Choosing a backpack for your camping adventure is a very important one. It's not "just a bag" that so many inexperienced campers say. Though it seems such a small matter, your backpack can benefit you in ways that you could never imagine, especially when you are out there trekking or camping and all you have is an ill-fitting backpack. Still skeptical? In 1994, a hiker who went on a trip to the Appalachians had to have his trip cut short and had to go home broken and bleeding because of an…
Climate Change Narrative - 800 Word Limit Jonathan walks back and forth along the dry, cracked riverbed that snaked along the Texan desert where he lived. He waves his water detector back and forth looking for a water deposit. His eye is keen for some sign of water, he hawks for plant life. It’s been 30 years since all of the surface water has disappeared. Climate change has rapidly transformed the earth and all of the surface water evaporated. All of the ground water has been privatised by the…
Robert Flaherty’s Nanook of the North is a silent ethnographic documentary following a family of Inuits living in the Arctic Circle. Regarded by some as a turning point for documentaries, it serves as a ground for debate around representation and ethics of documentary film. In 1922 Flaherty set out to record the previously unseen lives of the Inuit in snowy Alaska as they struggle to survive in such a harsh environment. Flaherty spent 16 months living with Inuit where he staged sequences of them…
Jon Krakauer, the author of Into the Wild and Paulo Coelho, the author of The Alchemist intertwine worlds of fiction and nonfiction through the personal aspects of pursuing a journey of self-discovery. Krakauer, a journalist, reports the events leading up to the death of Christopher McCandless, who embarks on a foreign path to Alaskan territory. McCandless cuts ties with his material lifestyle and relies on his newfound wits to persevere and endure the ways of the wild. Coelho depicts his…
A Walk in the Woods. In my opinion, a very appropriate title for Bill Bryson’s book. His trek through the Appalachian trail and its tributaries are perfectly be described as just that, a walk. The google definition gives you, “an unhurried rate of movement on foot,” you can see what is meant by this. As Bryson and Katz make their way through the woods, their movements can be described as anything but hurried, with Bryson waiting around every bend for Katz and normal hikers passing them on a…
Every step of our sixty-mile Canadian canoeing adventure was another challenge. As Chris Hadfield said, it was just a matter of working the problem. That’s NASA-speak for descending a decision tree, methodically looking for a solution. The most rewarding part was being the man in charge; from meal preparation to dangerous situations, the final say was mine. Of all that we went through, I think our fourth portage (a “trail” between two lakes that are not connected by a traversable waterway)…
article that was written by Krakauer describing McCandless's journey. To some McCandless' story is just a tale of nature's harsh reality, but for others they view him as a heroic figure. Many criticize him for venturing unprepared into the Alaskan wilderness and for inspiring others to do the same. I disagree with Jan's sentiments regarding Chris McCandless because he was mentally…
For about fifteen years, there has been a man who has been living and surviving by himself in the Brazilian Amazon. From what I’ve read, he is an Indian, and is determined to be somewhere in his forties. Brazilian officials have also suspected that he is basically the last survivor of an unknown tribe. This man is considered important not only because he’s one of the few known isolated people, but also because of his extremely unique way of life. Not many people can live alone in such an area…
his materialistic possessions or his family’s money. Chris was a free-caring person who did not follow any one’s rules besides his own, all he wanted to do was explore the world on his own terms. So when chris decided to trek off into the Alaskan wilderness he knew exactly what he was doing. Although some may think that chris went into the wild because of risk-taking tendencies, he did not,he went into the wild because of family problems and emotional damage and philosophical beliefs, the truth…
Sitting on the couch bored with my 5 friends Saylor, Wade, Ty, Isaac, and Jack. We have all known each other for long time. I met Saylor 1st, then Wade 2nd, then Isaac 3rd, and Jack and Ty were 4th. We all became friends in the 6th grade. We all have the same personality but some of us can be daredevils or funny people. That's when we got the idea to go into the woods. Little did we know that was a bad idea. When we were going down Jack decided to stay because he got really scared. Jack was…