Outside Magazine Revisits Bus 142
New Article and Podcast from Outside Magazine
Thirty years after Jon Krakauer’s “Death of an Innocent” article was published in Outside, the magazine went back to Alaska, this time sending journalist Eva Holland to continue the seemingly timeless story of Chris McCandless and examine why Bus 142 has become a historic relic being so carefully preserved.
Holland shares her own experience of first setting foot in the bus while it sat in the UAF Engineering building, seeing the graffiti etched all over its metal interior, evidence of the visitors that made their way to it in the wild. Diverse names and different languages, powerful symbols of the global audience still watching its future unfold – “If reading Carine’s book [The Wild Truth] had helped me understand Chris, seeing the bus for myself helped me understand the people who’d followed him down the Stampede Trail. Maybe that’s the magic of Bus 142 finding its way to the Museum of the North: It’s a chance for everyone who sees the exhibit to expand their understanding of a complex, multilayered story…to learn about the long history of outsiders who ventured north with extraction of one kind or another in mind. And for those who found themselves raising an eyebrow or rolling their eyes at Chris’s memory, to gain an appreciation for the impact he’s had on countless people the world over.”
Podcast:
https://www.outsideonline.com/podcast/into-the-wild-bus-142/