Interesting viewpoint. Of course, once I say I am a writer everyone perks up. I was inclined to keep quiet about that. But, maybe it would be safer to trumpet it. As for plan deviation, yeah, we have a circuit we always make. I have met people coming down little hiking trails off the mountain, who knew exactly who I was and where I was from sight-unseen thanks to the local grapevine.
There are things I could tell you about my previous journeys...interesting things like the time I interviewed a cocaine cook and then wrote about it later...(see blog). They aren't really for online conversations, but very interesting.