Is Alexander Supertramp a Model For Amazing Success?

Is he a 20th-century Thoreau? Was he a reckless fool or a visionary?

Alexander Supertramp in front of the “Magic Bus” where his body would later be found by hikers | Self portrait by Christopher McCandless

Most people learn about a 24-year-old who died alone in the Alaskan wilderness after fleeing an upper-class life and believing he could survive off the land, and consider him a big failure.

He could’ve been a lawyer, like his fancy parents and their lavish friends wanted for him. He had the financial support to get through Harvard debt-free if he desired. He could’ve coasted to a corporate law firm and used his unrivaled smarts to help win cases that made everyone richer.

I can picture a sea of naysayers shaking their heads at his decision to leave it all. “What a waste!”

But a few radical spirits will connect with this story.

His parents offered to replace his shitty old Datsun as a college graduation present. He just had to say the word. But he declined.

He left everything behind without telling anyone where he was going—not even his little sister, whom he was distinctly close to growing up. Presumably, he didn’t want anyone to interfere with his plans.

He drove his beloved Datsun out west. Then, after a roaring flash flood totaled it in the deserts of Arizona, he trekked further west by foot and thumb. To conceal his tracks, he buried the Datsun’s license plates in the desert sands.

He died in Alaska about 2 years later.

What the f*ck was he thinking?

‘Success’ is in the eye of the beholder

From the fantastic 1996 biography by Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild, we know that Alexander Supertramp defined success radically differently than his parents, other kids at Emory, and, well, probably most people.

Krakauer detailed how Alex built a super-adventurous life after graduating college in 1990. According to journal entries and letters, Alex knew he might die in the process. But still, he preferred this fate over joining the ranks of his average or “above-average” peers.