(Though the book never mentions whether the story was actually published and picked up by Harper’s, as the journalist suggested it would be.) The interview forces Cheryl to question whether she is, technically speaking, homeless, since she is traveling alone and doesn’t have a house to call her own. However, her problems did not end there: The boots were not shipped as quickly as she expected, and she was forced to hike on sandals to yet another stop before finally getting her new shoes.Ī reporter really did stop Cheryl and talk to her for a piece in the Hobo Times.

She walked in taped-together sandals to her next rest stop, where her boots were to be delivered. One of her boots did tumble down a cliff, allowing her to chuck the other one after it, screaming profanities as she did. In reality, she heard about the satisfaction guaranteed policy much later when the damage was already done to her feet. In the film, Cheryl finds out that REI will ship her new boots for free at one of her first stops on the trail. Cheryl blames marrying too young and her own infidelity for their failed marriage.Ĭheryl’s boots did plague her throughout her hike, taking six of her toenails because they were too small. Their divorce (as reflected in the film) is largely amicable. To honor their connection to each other, the two got tattoos of horses on their arms. (Their biological father was abusive and Cheryl loses touch with him after her mother files for divorce.) Cheryl and Eddie grew particularly close during her mother’s sickness, but after she passed, Eddie remarried and grew distant.Ĭheryl and Paul got matching tattoos when they divorced Eddie is a father figure to Cheryl and her siblings when they are young. The movie also removes their mother’s second husband, Eddie. In reality, Cheryl also had an older sister, Karen. In the film, Cheryl has only one sibling, her younger brother Leif. The movie cuts out a few important people in Cheryl’s real life. Cheryl’s only family was her mother and brother

Wild strayed