In Into the Wild, how does McCandless navigate the journey from dreams to reality?

I'm going to answer this question in a literal manner.  

McCandless's dream is to live on his own in the Alaskan wilderness.  He reveres stories by Jack London that seem to romanticize Alaska's rugged beauty and danger.  

McCandless doesn't immediately rush off to Alaska though.  He spends a great deal of time hitchhiking around the western United States living on nothing but rice and water for the most part.  I believe that McCandless...

I'm going to answer this question in a literal manner.  

McCandless's dream is to live on his own in the Alaskan wilderness.  He reveres stories by Jack London that seem to romanticize Alaska's rugged beauty and danger.  

McCandless doesn't immediately rush off to Alaska though.  He spends a great deal of time hitchhiking around the western United States living on nothing but rice and water for the most part.  I believe that McCandless used this time to "train" himself for his Alaskan adventure.  Once he felt ready to head up to Alaska, he navigated there in the same way that he had been getting around for the previous months.  He hitchhiked to Alaska.  McCandless's dream was to head to the Stampede Trail and survive for months out there.  The final person that helped McCandless get out there was Jim Gallien.  

McCandless navigated toward his dreams with a single-minded focus.  He traveled alone for much of the time.  He hitchhiked when able and got low-paying jobs as needed in order to pay for any meager supplies required.