Review of LOST IN THE VALLEY OF DEATH
Spiritual journeys in the Parvati Valley
I’ve been a sucker for good adventure memoirs since I first stumbled upon one a few years back during a Barnes & Nobel book haul. As someone who enjoys the outdoors, and pushing to (literal) new heights, reading of others’ extreme expeditions in far away places is enticing.
I remember seeing Lost in the Valley of Death: A Story of Obsession and Danger in the Himalayas by Harley Rustad at a conference book display of all places (it was a teaching conference and I still do not understand why it was there), but the title and contrast to the setting caught my eye.
Unlike other adventure stories I’ve read, this one is not written by a person directly involved in the story. Rather Rustad compiled the story through research to recreate the tale of the main character, Justin Alexander, who disappeared in the Parvati Valley in India in September 2016.
Lost in the Valley of Death recounts the story of the lifelong adventurer who had never taken a traditional path. He never finished traditional high school. Instead, loving the wilderness, he attended several wilderness training camps across adolescence. He had a brief interlude as a tech bro in Miami in his 20s, but subsequently abandoned it for a life of adventuring, living in the wilderness and, of course, documenting his journey on social media.
For Justin, the apex of his life journey was India. India has a reputation for spirituality, often drawing westerners for its radically different approach to life and philosophy. Prior to his disappearance, Justin had been in India before, and explored much of the country, even spending some weeks living in boulder caves detached from civilization. On his last pilgrimage (you can see his outgoing post on his Instagram), he left for a long hike and retreat at a holy lake high in the Parvati Valley. Only a handful of his possessions were ever found. His most devout followers still believe he is alive, living off the land somewhere in India.
The book was most interesting to me on two accounts. First, the tension of exploration and social media. As an avid national park enthusiast, it’s easy to see the impact that social media, and particularly Instagram, has had on wilderness parks in the past decade. Attendance has soared and many areas of parks make you feel as though you’re Disney Land rather than nature (Zion National Park in the summer is a great example of this). Justin felt this tension as well, reportedly not taking endorsement deals to monetize his social media, for instance.
The second thing that struck me was the seeming stereotype of India as a spiritually special place for westerners. I have never been to India, and I am not a spiritual person so perhaps I’m missing the allure. Of course, I am interested in exploring other cultures and geographies, India being a place of interest, but not for some spiritual journey. In my limited opinion, western culture seems to fetishize the contrasting perception of what India is thought to be. And popular tourist areas of India seem to know this, with Lost in the Valley of Death describing the ‘tourist traps’ and fake Saduh’s that exploit travelers. Justin dying on this journey in the Parvati Valley is also not unusual.
Overall, Lost in the Valley of Death, was a good adventure biography in a new setting I know little about. I wish I would have read the physical book, however, as I wasn’t a huge fan of the audio performance (not by the author).
Published: January 2022
Format: Audio
If you think this sounds interesting, bookmark these other great reads:
The Third Pole: Mystery, Obsession, and Death on Mount Everest by Mark Synnott (2021)
The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir by Roman Dial (2020)
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