Exploration with Intent

Perhaps it’s natural for humans to seek patterns in randomness.

This is the underlying premise of randonauting, an activity that allows explorers the chance to set an intent during a session – a hike or an afternoon walk – that will distill some type of meaningful outcome from the chaos.

Randonauting has gained considerable traction during this time of social distancing and lockdown, as it gives people a fun, safe and interesting way for people to explore their own neighborhoods and towns.

To become a Randonaut, all you need is a smartphone, the internet and a free app called Randonautica. The app uses a quantum random number generator (QRNG) to plot coordinates within a defined radius of a user’s location. But that’s only half of the journey because the app’s creators believe – and many fellow randonauts will attest to the phenomenon as well – that a person’s intention influences what they find within their defined parameters.

The app encourages users to mentally set their intention before exploring. In this way, randonauts are able to discover coincidences that exist outside their normal patterns of experience. Or, as Joëlla Berkhout, a randonaut from the Netherlands pointed out, “I feel like it’s just that you start noticing things you’d usually not pay attention to because you’re looking for that.”

Whether a person feels guided by the quantum mechanics of the universe, or by their individual intent, randonauting gives its users a reason to get out and connect with their environment.

Morgan Litrenta, a graduate student at Texas State University, began exploring San Marcos via Randonautica after seeing the randonaut hashtag trend on TikTok. Once the campus shut down for quarantine, Litrenta decided to give the app a try, setting various intentions such as, ‘something interesting’ or ‘something to make me happy.’

According to Litrenta, intent is the most important part of the experience. “It gives you what you ask for, but not literally,” she said. “It was fun to see weird parts of San Marcos I’d never been to before, even though I’ve lived here for four or five years now.”

Her adventuring through San Marcos took her to places such as a sustainable farm, the Veterans Park off of Hopkins, and an abandoned access point into the river. When she set an intention for a place that would make her happy, Litrenta said the coordinates took her to Hernandez Middle School, where the marquee sign out front read, “Have a safe summer.”

In addition to exploration, Litrenta used her randonauting activities for the intent of improving her surroundings. “It was fun just to get out,” she said. “I took a trash bag and picked up trash from wherever I went.”

Though the concepts of randonauting can seem somewhat daunting – in a few online communities, users can go deep into the metaphysical aspects as well as the quantum mathematics – using the app is simple. Once downloaded, you can watch the tutorial video that explains randonauting. There are also helpful tips and tenets to help you begin, as well as links to the online communities on Reddit and Twitter. The app will prompt you to enter a few random variables and you’re off.

The Randonautica app allows you to adjust your radius in measurements of meters, so you never have to walk or drive too far from your starting location. Another bonus of randonauting is the active online groups that meet up virtually to document and discuss each other’s findings. This is especially beneficial during this time of social distancing because it fosters community in a way that helps reassure us that not everything is uncertain and chaotic. Randonauting gives urban explorers a chance to see the world through new eyes while preserving the health and safety of those around us.