Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Reading Cheryl Strayed's Wild was a fascinating book. I myself went on the Camino de Santiago last year, as a three day trip with a group of other exchange students. I went on the trip to have fun and get to know the other students, and to this day it is one of my fondest memories from living in Spain.

In the novel many of the people who were hiking the PCT, a similar trail in the West Coast of the United States, had more existential reasons. They were trying to find themselves or were avid hikers, ideas that were foreign to me. The idea then occurred to me to research as best as I could to find different reasons for why people decide to embark on the grueling task of a long distance hike. The results I found were so diverse, it amazed me. Some had similar reasons to Strayed and the hikers she met on the trail. Others had religious reasons such as many of the people who the Camino de Santiago.

Some of the most surprising reasons to me were the amount of people who were inspired by Strayed. The amount of women who became inclined to do the hike was astonishing, Strayed was one of very few solo women going on the hike because it is considered a risk for a woman to hike alone. But the amount of people who felt a connection to Strayed and her circumstances or even just for the love of the book decided to go on the hike was astonishing. Having gone on a hike like this myself, the most enjoyable part was the people I met on the hike not the actual activity. The exercise is a grueling foot suicide and extreme, non-stop workout.

Through writing my expository essay and multi-genre project I created a golden thread. The thread was the repeated line "disconnecting from the modern world." Because no matter what trail and what length, there is a disconnect. Many of the trails do not have service and I think that is honestly beneficial to the people on the trail. The trails allow modern day citizens to connect to the past. Life slows down and become a peaceful monotony only at the mercy of nature.

Sincerely,
Caroline Jevon