To Stay On or Go Off the Beaten Path
An inquiry
Recent travels in unknown landscapes had me reflect on the merits of staying on the beaten path versus going off the beaten path. I remember precisely when these thoughts came to me. My husband, Juergen and I were staying in a farmhouse/chateau in the Pyrenees region of France, just over the Spanish border. It was Spring. Foliage on the trees was still sparse, so you could see through the trees across the rolling landscape into the valleys where cattle and horses grazed. And on some trees, the fluffy, gentle leaves began to provide that mantle of promise and change.
This particular morning, we set out on a hike chosen from an app. The trail passed right beside our farmhouse. It led up a mountain path to a little chapel on one of the highest peaks. We followed the well-worn dirt track. The terrain varied between rough and steep and gentle undulations. We stopped along the way to take in the gorgeous views. It was Easter weekend. People were out enjoying the holiday in this stunning environment and superb weather. When we reached the chapel, we joined others, taking in the mountain-top views and inspecting the decaying chapel. From this elevation, we could see several well-trodden paths leading up to this tiny chapel from the farmhouses and villages below.
For our return trek down the mountain, we chose to go off the beaten path. Juergen loves to design “loops,” meaning he avoids, with a passion retracing his tracks. Therefore, he plotted a new route using GPS. It started with an easy walk along the flat terrain, while looking for ways to cut across the fields and down the mountain. We had no path to follow. We could see our farmhouse way below in one of the valleys. As long as we could see our destination, where lunch was waiting, all was good.
We were adventurers carving our path off the beaten track. We climbed under and over fences. There was no thought at the time of meeting wild boar, or wolves, falling down a trap, or getting tangled in stinging nettles. Descending very steep areas, trying to avoid loose stones, and choosing between slippery rocks to jump across babbling brooks dulled my adventurous spirit. To my surprise, I voiced out loud the benefits of staying on the beaten path. It struck me that I had just experienced a shift. For the first time in my life, I wished for security over adventure and risk-taking.
My inquiry was launched
After that hike up and down the mountain, for the rest of our journey, every place I went, my curiosity and inquiry was this:
“What are the benefits of staying on the beaten track, and what are the benefits of going off the beaten track?”
My first answer came simply and quickly: staying on the beaten path is a story of safety, sticking to the known, while going off the beaten path is to forge one’s own way to enter the unknown, uncertainty, and possibly risk.
Both can be a story of survival.
A more nuanced, enlarged, and expansive answer continues to emerge. I instinctively want to defend the merits of going off the beaten track, as that has always been my default operating system.
Benefits of staying on the beaten path
As we hiked up the well-worn, beaten path to the little chapel, we stopped from time to time to admire the scenery and take photographs. We were relaxed focused on the environment and our enjoyment. There was no concern about being lost or in danger. While the terrain was occasionally physically demanding in places, there were no mental or emotional demands. Many had hiked this trail before us. We had no worries. We were on the beaten path.
Benefits of going off the beaten path
Choosing to go alone down the mountain to create new experiences and explore at our own pace was exciting. It offered flexibility and freedom, allowing us to challenge ourselves and to live into our values of adventure, growth, and learning. We encountered dangerous obstacles at times. I was scared of falling and injuring myself. I remembered our host at the farmhouse had told us his partner had fallen the week before and broken her leg while hiking. Yet, we made it back. We lived to tell the story with pride and exhilaration.
Personal Pondering from my travels
This inquiry became a theme for the rest of our European trip as we visited medieval towns, trekking through castles, cathedrals, and museums. I wondered who, throughout history, followed the “beaten path” and who followed the beat of their own drum and “go off the beaten path”? In visiting Toulouse-Lautrec’s museum in Albi, he clearly chose to go off the beaten path, as did Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona with his unique architectural designs. What artists have NOT gone off the beaten path? What legacies they have left!
As I trundled up and down the beaten paths, many hollowed-out ruts by hundreds of years of peasants and soldiers ascending and descending in service of their lords and masters, I wondered about them. The oppressed and marginalized may have felt safer in servitude than in taking risks or challenging the system. Even today, all over the world, individuals who challenge the status quo or attempt to go off the beaten path may face discrimination or violence, or both. In such situations, staying on the beaten path is unlikely a choice but a necessity. The probability of coercion, intimidation, or violence, even death influences that choice.
As we develop as a society, our collective challenge is the need for more equitable and just social structures where everyone has access to the resources and support they need to explore their chosen paths and the freedom to do so without fear of reprisal.
This is our human story
Staying on the beaten path is a story of survival.
Going off the the beaten path is a story of survival.
It’s the migrant’s story.
The soldier’s story.
The teenager’s story.
The adventure’s story.
The zealot’s story.
The story of the artist.
The story of the anarchist.
The story of wanderlust.
The story of courage that comes from dissatisfaction and disease.
Carving a way rather than fitting in to accommodate.
The story of difference.
Both bucking the system and toeing the line.
Living with contradictions.
Acting on contradictions.
Sticking with the known, staying on the well-worn beaten path is a form security.
It’s safe.
It’s expected.
It’s demanded.
It’s rewarded.
It’s acknowledged.
It’s known.
It’s easier.
It delivers.
It’s measurable.
It may pay.
It may mean less effort, less knowledge, less experience, less threat, less fear, less risk, less harm, less effort.
And it may be coerced!
What’s being sought?
Security?
Comfort?
Speed?
Efficiency?
Compliance?
Control?
Power?
Survival?
Or something else?
What about creativity and innovation?
What about excitement and exhilaration?
What about awe and wonder?
What about inspiration and exultation?
What about dreams and longings?
What about love and belonging?
What about the beauty and the gift of nature?
What about what’s around the corner and over the hill?
What new possibilities and delights open up?
You decide.
Unshackling is where we consider our personal histories
Drop by when you might be wondering about your stories of breaking free. You’ll find you are not alone. There is wonder, delight and healing in sharing personal histories. They are unique yet universal.
