Learning is important during apprenticeship as well as the time after graduation as a craftsman. How this is taking place can be seen in the light of individual dreams and ambitions as well as the possibilities in the venues the young person is situated in or is trying to create for himself in the years after this.  Historically travelling as a journeyman has been a possibility for learning and further education for young craftsmen (Werner, 1981; Ericson, 1984). A practice related to the guilds as organizations, their need for human capital investment by keeping apprentices as cheap labour and the conditions of the geographic location (Werner, 1981; Candréus, 2024). Various crafts have different conditions for such practice, which however has been common in Western World (Werner, 1981; Logue, 1983).

This kind of travelling as a skilled worker has been an institutionalized way for youth in the transition to adulthood, “as ritual play with separation and social distance” (Adler, 1985 p. 351) whether in England, America, Germany or France. Through history there has also been a “obligation” related to the specific crafts to share knowledge across borders and contribute to the culture and development of the craft also in a more international sense (Werner, 1981; Ericson, 1984; Adler, 1985 p. 346).

Today traveling to see the world is a common everyday practice, possible for all and most often related to leisure activities (Ericson, 1984; Adler, 1985). Still some young people are travelling as journeymen today, even though there are not many of them and they differentiate from other travelers (Hartmann, 2021). In a Nordic tradition such a person is called ‘a naver’ which is a shortening of the word ‘Scandinaver’ and thus a notion relating to Scandinavia, as well as young nonmarried craftsmen without economic obligations (Apelgren, 2018). Historically young craftsmen’s choice for such travelling has been caused by a search for job in the lack of a welfare system in case of unemployment, but also by the opportunity to qualify to become a master, learn new skills, see the world and gain personal experience (Werner, 1981; Ericson, 1984). UNESCO has nominated this tradition as “intangible cultural heritage” in 2015, and even it has existed for 700 years there is limited research (Hartmann, 2021 p. 271).

By looking at empirical data about travelling as a journeyman - historical as well as more present - we are in search of knowledge of the motives for such travelling and learning also in a life-perspective, and especially for young craftsmen travelling today. A knowledge which can be seen as relevant, also for the interest in learning mobility in Europe (European Commission, 24th. September 2024). Thus, the focus of our research question is what motivates the young craftsmen for such travelling after VET in the light of learning, and what possibilities arise after the journey based on that?

The understanding of journeyman travelling is based on Bourdieu’s (2005) interest in practice as an interaction of structures and dispositions among the youth. Such structures relate to the craft, the practitioners and the educational setting in which the person creates meaning an identity (Jørgensen, 2009). The subject and professionalism are in a dual educational system, a combination of socialization in the internship and control by the labor market and the state. This leads to a reality in those structures but also to an interpretation, identity reaction and meaning making for the apprentices, so there are an objective and a subjective reality. In our interpretation the skilled worker choosing travelling already is part of the objective reality however the subjective reality develops during the travel.

Research on the travelling of journeymen is limited in European and Nordic contexts and the research on the tradition and its purpose in Denmark include only few publications: a book, one research article and a yearbook, but most important is a systematic analysis based on memories collected by the Danish national museum. Appelgren (1918) have collected diaries and interviews spread over a longer historical period while Longues (1983) article are empirical based on memories from1951-1953. Based on this we have chosen to focus on nine journeymen from six professions traveling from 1891 to 2014. Hence empirical material is going across the two world wars that influenced the possibilities for travelling, the economic crises between the wars, the industrialization influencing the production forms, as well as the development of transportation. We use a narrative analytical approach (Phoenix, 2013; Thomsen, Bo & Christensen, 2016) that will allow us to analyze how certain themes appear as essential and are given a special role in the narrator's life and understandings of himself. We focus on the individual way of telling and adding meaning in the narrator's life, and how this at the same time contributes to a broader historical and collective narrative about a contemporary and societal perspective. Thus, in the analysis, a distinction is made between the large and the small narratives, which are seen as complementary (Phoenix, 2016: 60; Georgakopoulou, 2006). The large stories are expressed through the biographical content that appears in the individual's descriptions and so to say draw the 'big' narrative in the individual's identity construction and overall biography, in which a power and class perspective also makes itself visible. The small stories are expressed through the description of what the individual does in specific situations and in everyday life. The self-assessments that unfold at the same time can contribute to a macro perspective – e.g. about the role and positions of men and craftsmen in society and the individual narrator's understanding of this. The narrative analysis is divided into two parts, with selected biographical narratives and a cross-cutting analysis, which addresses our overall research question. Based on several readings we have coded for: 1) the arguments for choosing traveling and the masters or others influence on that 2) the social relations and cultural meetings during the travel 3) the development of skills and competences and 4) the skilled workers as a group differing from other groups.

The analysis shows that young Danish craftsmen’s motivation for such travelling across European countries after VET are closely connected to their life-story and related to dreams about their future career path in VET, access to further education or for some also related to leaving VET. It shows how the grand narratives of society (e.g. about the importance of being a skilled craftsman) are reflected in the journeymen's self-understandings, and in the small narratives of the individual journeymen in their argumentations for specific choices and actions (e.g. why they choose such travel). It shows how the small stories are connected to and part of the grand stories. At the same time, it reflects how narratives change and develop historically over time and in line with societal changes that have also changed social structures and power relations. It is through such changes that we can identify what motivates young craftsmen today for journeymen travelling. Thus, the results can be used to understand, on the one hand, what young craftsmen find important in their continued development and learning of their profession (e.g. both independence and belonging to a community), and on the other hand, what can be done at an educational level to support young craftsmen being motivated for travelling with the purpose of learning, exchange knowledge and form communities across Europe. Based on this we suggest that we can learn from this if the mobility of young craftsmen in Europe should be supported. Such intentions are part of the purpose in Danish VET and masters and teachers own experiences could be a way to motivate and inform new students in VET. Hence, from a European perspective, it might be important with further research on this to reach the goals about mobility (European Commission, 24th. September 2024).

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