{"id":159188,"date":"2020-06-07T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2020-06-07T15:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=159188"},"modified":"2021-07-06T12:49:53","modified_gmt":"2021-07-06T19:49:53","slug":"in-praise-of-taking-the-long-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/in-praise-of-taking-the-long-way","title":{"rendered":"In Praise of Taking the Long Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

A version of this story appeared in the summer 2020 issue of\u00a0Uncommon Path<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

When I lived in Los Angeles, I developed the habit of exploring the city by following a simple rule: Never get from start to finish the same way. There was beauty in covering 10 as-the-crow-flies miles in a meandering walk that often doubled the distance. I discovered alleys filled with outsider art; remnants of old railroads and unbuilt housing developments; caves and hidden springs. Finding a route that spoke to my soul, rather than a stopwatch, became my abiding ethic.<\/p>\n

But then I left L.A., moving with my young family to New Hampshire as an experiment in rural living. The trial failed abruptly one winter morning as I walked down our long driveway and slipped on the ice. As I fell, I thought that I was going to break my arm.<\/p>\n

It was worse.<\/p>\n

\"Brain

Credit: Yasu + Junko<\/p><\/div>\n

When I woke up a minute or two later, I couldn\u2019t move\u2014but I could see my right arm convulsing. My first thought was that the arm belonged to someone else. My second was that I must be dead, because I was watching myself from above.<\/p>\n

The doctors told me I had broken a vertebra and needed surgery, but that I would regain full use of my limbs fairly quickly. The longer-term issue was my head injury. Even now, a year and a half later, I forget things, my life a giant to-do list broken into 15-minute blocks. A part of my brain does not function as it did. The goal of my (twice a week) rehab is to bypass those dead zones. The straight line between thought and expression no longer exists. I\u2019m forced, now, to take the long way in everything I do.<\/p>\n

But despite the difficulty, or maybe because of it, I have developed a deeper appreciation for the ethic of circuitous discovery. Relearning, it turns out, is learning\u2014and my slow pace reveals fresh perspectives that I could never anticipate. It\u2019s been a reaffirmation for me that taking the long way\u2014now my only way\u2014is by far the best way.<\/p>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A version of this story appeared in the summer 2020 issue of\u00a0Uncommon Path.\u00a0 When I lived in Los Angeles, I developed the habit of exploring the city by following a simple rule: Never get from start to finish the same way. There was beauty in covering 10 as-the-crow-flies miles in a meandering walk that often […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":159953,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[387],"tags":[2006,1934,2024],"internal-tag":[],"class_list":["post-159188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hike","tag-issue-3","tag-uncommon-path","tag-uncommon-path-issues"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/hike\/in-praise-of-taking-the-long-way","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"In Praise of Taking the Long Way","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/in-praise-of-taking-the-long-way","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/in-praise-of-taking-the-long-way"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/05\/Skrobecki_07182019_0215_hero.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/05\/Skrobecki_07182019_0215_hero.jpg?fit=2000%2C1000"},"articleSection":"Hike","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["issue 3","uncommon path","uncommon path issues"],"dateCreated":"2020-06-07T15:00:21Z","datePublished":"2020-06-07T15:00:21Z","dateModified":"2021-07-06T19:49:53Z"},"rendered":"