It was sort of like camping out in Emerson's backyard.
Quite true; he lived at Walden on property owned by Emerson. And when he wasn't at Walden, he was living rent free at Emerson's house and tending the garden. I don't think he ever went anywhere outside of Concord, except a brief, unsuccessful tutoring job in NYC and a boat ride on the Merrimack river with his brother. Concord, then and even now, is a quiet place, a small town where eccentric behavior can be charming. But transported to our century, faced with the demands of modern society and a world made small by innovation and technology, dear Thoreau would likely be one of those sad, mumbling people swept up in any city's 'help the homeless' campaign. :)