Travel as Therapy — Sebastian Junger Explains How a 300-Mile Hike Changed His Life
The Last Patrol follows four men linked by combat as they walk 300 miles up the East Coast. Filmmaker and journalist Sebastian Junger, who was one of those men, decided to embark on the journey to honor his friend, Tim Hetherington, a war reporter who was killed during the Libyan civil war.
The former soldiers and war journalists traveled along railroad lines because, as Junger says, “They go through everything.” And throughout their journey, they encountered Americans from all walks of life. At the time, they longed to get to know America again after 10 years of war. But, as Junger shared when he stopped by Yahoo’s New York office, the trip also led to a tremendous amount of personal healing.
As viewers watch the documentary, they’ll see a brotherhood form as the men set up camp, help each other through obstacles, and talk about their experiences at war and at home. Slowly but surely, each man starts to open up, and the healing of those emotional wounds begins.
“That closeness is completely therapeutic. It really feels good,” said Junger. “At the end of it, we were all doing so much better, and I think it was due to that yearlong experience with interreliance and interdependence.”
Sebastian Junger and Yahoo Travel Editor in Chief Paula Froelich (Photo: Brittany Jones-Cooper/Yahoo Travel)
The importance of community
According to Junger, post-industrial society has the highest level of suicide, depression, anxiety, and other horrors than any other time in human history. He argues that in hunter-gatherer societies, these ills did not exist because people lived and worked together. Soldiers living in a platoon experience our evolutionary past and thrive in those conditions. The problems occur when they return home and face isolation.
Returning home and the strain on relationships
“Combat is simple,” says Junger. “And the relationships in combat in a platoon don’t depend on feelings.” This is true on the battlefield, but as Junger explains, it can also make it hard for soldiers to adjust back to the emotional world once they return home. The women in their lives are typically the ones who feel the biggest impact.
Walking and reconnecting to America
As Junger and the men planned their trip, they wanted to make themselves marginal in society. By walking along the railroad tracks and talking to a wide array of Americans along the way, Junger had a raw experience that helped him reconnect to his country.
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