Road Trips and Journeys

"I'm going to paraphrase Thoreau here... rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness... give me truth." - Christopher McCandless ("Into the Wild", Dir. Penn, 2007)

"Into the Wild" follows the 2 year journey of a fresh college graduate named Christopher McCandless who gives up his $24000 savings in order to go forth to the wilderness and find the "truth" that he believes the poisoned civilized society has forgotten. All this inspired by Tolstoy and other favorite writers of his. In this journey to Alaska, he meets several people who change his life and in turn, he changes theirs. Once he reaches Alaska and starves, he realizes that he was far away from what he was actually looking for.

Forgive my vagueness but if I were more specific, I would spoil the good film. I found that a lot of heart was poured into this. First, the very context of the film is compelling: a young man setting out on an adventure for freedom from the poisons of civilization. It is also very insightful and real. Second, the style and direction has a lot of vision and passion and all this is strikingly obvious. Third, it evokes reflection. I now understand why this film is listed in the 1001 Moves You Have To Watch Before You Die.

Somehow I would like to do the same. I would love to take a road trip to nowhere or a journey to a far-off land to breathe the fresh air and just break free from the bars of our overly-developed society--the delusional society with the created fantasies that creates a hell and heaven for particular kinds of people. This could so easily be done if I had the willpower and the knowledge to drive but doing so would be far too idealistic and selfish. I agree with Christopher when he says that experiences are the core of mans' spirit. In lieu of the idealistic adventure, though, I believe that people have their own preferences to take into account and what they want to achieve in their lives. The beauty of life and free will is that we are given the opportunities for direction. Experiences could range from wilderness exploring to purely intellectual activities and I believe we have the choice to pick from this array.

A refreshing trip would not be bad, though. I would like to take a car and just road trip somewhere far away and breathe. Movies like this respond to films like Revolutionary Road and American Beauty. Some people need to step out and just breathe.

With that in mind, let me quote a few lines from Tracy Chapman's Fast Car:

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere  

Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove 

I want a ticket to anywhere

I am the kind of person who needs to suck the air in before I could be emotionally functional. And I constantly need that sense of direction and willpower. All of that boils to one thing: leaps of faith. I am sounding like a mixture between a self-help book and an inspirational book.

Let me end with this quote from the movie:

"When you want something in life, you just gotta reach out and grab it." - Christopher McCandless