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The painting maintains the painterly style (Bouguereau with visible brushstrokes, 19th-century realism, textured pictorial representation, chiaroscuro lighting, soft focus, and no defined contours) and composition. However, the figure is now at a crossroads in a forest. The light of the setting sun casts reflections on his hair, stirred by a very light breeze. He sits on the ground, the contents of his sacks scattered about: shells and colored stones, bird feathers, a dented bell, a key, a jade ring shaped like a vine stem and its leaves (an elven engagement jewel), a rusty fork, a piece of moldy cheese, a colorful handkerchief, a mummified lizard, a shard of broken glass, and so on. In his hands, he holds a map, which he studies intently, though a certain joy is discernible in his expression, as if he were imagining the wonders of the journey. Beside him, his jupak lies on the ground.