What are the motifs in A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson?

The journey is a recurring idea in the book. This book is very much about leaving home, experiencing something difficult, and returning home, in this case, so Bryson can write about the experience. Bryson and Katz leave home in March as two out-of-shape men with no real experience in the wilderness. However, the trail wears them down, making them capable of exertion and survival through the use of their wits.