When I didn't have a car, I thought that there ought to be more caravans. Afterall, I didn't like having to walk from one town to another town for several months getting hammered all the way by floaters and those guys who go "Icky Icky."
But, I think that if this happens to me, then it must be happening to all the caravans, too. It is a hostile world out there, so perhaps the caravan leaders have made the sound economic choice to go out as few times as possible to minimize losses. Afterall, every time they go out they're looking for hired hands to help defend them.
Perhaps what could be incorporated more often than caravans are small groups of travellers heading out to another town, perhaps one to three people. They're just wanderers, couriers, mysterious strangers, or smalltime traders that can't afford their own caravans. You walk into a bar and the guy in the back corner says something to the effect of "Me an'a cuppla boys are goin' out to Reno," or the distressed lady near the billboard says as you approach, "My mother and I are two scared women looking for someone to help take us to San Francisco. Would a big, strong man like you give us a hand?"
Of course, sometimes these fellow stragglers are nothing but two-bit thieves looking to make off with a gun or money. Or, they could simply be confidence women looking to carjack you. Hey, it *is* a dark and dangerous world.
