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Annandale, VA
Annandale is Chris McCandless home.His Father was a high ranking engineer for NASA until he and his wife started their own company and worked from home. Both his parents brought tremendous stress onto their family that led verbal arguments and occasional physical fighting.This left Chris and his sister, Carine, emotionally damaged when they got older. -
Emory University
After finishing High School in Virginia,Chris attended Emory University. The last time he saw his family was at his college graduation and after his graduation he donated his twenty five thousand dollars in savings to the OXFAM foundation and took off for the west.( He notices he doesn't need his family and leaves and he finds out what he can do by himself.) -
Detrital Wash, AZ
Dallas was the first stop on Chris's trip out to the west and while he was sleeping in his car his window was open and his cash was stolen from him.(He learns the consequences of living out on his own and learns that he needs to think before doing something reckless.) -
Lake Tahoe
After losing his car and gear in the flood at Detrital Wash, AZ, Chris hitch-hikes up to Lake Tahoe.(After losing almost everything he keeps pushing himself inorder find himself.) -
Orick, CA
An old hippie couple noticed Chris alongside the road outside of Orick, California and offer him a ride. Chris camped with the couple on the beach for a few days and became very close with them. But just a few days before meeting them,Chris had received a hitchhiking ticket and the officer asked where his permanent residence is, Chris gave the officer his parents address.(This was the first time that Chris gave anything away about his past and shows that he doesn't need negativity.) -
Cut Bank, Mt
Chris crosses paths with a man named Wayne Westerberg,who perhaps will become Chris's closest friend that he makes throughout the his journey. (Chris opens up with Wayne causing Chris to come out of his comfort zone and for Wayne to become his person on his journey to find himself.) -
Parker Strip, AZ
Chris comes across a sign that warns that trespassing on Highly Restricted Government Proving Grounds, but Chris being a free minded spirit, ignores the warning sign.(Chris doesn't care for rules in a society and thus thinking for his benefits not others.) -
Los Angeles, CA
After getting caught by I.C.E. he comes back to the U.S.. He enters Los Angeles to get an I.D. and a job, but he feels awkward and annoyed in society and then leaves and hits the road.(Chris finds himself in a place he does not fit in and feels compelled to leave to a place where he feels that he fits in(the woods). -
Las Vegas, NV
Chris finds a job and works in an Italian restaurant for a few months until he again feels displaced in society and goes back on the road.(Chris learns that he does not fit in society anywhere and finds that he feels placed by freedom in hitch-hiking.) -
Salton City, CA
Chris wonders around the desert until he crosses paths with a man named Ronald Franz. Ronald and Chris become very close and they accomplished many household projects and other tasks.(Chris learns that even though he may not fit into society, he fits well with other people that are positive and or think/feel the same way that Chris does.) -
Carthage, SD
Chris's final major stop before he heads north to live out his long awaited Alaskan wilderness fantasy.Chris heads back to Carthage to visit Wayne Westerberg and spends the last half of March working for Wayne and then leaves at the end of the month.(Chris learns that even though he feels out of place in society he heads back into society to visit an old friend and it shows that he cares for those who cared for him. Cover the holes from his neglection when he was younger.) -
Fairbanks, AK
Chris spends 3 days in the library at the University of Fairbanks, studying up on edible plants and wildlife in the nearby region and then sends his last postcard ever not to his family, but to Wayne Westerberg.(Chris picks a friend he barely knows over his family, because he feels out of place with his family, but close to a friend that was a positive thing in his dark life.) -
Stampede Trail
Chris came across an abandoned bus and spent the next five months in complete isolation, surviving off of chipmunks and wild plants.Chris's health suddenly diminishes and his only journal entries are about how weak he is becoming and his last entry is a cry for help, thanking God and blessing everybody he has ever met.(Chris finds himself at the end of his life in a place where he felt he felt inplace and wanted. Then thanking God and the people he met in his life, including his family.)
