I grew up believing that when people all over the world called someone a “vagabond” they meant exactly the same type of people.

These guys, easily recognizable by their decked out hats and prams.

I of course eventually learned that no, vagabonds don’t look like this everywhere which made me weirdly nostalgic for the vagabonds of my past. They were this colorful part of my childhood, always drunk but never mean or unpleasant. They were like slightly wobbly traveling wizards, often referred to as “country road knights”.

One asked my school if he would be allowed to sleep in the schoolyard when he passed through the area once a year which they allowed (he naturally woke up to a ring of children standing around him every time but it seemed to have been worth it for a safe place to sleep) and my housemate had a local vagabond who’d often sit on a bench outside the school, as always drunk but never bothering anyone. Last winter I encountered one who made a bit of money by shoveling snow outside a store while being nothing but pleasant.

I have no idea if Danish vagabonds have some type of code they live by because they seem to be very dedicated to just living their life and bothering no one, and in popular culture they’re always depicted as drunk and poor but carefree people in tune with nature.