Into the Wild

Readers:

"Greetings from Fairbanks!
This is the last you shall hear from me Wayne. Arrived here 2 days ago. It was very difficult to catch rides in the Yukon Territory. But I finally got here. Please return all mail I receive to the sender.

It might be a very long time before I return South. If this adventure proves fatal and you don't ever hear from me again, I want you to know your a great man. I now walk into the wild."

— Chris McCandless, in postcard sent to Wayne Westerberg in Carthage, South Dakota, from Alaska

So begins the book, Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer. A young man one day abandons all and treks into the most brutal conditions to find himself.

I write this post at 5:30 am of August 14, 2010, the morning of my 30th birthday. So begins the next chapters in my life's novel (yes, the cliche is heavy in this sentence). A young man (me this time) abandons all and treks into the most brutal conditions to find himself. In the spirit of Into the Wild, here is my postcard.

"Greetings from Thirty!
This is the last you shall hear from me Twenties. Arrived here today. It was very hard to say goodbye. But I finally got here. Please return all "you're getting old" and "it's all downhill from here" jokes to the sender.

It might be a very long time before I slow down and my body heads South--after all, there's much more work to do. If this adventure proves successful, and you hear great things from me in the decade to come, I want you to know you're the reason why. I now walk into the wild."

--Scott Heydt, in a blog entry sent to his Twenties in Chalfont, Pennsylvania

"Live, Learn, Teach"
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