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TRAVEL & CULTURE: WILD CHILD
HS Howdoyoupullitoff?LZ
ThewayI lookatitis,
thegreatertheneed,the
greatertheresult.
Youknowwhatyourneedsare:
shelter,water,fire,food.Youfigure
outwhat’sgoingtokillyoufirst—
coldexposure,forexample.Your
firstneedisgoingtobesomekind
ofshelterandfire.I hada lotofcold,
wet,miserablenights.I wastired
andhungrya lot.Buteachadventure
wasanopportunitytolearnmore
andgetbetter.
Sure,there’sa lottobesaidabout
notputtingyourselfinsituations
whereyoucouldgetkilled,butI also
feellikeit’swhatweashumansare
designedtodo.Ifyougooutthereand
youdon’tpanic—becausepanicisyour
worstenemy—ifyoucangoaboutit
ina waywhereyoucanstaycalmand
rational,it’samazinghowgoodpeople
actuallydowhenthey’reoutthere.I
thinkit’ssomethinganyonecando.I’m
notthestrongestperson—I’mnotthe
toughestpersonorthemost-skilled
person—butI canstilldoit.
HS Survivaltypicallyimpliesan
“usagainstthem”scenario.
What’syourrelationship
withnature?LZ
Thatwholemanversuswild,
us against nature, you have to
go out there and conquer nature—
for me, it’s the complete opposite.
There’s nothing as humbling as going
out there. It comes from a place of
great humility. I feel like, if you can
work with the land and listen to her
rules, she’ll take care of you. It’s not
about dominating or conquering;
it’s about listening to and adapting
yourself to the laws of the land,
wherever you are.
I have a great respect for the land.
I don’t go out and cut down a bunch
of trees to make a shelter if I don’t
have to. I like to work with the earth
and leave less of a footprint. Animals
don’tdestroytheenvironment;they
liveaspartofit.Itmaysoundcheesy,
butI feelifyoutakecareoftheland,
she’lltakecareofyou.I feelreally
deeplyaboutnaturekarma.Ifyou
canhavethatkindofrelationship,
you’regoingtogeta lotfurtherthan
ifyougooutthereandsay“I’mgoing
todominatethis.”HS Doyouseethisasa
growingtrend?LZ
Absolutely.Moreandmore
intheageofcellphones,
peoplearefindingthisholethat
theyhave,almost.Wedon’thave
humancontactinthesameway
anymore.Communitiesaren’tthe
sameanymore.Inthistechnological
era,peoplearemissingsomething
andtheydon’tknowwhat,but
whentheygetout,evensomething
assimpleasa hikeinthewoods,
theycanreconnectwitha partof
themselves,wherethey’reintouch
withthemselves.It’ssomethingthat
canbereallyhealing.I thinkit’s
somethingthatpeoplearenaturally
drawnto.There’ssomething
veryhumanaboutit.Asmuchas
we’vebecomemoredependenton
technology,there’sthiscounter
movementbacktothelandand
homesteadingandhavinggardens.
I thinkit’sinterestingthataswe’ve
becomemoretechnologically
evolved,there’salsothisback-to-
the-landmovement.I thinkit’sreally
importantandhealingforpeople.HS Let’stalkaboutyourbook.
Whatinspiredyoutowriteit?LZ
OneofthethingsI liketodois
go out with absolutely nothing.
But if I can take one item with me,
it will be a knife. As someone who is
very independent and who likes to go
out and rely on just myself, the logical
next step was to make my own knife.
There’s a lot of books on knife
making, but I like things to be broken
down in the simplest of terms, and Icouldn’t find a book that a beginner
could pick up and feel they can
actually do this, without tons of money
and without having any previous
knowledge. I wrote the book I wish I
hadwhenI firststarteddoingit.HS What do you love most^
aboutsurvivinginthewild?LZ
Therewasa timethispast
fall, I was out in the mountains
of Idaho. I was 20 miles out in the
backcountry, and this storm blew
in and I was walking in four feet of
snow. The temperature dropped
about 20 degrees. I was sweating
because I kept falling in these air
pockets created by fallen trees. And
I was so tired, but I knew I couldn’t
stop or I’d get hypothermia. I didn’t
have a satellite phone, but even if I
did, I knew that even if I tried to call
out, no one would get there in time
to help me. I knew I had to rely on
myself. There was no magic button,
no quitting. I knew I had to push
through and do it. And as crazy as it
sounds, I live for moments like that.
You learn what you’re made of and
I love that. There’s always a way to
push through it and dig deeper. It’s
about strong mental fortitude. I’m
not the strongest person, but I’m very
mentally strong. It makes everything
in life seem easier. You deal with
problems every day, and knowing you
have the strength to push through
them has helped me tremendously
in my life.
I think that’s one of the things
I love about nature: You can be
as prepared as you want, but
there’s always an element of
unpredictability. We get into these
comfortable niches in our personal
lives where we think we’re in
control, but life can throw you a
curve ball any time. By being out
in nature and experiencing this
unpredictability, it teaches you to
deal with unpredictability at any
given moment. H