From the ages of fifteen to twenty-five Snyder hitchhiked a lot all over the country. He wanted “to learn the birds, smells, stars of places that he traveled”. By traveling often and seeing many different places it only contributed to an enlarged sense of place for him. As Snyder stated in his speech “Entering the Fiftieth Millenium”, he never lost sense of being a person of the Pacific Northwest, and that the forests and mountains of the northwest were his territory, a place to call his home.

After traveling through much of the forests in the northwest Snyder realized that there was an extreme amount of environmental degregation going on. There was heavy logging taking place and suburbs were rapidly moving outwards from the cities. He had such a love of the Cascades that he could not

Snyder also disagrees with the consumption patterns of the emerging suburban America. “Most of the production and consumption of modern societies is not necessary or conducive to spiritual and cultural growth, let alone survival (Four Changes).” Most of this consumption is caused by greed and envy, two things that have long-caused societal problems. He offers the solutions such as planning consumer boycotts of unnecessary products and the consumption process as a whole. We must live a simple life. “Simplicity is light, carefree, neat, and loving—not a self-punishing ascetic trip (Four Changes)” Having to many possessions blocks our world view and forces us to focus on what belongs to each individual.

A great amount of emphasis was put on Eastern religions and thought by Snyder and his peers. In his essay “What Poetry Did in China” Snyder says that Chinese poetry “found a center in the tripod of humanity, spirit, and nature (Snyder, Place in Space)”, and the Beat Generation often tried to connect these three interwoven parts of life. Reading Chinese poetry made Snyder realize that clarity a certain level of clarity can be expressed and reached through poetry, and at the same time “intensify human relationships, elevate civilization, and improve public morals (Snyder, Place in Space)”.

The Beat Generation was a group of writers and freethinkers who felt they were finally free of the stronghold on poets by universities and the writing industry that was “draining the imaginative life out of some many intellectuals of the world” (Snyder, Place in Space). Although this merging generation was educated, they often stayed clear of academic, business, and government carreers. They found it to be “better to live simply, be poor, and have time to wander and write (Snyder, Place in Space)” rather than hold nine-to-five jobs. They often used marijuana and cheap wine to fuel their creative energy in writing and other forms of art.

There was a very intimate relationship developed between Snyder and Kerouac. He compared their wandering through the Cascade and Olympic Mountains with wondering Buddhist monks of ancient times. The freedom of Zen monks who traveled all over China, Tibet, and Mongolia really appealed to Snyder. One day Snyder said to Kerouac “real Buddhists are able to walk around the countryside (Snyder on Kerouac)”. Kerouac agreed and they went on one final trip of the season out into the mountains.

Snyder and the Beat Generation spent much time thinking and discussing the nature of the human individual. In Snyder’s essay “Notes on the Beat Generation”, he links the beats to Occidentals in Zen Buddhism. The Occidentals practiced existentialism, which was a modern pacifist anarchist movement. There are clear links between the cultural revolution beginning in the United States with the Zen Buddhists of China.

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