The writer reflects on how watching Into the Wild at 16 shaped two decades of restless travel, initially inspiring her to seek freedom by escaping her north London life and chasing remote experiences, much like the film's protagonist Christopher McCandless. Over time she came to see this pursuit differently, recognising that constantly running towards the next adventure was less about genuine freedom and more about avoiding unresolved feelings, and that the film's warning about the cost of abandoning relationships had merit.

Her perspective shifted further after feeling isolated while living in Los Angeles in her late twenties, prompting a return to London to rebuild connections with family and friends. Now 44 days into hiking America's roughly 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail, she frames the journey not as an escape but as a deliberate step towards deeper self-trust and connection with nature, having concluded that true freedom is a state of mind rather than a physical destination, and that solitude need not mean loneliness.