Walden On Wheels: On the Open Road from Debt to Freedom

Although the title of Ken’s work is Walden on Wheels, only Parts 3 and 4 directly describe his “vandwelling” days. Why might Ken have felt that this lifestyle was a major element in his journey compared to living in Alaska, Mississippi, or hitchhiking? How do these different lifestyles intersect in the text?

Read a synopsis of Henry David Thoreau’s Walden and then compare Thoreau’s perspective and Ken’s. How accurately does Walden on Wheels represent Thoreau’s views? Using evidence from the text, compare and contrast Ken and Thoreau’s beliefs.

Ken and Josh both lamented that their degrees in the humanities, such as English and History, were useless. Why did Ken call these degrees “useless” in his “Career World” characterization? How did both Ken and Josh find greater meaning in their degrees outside of “Career World”?