My Friend Wants To Recreate Chris McCandless Journey From "Into The Wild", And he Won't Listen To me.

[u/ilikeover9000turtles]

I have a friend and I share his dream of wanting to be completely self sufficient, and be a hermit that lives in nature.

I believe doing so will require early retirement, and having enough money to live the rest of your life comfortably.

He however wants to do exactly what Chris McCandless did, sell everything he owns, and walk into the wilds of Alaska and survive.

I think this is a terrible idea, and will most likely lead to his death just like it did Chris McCandless.

He argues just because some idiot in a movie died doesn't mean he will.

He has no wilderness survival training, and plans on taking the bare minimum of supplies.

I've tried to explain to him that you need to boil water you get from streams due to protozoa, amoebas, parasites, fungi, viruses and bacteria etc. He says if the water is cold it's fine.

I've tried to explain game meat is full of parasites and must be cooked well. Not only this but there is an epidemic of prion diseases in wildlife recently that cannot be killed via cooking the meat, not to mention rabies virus, etc.

He is going to have to worry about Lyme disease from ticks, bear, wolf, and coyote attacks, and all kinds of stuff.

Having no cellphone to call for help, no stockpiles of food or medicine, no way to reach civilization, and no healthcare if he did make it back.

You also have to contend with the department of natural resources, game wardens, fish and wildlife, forest service officers. They will not just let you squat on public land and if you are found you'll be arrested.

What happens when winter comes and you don't have enough food stored up?

There are a million reasons why I think this is a terrible idea, but I cannot seem to reach my friend.

He seems dead set on this idea that Chris McCandless was just an idiot and he won't share his fate.

Please Reddit, help me come up with ideas on why this is a terrible idea and won't work.

I need my friend to understand this is not a smart move.

[u/zomboi]

Has he read the end of the book? It is not a work of fiction. Has he ever tried even camping?

You can have him talk to Alaskan wild park rangers.

At the very least you can have him take a satellite phone and try his "experiment" in the lower 48 during summer; where it most likely won't cost him his life.

[u/[deleted]]

Bro if he thinks the water being cold will keep him safe from all that shit he is less cut out for this than the majority of people...