While some magicians choose their path, most, especially the Shamanic traditions are chosen.

I like this view of the traveller, and cetiah, if you dont understand this tradition, maybe you just arent one. I agree with man + the elementals for his spirits. I cant really see a traveller summoning the guardian spirits he has left behind, or a worker or fighter to do his bidding. I do however see combat as air, man as manipulation, and water as detection (how I would put it if I were ever to create a traveler).

For motivation, I dont really see one running the shadows, though Im sure he/she would be a hilarious NPC to deal with.

Freedom, just freedom.

Hmm, NOT owning a vehicle is freedom? Well, that would depend on the wanderer Im sure. Owning a vehicle to me would be a freedom to travel without being restricted but also loosing that connection with people since one mostly travels alone in a vehicle (unless you feel a community within traffic stops at 7 am on the freeway…)

Ok, im nitpicking here. I can easily see this tradition as a version of Trickster, Dog (the homeless tramp kinda thing) or similar already existing mentor if one wants to walk that path but also a very nice path for a wandering hermetic.

...Letsee, Freedom from parking issues (such as finding a spot, lot fees and tickets) Freedom from monthly Insurance bills, Freedom from the high costs for reparis, Freedom from stress of worrying about being late while sitting in traffic jams...

Yeah, I can see not owning a vehicle a type of freedom.

BTW, I commute via bike (the pedaled version).

--Sammy on a Ten Speed......woooohooo!

wooohoooo!? That should be the bike bells...
Rrrrrrriiing rrrrrrriiing!

...I actually have one of those super loud air horns that you pump up with a tyre pump. It is about the only thing that those gets twits in their little 4 wheeled cocooons to look and see that I am there as they drift nonchalantly into my lane.

Somehow blaaaaatttttt! just doesn't have the right feeling.

Not that I'm aware of. But then I don't ride a bike (I've fallen off them too often in the past. I lack any sense of balance).

Geez, some people take things so personally.

---
I'll take a shot:


Travelers are overcome with a great wanderlust, almost universal in their tradition. In fact, the more they rely on magic, the more they feel the need to be on the move. They are inclined, almost supernaturally driven, to experience new sensations, places, experiences, philosophies. Some magicians believe that the Traveler is actually drawn to some imperceptible flux in mana flow that only they seem to be able to intuit, a fact only partially supported by that Travelers shun wards, dead zones, and places of recent spellcasting (even their own).

Travelers also share a unique relationship with the spiritual world, and most spirits seem reluctant to speak of Traevelers or go near them unless ordered to do so. Travelers themselves avoid manifested spirits when possible, intuiting a feeling of "wrongness" from a manifested spirit. Despite this, many have been reported to love chatting with spirits on the astral and more than a couple Travelers have spent their lives seeking guidance, advice, and communion with spirits in the astral.

All Travelers seem to feel the Wanderlust and the Wrongness, but react to it very differently. Some Travelers seek out the Wanderlust as their spiritual calling, others treat as something they're running from - forever fearful of non-existant phantoms hunting them. Others yet seem like they are looking for something, forever searching. Others are simply curious. Some fight the Wanderlust as best they can, doggedly fighting against their own sanity in the process.

The very nature of the Traveler tradition, ensures very little conformity or group unity in their numbers, and most cling stubbornly to their individual roots, including such aspects of their "roots" into their magical tradition. Most will carry an assortment of baubles, trinkets, and particular behaviors picked up in their wanderings and use them as badges of honor. Those that weild focii have an equally eclectic mix.

It is a peculiar oddity that Travelers regard the spirits they summon very differently than the spirits they encounter in the world; completely percieving them differently. Mages of other traditions have yet to explain this issue, and most Travelers seem reluctant, or even unable, to explain it. However, almost all Travelers share this idiosyncracy in common -- they are not aware of their summon spirits. They seem to be aware of the ritual used in summoning the spirit, though not its exact effect, but they remain completely oblivious to even their own bound manifested spirits.

Detection: Air
Most Travelers can hear voices, or music, or secrets in the universe around them. By whispering a brief conversation back and concentrating intently, those voices can manifest into an Air Spirit, although the Traveler will remain oblivious to its purpose even while it fulfills the Traveler's desires that invoked it. The Air spirit takes the form of light and sound, dancing to a random tune only it and the Traveler seems to hear. These spirits can be a source of great knowledge to the Traveler, who may not be fully aware of where the insight comes from.

Health: Earth
A Traveler's many wanderings make them adept at survival practices and familiar the use of animals, plants, and junk for all sorts of useful things. Some Travelers, however, can go one step further, allowing the animals, plants, and junk nearby to react to them, making themselves inherently useful and fulfilling the traveler's desire by manifesting as an Earth spirit capable of healing the injured and curing the sick.

Illusion: Fire
While summoned "fire spirits" are very rare, local sources of fire and heat do tend to react with near sentience, forming into images and sounds at the Traveler's slightest mental suggestions.

Manipulation: Water
Perhaps one of the largest of the Traveler Mysteries that hermetic mages haven't been able to explain, is the peculiar appearance of the Traveler's water spirit whenever he desires some task be done and is willing to undergo a somewhat painful ritual to make it so. Invoking the complexity of every language the Traveler speaks, he summons forth a true water spirit, manifesting and all, to which he seems (thankfully) oblivious to but confuses the hell out of everyone else - a jolly snowman with a top hat, eyes of coal, and a carrot for a nose.

Combat: Man
Very little is more awe-inspiring than seeing a Traveler in a full-blown epic-chant; the kind that literally draw the intention of the ancient heroes of old, minions of the damned, explorers of ancient myth, and other epic heroes come to aid the Traveler in his time of need. Most of these exist as pure phantoms, constantly changing and shifting, never sticking with a cohesive identity. The more far and wild a Traveler's adventures, the more exotic these heroes tend to be.

This is kind of what I was saying when I said talk less about WHAT he is and more about WHO he is. Focus less an absolutes, "Travellers don't like cars" and more on the subjectives "Travelers need freedom of transportation and movement" that can be subjectively interpreted from individual to individual.

...I'd prefer a cricket bat to the fender, but in some countries that can get you shot.