he enjoyed his last few years of life rather than being sad, he was happy he lived life to the fullest.