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Posted On: October 18th 2026, 12:58 am
"Happiness Only Real When Shared"
Something really cool happened recently.
Going back to the beginning of this story, I was about 22 when a man I had only met once before approached me with a book called Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer, 1996). He said, "I don't know you well, but I know you well enough to know you'd probably love this."
This was a Saturday down on the Jersey Shore, a bunch of us escaping NYC for the weekend. I finished the book that weekend, and it's remained one of my favorites ever since.
I've always thought of myself as a bit of a nomad. Even my beloved Nana told me more than once that I must have gypsy blood. Perhaps that's why this story has always resonated so deeply with me.
In fact, over the years, whenever I'd come across a copy at a thrift store, I'd buy it just so I could pass it along to someone else, as it had once been passed along to me.
Years after I first read the book, Sean Penn made the film. Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack. Emile Hirsch starred. I loved all their contributions.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the film's release.
This year, I started following Emile Hirsch on IG, and sometime afterward, he painted his own version of the Magic Bus (if you've read the book or watched the film, you know). He also decided to sell prints. I didn't hesitate to add a small version of it to my collection.
Emile signed it, "Happiness only real when shared," a phrase Chris McCandless wrote in the margin of his copy of Doctor Zhivago, discovered after his death.
Emile was gracious enough to reply to a couple of my comments, which was also touching.
And now, in my home, is this beautiful print created and signed by the man who portrayed Chris McCandless in the film, inspired by a book I fell in love with more than half my life ago.
The wonder of coming full circle. 🥰
Something really cool happened recently.
Going back to the beginning of this story, I was about 22 when a man I had only met once before approached me with a book called Into the Wild (Jon Krakauer, 1996). He said, "I don't know you well, but I know you well enough to know you'd probably love this."
This was a Saturday down on the Jersey Shore, a bunch of us escaping NYC for the weekend. I finished the book that weekend, and it's remained one of my favorites ever since.
I've always thought of myself as a bit of a nomad. Even my beloved Nana told me more than once that I must have gypsy blood. Perhaps that's why this story has always resonated so deeply with me.
In fact, over the years, whenever I'd come across a copy at a thrift store, I'd buy it just so I could pass it along to someone else, as it had once been passed along to me.
Years after I first read the book, Sean Penn made the film. Eddie Vedder did the soundtrack. Emile Hirsch starred. I loved all their contributions.
Next year marks the 20th anniversary of the film's release.
This year, I started following Emile Hirsch on IG, and sometime afterward, he painted his own version of the Magic Bus (if you've read the book or watched the film, you know). He also decided to sell prints. I didn't hesitate to add a small version of it to my collection.
Emile signed it, "Happiness only real when shared," a phrase Chris McCandless wrote in the margin of his copy of Doctor Zhivago, discovered after his death.
Emile was gracious enough to reply to a couple of my comments, which was also touching.
And now, in my home, is this beautiful print created and signed by the man who portrayed Chris McCandless in the film, inspired by a book I fell in love with more than half my life ago.
The wonder of coming full circle. 🥰
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