The series is a modern day western. Hobo, whose background, origins, motivation, and ultimate destination are never explained, wanders from town to town and befriends those who need help. At the end of each episode, despite the people he helped attempting to adopt him, he would head off by himself, preferring to be on his own.
The series was a revival of the 1960s series of the same name.
This is version 3 of "The Littlest Hobo", or the second tv series reboot of the original standalone 1958 film of "The Littlest Hobo". The alternate French-Canadian title of the 1970s-1980s was, unsurprisingly, "Le Vagabond".
In fact, not even the original film, which the 1960s tv series was based upon, explained Hobo's origin story. It just starts with him sitting on a train. This means that all 3 versions could be watched in any random order, as there's no pilot, or origin episode. One fun theory is that Doctor Who and The Littlest Hobo are the same idea, of a traveller always on the move, helping people, not staying long, then moves on.