Sidewalk Alchemy is...

A laugh with a stranger

a flash of insight on a walk

an unexpected breathtaking view

or a strange coincidence.

It's the moment when the mundane turns magical, and your perspective changes as a result.

Sidewalk Alchemy was created by Dan Flag, an Alaskan writer and licensed NYC guide living in Manhattan with more than 30 years experience wandering on 4 continents.

Our mission is to share the why and how of wandering, in print and in person, because we know that these skills and mindset have the power to change individual lives, and the whole world.

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Thanks for visiting,

Dan Flag

WHY?

Our global industrial system produces many wonders. But the biggest by-product is incredible amounts of unnecessary suffering.

Each of us is pushed to produce and consume, submerged in environments which isolate, alienate, and indoctrinate us, causing us stress, trauma, and pain.

We offer an antidote: wandering.

Wandering is using intuition to explore territory. It's how our ancestors explored and settled this whole planet, and when you scratch the surface, you find wandering at the heart of most important advances in human culture and technology.

That's because wandering shows us what we don't know that we don't know, dispersing the trances of industrial society and expanding our individual maps of reality.

Despite the pressures of modern life, people everywhere still laugh, create, and find joy. Wandering connects us to the pulse of human history, to the wisdom of great wanderers like Paracelsus, Walt Whitman, and Guy Debord, who stepped off the path of productivity to connect with people, place, and possibility, and made the world better for it.

Over time, the wanderer builds perspective, becoming more observant, discerning, and compassionate, and begins to develop their own version of what we call Houses of Fire, a metaphorical and someday physical hearth and forge where others seeking relief can find refuge and resources.

Our philosophy is simple:

  1. Industrial society increases Total Gross Suffering.
  2. Wandering is an antidote, because the wanderer accumulates perspective, curiousity, and compassion for those around them.
  3. Wanderers create Houses of Fire - metaphorical places of hearth and forge where people can find refuge and resources to build something better.

TYPES OF WANDERERS

There are at least three types of Wanderers, each looking for something different. People can move between these categories frequently, or their focus can change gradually over time. The wanderer's focus is strongly correlated to where they're at on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

  1. Nomads search for resources.
  2. Pilgrims search for meaning and belonging.
  3. Wizards search for wisdom and understanding.

HOW TO WANDER

We follow three rules that help us break out of the industrial trance and get into the wandering mindset:

  1. Make frequent, frivolous decisions.
  2. Vary the intensity.
  3. Respond to subtle input.

I am autonomous being.
I neither lead nor follow.
I take and I give.
I walk the line between will and acceptance.
No one above me. No one below.