Inspired by the ultimate selfless act of a friendly traveler, calm quiet introspective teenage marksman Kino travels around the world on her talking motorcycle and best friend Hermes, visiting different countries, that are all basically city-states. The duo has no particular goal in mind other than to learn about life, the world in general and themselves. They have only one rule - never stay in one place for more than three days. Some of the places they visit turn out to be beautiful, others disturbing. Many of the places have their own culture, social order and philosophy of living, so during her endless journey, Kino witnesses the darkest sides of humanity, but also occasional triumphs and many peculiar oddities. She sometimes protects, kills, saves, ignores or helps people, but also on occasion thinks about her past, questions her whole reality once and even becomes tempted to stay at one place for longer than three days at one point.