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In Guy Debord's words: "ONE OF THE BASIC situationist practices is the dérive [literally: “drifting”], a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances. Dérives involve playful-constructive behavior and awareness of psychogeographical effects, and are thus quite different from the classic notions of journey or stroll."
The idea here is that exploring space in this way will open one up to its unseen 'psychogeographical contours', particularly in urban areas, which are all about psychogeography. This is in contrast to the usual movements of urban doyens, who move along the same paths (work - home, home - club) again and again without exploring their environments.
The original article 'Theory of the Dérive' by Guy Debord: http://www2.cddc.vt.edu/situationist/si/theory.html