A new location

Can it be that at the moment we improved our method of locomotion, we destroyed our ability to be civil to each other.

Being in close proximity means we are bound to respect those around us if for no other reason than we meet each other so often and it would be tiring to be at odds.
Perhaps we are at our best when we can not run away and climb aboard a vehicle, a plane or a ship and relieve our need to be civilised by being amongst strangers.

One of the characteristics of the Colonial is his 'abandon'. His larger than life persona which allows him to expand from the timidity of his child-hood background by take risks amongst a sea of foreigners.

Moving into a new untried environment one is no longer at the whim of the sarcastic, "know your place" jibe. Your history remains behind you, no longer disconcerting, no longer reminding you of your place and limitations, the uplands are clear and free, for possibly the first time, of boundaries.

Of course unless you are a wandering vagabond your new surroundings soon begin to resemble the one you left behind with all of mankind's pettiness. We bury ourselves in conformity and loose a great opportunity to become 'our own man', free from the constriction of other people's expectation.
Characteristics which make up and describe the tribe. "Smug" "brash" "disciplined" "romantic" are, depending where you were born, a trait which is as much a definition of you as the birthright in your passport. The problem is that in their native setting these characteristics mark you out as only one of many. In a new foreign country they make you interesting and, if you have the sense, you water the image to become that elegant flower which, no doubt, deep down you are !!