In regard to what Mountain Dog stated, I've heard the same thing. It seems the magic bus has become a bit of a tourist attraction, one the locals do not welcome. I even saw a (IMO) disgusting video, in which some locals drive out on ATV's just to show how close McCandless was to the nearest town. The tone of the video was mocking, like they were saying "look how dumb this idiot was." throughout the whole thing.

Look, what he did was silly, in ways. He should have taken a few more steps to better prepare himself. Maybe knowing a town was so close would have driven him to push harder to get out when he needed to. It's impossible to say. I'm one of those 'fools' who romanticizes the man's adventure, but in a realistic light. Sure, it was a tragedy in the end, and one that could well have been avoided without marring the essential spirit of the trip. Tragedy though it may be, he lived more in those months (years, it's been a while since I've read the book or seen the movie) of traveling than many people ever get to.

If nothing else his story drives one point home, the world can be a scary and dangerous, or wonderful and beautiful place. It's all a matter of how you embrace it.

Glad you enjoyed yourself. It seems there's no hard rule about how long you 'should' travel. In fact, the backpacking mindset is all about bucking trends and defying the 'norm'. I think the year thing is a byproduct of the addiction some people get to traveling. I haven't spoken to a single person yet who has traveled and NOT been bitten by the bug at least a bit. Even cruise ship goers (cruisers?) tend to want to repeat the experience from time to time.

With absolutely no sarcasm intended, I'm glad two weeks was enough time for you, I'm sure it was considerably less expensiev then it could have been.

Best of luck to you, sounds like a wondrous trip you have planned.
I wuld like to add
"after working long and hard I will have saved almost $40,000 AUD, every cent of it myself, no hand outs, no rich parents, all hard work and saving
just over 2 years ago i was in $15000+ debt with no savings, that goes to show that anything is possible"
That is very inspirational. It really goes to show what you can do if you're determined. Saving money is a big problem I have myself. And to save anyone the googling, I looked it up, and the exchange rate from AUD to USD is nearly 1 to 1 (1 to 1.90) so a huge round of applause for you.

Best of luck man. Just remember, do some basic planning, but don't pigeon-hole yourself into any sort of itinerary. Half the fun is just winging it, even if only partially.

Well if you live in the US (or anywhere really) there are some fantastic opportunities to simply disconnect from the everyday , and get out there. Firstly some questions, some for the group and some you need to ask yourself.
Do you own a vehicle?
Do you have a job that you are willing to walk away from?
Is your family situation in a state that you are comfortable walking away from for a while?
Where do you want to go?
How comfortable are you with the idea of having no plan when you get to a place?
Do you have a passport? Are you even considering international travel?
What's stopping you? Can it wait?

I'm sure there's more, but you need to just start getting into the mindset. This has been a slow process for me, and I have yet to embark on my adventure. It's not a bad idea to baby step yourself into it, start doing some reading, take a daytrip to someplace you've never been, go camping for a weekend, it's all about getting used to being in an unfamiliar place. There's also some merit in NOT adjusting, and just breaking off from your day to day and getting out there. That's not my path, I need some time to prepare, but to each their own.

I feel your pain here man. I'm 27 and I've lived in South Jersey (Gloucester and County counties) my whole life. I get pulled over at least a year, ans some years proportionally more. I'm a generally law-abiding guy, and yet I lock up and go into paranoia mode whenever a cop pulls behind me. I live in a town barely larger then 2 miles squared with a population just over 10k, and I know we have far more then 30 officers. I could go on and on about this, but let's just suffice it to say, I know where you're coming form here.

Oh and to make this a bit of advice for people traveling in the area.
-mind the speed limit when possible, but keep with the flow of traffic
-if speeding, try to travel in the midst of a pack of other speeders, they tend to pick off the stragglers.
-never turn your head to look at the cops, it's inviting them to stop you.
-as with any law enforcement officers, be polite, courteous, and calm if they stop you. It's not unheard of for an NJ cop to pull you over hoping to find something to get you on.
-ALWAYS start a conversation with a cop, "How may I help you officer?" or "How may I be of assistance officer?" something to that effect.

Just try to mind the law and not stand out or look like you're up to something.
Also, I know not all cops are bad guys, in fact most of them are just trying to do their job as they understand it, to the best of their ability. It's just a sad fact that NJ is overwhelmed by a police presence at times. I've always been torn: I understand why they are there ,heck I've been robbed twice, so I know they serve a purpose, but they are just so intimidating.

Very cool. Best of luck to you, have a blast.

A friend and I went to the Siren Festival at Coney Island. I had a great time, and saw some awesome bands, as well as some not so awesome ones, and a really bad one that puts on an interesting show (Monotonix). It was first time in New York, excluding school trips or family trips as a kid. After the show we went to the Crocodile lounge in Manhattan (I think), it's a cool bar with a nice gimmick, a free personal pizza with every drink. We also ate more pizza then it was healthy to eat in a day, 4 slices Sicilian for lunch, 3 mini pizzas at the lounge, and a slice at Artichokes right across the street.

Stayed out pretty late, got home at 4 the next morning, Then I had work at 11 AM. I've never felt so good feeling so cruddy.

Did anyone else attend the show? I was I had though ahead and arranged a get together. It would have been nice, but I went through another lapse in attendance here at the Startbacpacking.com forums. It's an annual veent, and the show itself if free, so maybe next year 

Meh, that date still hasn't panned out. I could tell she wasn't that serious about hooking it up in the first place, so I'm not really disappointed. Besides, I really don't won't the added obligation of a girlfriend in my life (I know it's not all chores and duty )

I'm with Greg on this one. My (step)dad became a partial leg amputee just over a year and a half ago. It's been a struggle for everyone, and I know that my absence will make things even harder.
I also suffer from a bit of the fear syndrome. My parents are bveyr paranoid people, and though I am much less, the fears creep in fomr time to time.

In this day and age, I really see no reason to travel with more cash then you absolutely need. Like Greg said, get the ATM card dealie and put your money away. It's probably a good idea to keep a separate account for taking care of bills while you're away. If you're anything like me mixing your travel money and your "pay the bills while I'm gone money is always a bad idea. I have no self control to look at my account and say "OK, I can't touch $X, that's for home." 

On a only moderately related note.
Just keep a few bucks on you, bank the rest. It's probably a good idea to store cash on your person in more then one location as well. The trick I was always taught by my overly paranoid parents was to keep a beater wallet that you don't care about in you pants, keep a small amount of cash in there. Keep your real wallet in another pocket or in a secure place. That way, the average passerby is not going to see just how much you're actually carrying. And worst case scenario if you're mugged (god forbid) you can give them the beater wallet, knowing full well you'll be ok. It can't hurt to plan for an event like that, however unlikely it may be/seem.

It seems there's no practical limitation to why it wouldn't work. Heck, I'm going to buy it, and give it a few "dry run" (pun only slightly intended) day trips. Worst case scenario, I have me a hydration pack.

thanks, I'll have to check out the reading recommendations. I haven't seen "Yes man", I've been meaning to, but I think Isee where you're going. I haven't seen the coworker that made the offer yet, I have to see if she was serious, but I'll likely take her up on the offer. What's the worst that could happen, a lousy date? I bet that the worst possible date would still be better then another night logging hours into my Xbox 360 play time.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5403574/British-tourists-passport-stolen-by-parrot-in-New-Zealand.html
That would be horrible, of all the ways to lose your most precious travel item...
Thought you guys might like this one.

Hey, it's all about the ride.I'm sure this is far from the end of your travels, and even if it is you've always got the memory of what you've done. Best of luck to you in your scholastic endeavors, though.