I found out yesterday that one of my favourite books (Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer) is now a film, and I went to see it immediately!

The story is about a guy called Christopher McCandless who decides to donate his money to charity, abandon his car, and “live off the land”. He travels around the USA for a while before coming to Alaska. He went “into the wild” and lived in an abandoned bus near Denali NP. He manages to survive for more than 3 months, but when he decides to leave, he finds his way out blocked by a swollen river. He eventually dies of starvation, or possibly by eating toxic seeds from the wild potato (this has never been proven).

It is a true story, and Jon Krakauer did a lot of research to try and find out what happened to Chris. He talked to many people that met Chris on his travels, and wrote the book based on all his research mixed sometimes with his own experiences. I read the book while in Alaska, it is very fascinating. There is a lot of discussion about whether Chris was brave and died of an innocent mistake, or whether he was simply stupid. Whichever he was, his impact on the people he met along the way is very impressive – for example, he inspired a 82 year old guy to leave his house and belongings and live in a camper in nature. Chris must have been a very special person! You can read more about him here.

The film is well made, and as inspiring as the book. There are a few weird things in the film – like a pitch black night in the middle of the Alaskan Summer – but overall I enjoyed it a lot! It was great to see the Alaskan landscapes that I love so much, as well as other beautiful places in the USA. It must have been difficult to make a film about a guy who is by himself most of the time – they make him talk to himself quite a lot 😉 but they also use his sisters voice as a voice over explaining how she and their parents were dealing with Chris’ disappearance. This adds a lot to the film!

Anyway, enough talk, I think you should just go and see it for yourself! 🙂

Sorry for not posting any photos lately, it’s so hectic here! The big news is that Paul has been offered the job in Norway and he has accepted it! The job starts on the first of January, and the list of things to do before then seems endless… I am moving back into my old house, but I will try to spend as much time as possible in Norway. We’re now spending all our free time on sorting stuff to store, to take, to sell, finding a place in Norway, finding out about importing his car… it’s like a full time job!! But it’s very exciting 🙂

Till next time!

Hanneke