GUA 56 · LU

The nomad sets up his camp, where none have chosen to live, and kindles a modest blaze. None but the homeless would call this a home, but like the flame his home is wherever his fuel is. He must take what he needs and move on. What he carries is familiar to him. His best friend is a small, hot fire, without much smoke or signal. The rest of the world is new or strange, until he makes himself welcome, or until he can feel at home. If he cannot he might need to leave quickly. He will want to stay clear here, and remain his own judge. There is a challenging wisdom in keeping his security minimal. But a diplomat from the wider world has no diplomatic immunity.

The stranger approaching the inn at the edge of the town has very little outside of himself to tell what he is to the others, whether he might be a pilgrim or bum, or a tourist gone native, a merchant, a fugitive from the good, or a refugee from the bad, the newest citizen here or a lesson painfully learned. Those who would keep moving freely practice a code of conduct and honor, trying to keep a buildup of trust which one bad rogue can destroy without effort. The benefits of doubt, the presumptions of innocence, are in delicate states of balance. With careful reserve and intelligence, free agents traveling lightly explore the landscape beyond the great watershed. Most of their souvenirs are memories or stories. Much depends upon what they can carry. A mouthful of sustenance, and a handful to spare, is great wealth, perhaps between weeks of having much less. Thus a modest fulfillment is all that the wanderer needs. He carries few tools, but each one has thousands of uses. Friendships, like a flame, can be easy to kindle but hard to hold on to. Nearly all his relations are distant, yet his best skill is making good will out of suspicion and welcome out of strangeness.

Walkabout, vision quest; perpetual novelty, insecurity; caravanserai, inn, shelter Portability, light travel, roughing it, going native; ad hoc life, living without a net Earning a welcome; tact, wit, modesty, self-reliance, versatility, a few good tools Dynamic equilibrium, self-sustaining systems; the tactics of intrusion, diplomacy Varieties of people who wander, as a source of uncertainty, curiosity & suspicion