Century-old methods of navigation that help travellers identify location, time and trajectory have often served to provide individuals and communities with a sense of security and rootedness in an ever-moving world. They help pinpoint our place in that world, map the borders and contours of our physical space and navigate the landscapes of, and spaces between, “home” and “abroad”. Yet such understandings are intrinsically culturally bound, reflecting differing traditions of text- and oral-based navigation systems. As a result, intercultural encounters across national boundaries trigger a process of disorientation and reorientation which challenge participants to question their perspectives on the world around them. This paper explores the intercultural negotiation of competing navigation systems between apparently settled and disrupted migrant nomadic communities, revealing how each draws on a culturally specific world view, increasingly challenged as relationships deepen and a process of self-reflection begins.