I wonder if we aren't starting to miss the forest for the trees here. Perhaps this is the true, final reason. However, if he'd fallen down the steps on that bus

I wonder if we aren't starting to miss the forest for the trees here. Perhaps this is the true, final reason. However, if he'd fallen down the steps on that bus and broken his leg he would most likely be dead. He basically put himself in a position where he had such a small margin for error that it's not all that surprising he didn't make it. I backpacked Central and South America for quite some time pre-internet and pre mobile. There were a lot of people who were removing themselves from their environments and doing some wonderful self discovery. There was also the odd, additional person, who was so completely reckless that it seemed inevitable that something bad would befall them. I've always thought of those people whenever I've bumped into stories on Chris MacCandless.