pathfinders
First ones through
Pathfinders are people who go ahead to find or make a route through unfamiliar territory.
The term applies literally to scouts or explorers who mark trails for others to follow, and figuratively to pioneers in any field: The early feminists were pathfinders for the movement.
In military use, pathfinders are troops who parachute in advance to mark drop zones or landing areas.
Those who open territory
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- visionariesThose who anticipate change
- groundbreakersInnovators who start trends
- innovatorsCreators of novel things
disruptors · inventors · originators · architects · trendsetters · vanguard · avant-garde · forerunners
Those who venture unfamiliar lands
- scoutsInformation gatherers ahead
- adventurersThose seeking exciting experiences
- voyagersLong-distance travelers
- discoverersThose who find new things
expedition · pioneers · trailblazers · trekkers · navigators · guides · rangers · mountaineers
Navigating through physical spaces
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
- orienteeringCompetitive terrain navigation sport
- cartographyCreating geographic representations
- mapsGeographic visual representations
GPS · landmarks · bearings · routes · tracking · scouting · terrain · topography
trailblazers
Those who open territory
- pioneersFirst to explore territory
- visionariesThose who anticipate change
- groundbreakersInnovators who start trends
innovators · disruptors · inventors · originators · architects · trendsetters · vanguard · avant-garde · forerunners · leaders
explorers
Those who venture unfamiliar lands
- scoutsInformation gatherers ahead
- adventurersThose seeking exciting experiences
- voyagersLong-distance travelers
discoverers · expedition · pioneers · trailblazers · trekkers · navigators · guides · rangers · mountaineers · seafarers
wayfinding
Navigating through physical spaces
- compassDevice showing cardinal directions
- orienteeringCompetitive terrain navigation sport
- cartographyCreating geographic representations
maps · GPS · landmarks · bearings · routes · tracking · scouting · terrain · topography · blazing
scouts
Information gatherers ahead
- badgesWorn symbols of status
- troopsMilitary personnel collectively
- campingOutdoor recreational lodging
outdoors · leadership · service · jamboree · uniforms · merit · community · mentorship · skills · survival
- Westward ExpansionOregon Trail, Lewis and Clark, covered wagons, pioneers, frontier
- Adventurersexplorers, adventurers, pioneers, trailblazers, voyagers
- ExplorersColumbus, Christopher Columbus, Magellan, Cortez, Marco Polo
- library servicesyouth services, bookmobiles, reference desk, reference librarian, mobile libraries
- military personnelsoldiers, soldier, midshipmen, officers, troops
- navigatorsnavigators, navigator, helmsman, wayfinders, steersman
pathfindershomebodies
People preferring domestic life
shut-ins · settlers · stick-in-the-muds · hermits · couch potatoes
pathfinderstraditionalists
Upholders of established customs
conservatives · conventionalists · old guard · laggards · conformists