In review the virtues we’ve neglected as a mass society, one set of them that comes to mind is the virtues obtained by the sojourner. Many small band societies had some kind of rites of passage, a transition into adulthood that was marked by leaving home on their own. The aboriginal walkabouts are one example. These journeys serve their purpose well, as they provide for substantial personal development, a good thing for the individual, and the right thing for the society.
Few in today’s society realize the physical development that occurs on such a non-motorized journey, not even star athletes. While at UConn I went on practice hikes with a star soccer athlete, who found the physical exertion grueling. I never ran before in my life when I hooked up for a run with a nephew who had been running five miles a day. This was towards the end of the Pacific Crest Trail and I had to keep waiting for my nephew to catch up with me. The 2:32 marathon I eventually ran was done on training of only 55 miles a week, because of my previous “training” as a sojourner. I’ve had Marines and special ops military tip their hat to us because carrying 60 pound packs for twenty miles a day over mountainous terrain for months exceeded their training.
The heavy packs exceeded what early nomads carried, of course, but on the other hand a twenty mile average would seem like nothing to them. My point being that our bodies were meant to perform at a much higher level than we normally experience in large mass society, even for most of our athletes. One tremendous virtue of a non-motorized journey is to get them to that level.
