A Teen’s Odyssey Through a Powerless World:

A Race Against Winter in a World Gone Dark

Imagine a world where the lights go out—and stay out. In The Long Walk Home: When the Power Dies, fourteen-year-old Tommy faces this jarring reality. Fresh from summer camp, he’s thrust into a world without electricity, stranded at Denver International Airport with the Browns, his newfound surrogate family. As the group grapples with the dawning truth that power isn’t coming back anytime soon, they make a bold decision: to walk from Denver, Colorado, to Sacramento, California. This isn’t just a story of survival—it’s a gripping tale of resilience, resourcefulness, and the will to get home.

The Gear That Guides Tommy’s Journey

If you’ve ever wandered down the rabbit hole of wilderness survival or emergency preparedness online, you’ve likely stumbled across terms like “Get Home Bag,” “I’m Never Coming Home (INCH) Bag,” or disaster supply kits. From survivalist blogs to YouTube tutorials and even Ready.gov, these concepts are dissected endlessly. While researching The Long Walk Home, I explored these ideas but kept circling back to timeless resources like Bradford Angier’s How to Stay Alive in the Woods, David Canterbury’s 5 and 10 C’s of survival, and the Mountaineers’ Ten Essentials. This isn’t a tale of hardcore survivalism but a grueling “get home” scenario. I had to consider what a fourteen-year-old like Tommy, a nerdy, outdoors-loving kid fresh from a traditional summer camp (not a Scouting one), might realistically know. No Wilderness Survival or Emergency Preparedness merit badges here—no Scout Handbook or Fieldbook to fall back on. Instead, I leaned into the Mountaineers’ Ten Essentials, a practical and widely recognized list that resonates with everyone from day hikers to backcountry hunters.

The Ten Essentials: Tommy’s Lifeline

First formalized in 1974 in the third edition of Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills, the Ten Essentials trace their roots to the 1930s Mountaineers’ community. The list—navigation, headlamp, sun protection, first aid, knife, fire, shelter, extra food, extra water, and extra clothes—is scalable, practical, and perfect for a kid like Tommy. It’s the kind of list he’d geek out over, scribbling it down to pester his friends and family with later. It’s simple enough for a teen to grasp yet robust enough to guide him through the urban sprawl of Denver, the rugged Colorado Rockies, and the vast Great Basin. While Bradford Angier’s How to Stay Alive in the Woods is a classic (and one Tommy’s read), its advice feels a bit dated for his modern journey. Similarly, David Canterbury’s 5 and 10 C’s, taught through his Pathfinder School, are fantastic but too intense for a casual outdoorsy teen. I also steered clear of diving into the works of 19th-century outdoorsman George W. Sears (Nessmuk) or Horace Kephart, whose writings shaped modern bushcraft. Those are beyond what a kid like Tommy would know.

A Race Against Time

Tommy and the Browns aren’t looking to homestead or set up camp for the long haul. Their mission is clear: get from Denver to Sacramento before winter grips the high Rockies. Starting in urban and suburban settings, they’ll face the challenges of navigating cities without power before tackling the mountains and the stark Great Basin. There’s no time for hunting or foraging unless luck provides—Tommy’s focus is on moving forward, with autumn fading and winter looming. This isn’t about building a new life in the wilderness, like the skills outlined in Reader’s Digest Back to Basics. It’s about a relentless push to get home, armed with little more than wits, grit, and a handful of essentials. Tommy’s story is a testament to what a determined teen can do when the world goes dark—and the long walk home begins.