The Vagabond wandered from one place to another, aimlessly, hypnotized by strangers leaving and arriving at the station. Some were travelers, the others were regulars, but all moving to a specific destination, with one goal in mind–except him. He felt that he was the center of a vast universe where the Earth’s axis of rotation was just above his head.

He wandered without embarrassment and without anyone: alone, in the middle of an ocean.

Without judgment and analysis: alone, at the center of an overflowing world.

No future and nothing left behind: alone, in the middle of a clock, living to its rhythm.

While sitting, he thought being a traveler was surely the toughest job on Earth. How can we live this way with confidence, moving, observing, meeting and never judging? Agreeing to be a simple footprint that will be blown by the wind, describing in a line or a few words the rich history of these places. Feeling what does not speak, what is hidden and changed by modernity, seeing over and through, upside down and backwards, from all angles except the right one. Letting go his impulsive decisions, being guided by his heart, staying strong and sensitive, being open to people but not naive, kind, and not innocent.

Playing the chameleon to be accepted and playing the ostrich when his values are attacked, between 2, between 3 or even between 20 suits to adopt but still only playing one character, the one of a traveler who must to see everything that this planet has to hide. The one of a Vagabond.

As if he had to become a perfect human being, ready to meet anything that will cross his path: adventures, challenges, dangers, unknown hazards, storms, and human indifference. Accepting happiness and sorrow as if they were one and all. Agreeing to be depressed and happy, knowing that they come and go like clouds. Understanding that the value of a coin is greater than the number engraved on it and the collection of them only add a burden to his next destination.

The Vagabond realized that to fully enjoy his travels, he had to be whole, the center of the Earth and a simple grain of sand, the teacher and the student, parent and child, guide and apprentice, all at the same time.

He remembers the time when he would have acted better, all those times when he was too confident, almost arrogant to himself, all those times he has not learned the lesson he should have learned. Because nobody knows where their feet will lead them to, he must keep an open mind to every new situation.

******

He wandered from one place to another, with all this baggage in mind, using it as best he can. Why wasn’t he acting the same way at home? Why does he have to leave to feel like this?

Despite the bag he was dragging all day, the weight already seemed lighter than the daily routine back home, the weight of the feeling to always owe something to someone, or a company, the duty to always be the best, to be on time, to pay on time, hoping to climb the imaginary career ladder, to go as far as possible at school, waiting for the rewards and satisfaction from others.

The Vagabond understood that being a traveler was not only the most difficult job in the world but also a quest to become a better human being. To become a better person than the one he was yesterday, that’s the definition he really liked.

And the Vagabond became a traveler. A real one.

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