The Map Was Wrong. The Journey Was Right.

Photo taken along the Boise River Greenbelt

I was listening to a podcast recently and someone said something that caught me: the path doesn't appear and then you take your first step. Often, the path only shows up after you've moved.

That hit me because it's exactly what happened out there.

People assume I had my bike ride across the country all mapped out. And technically, I did. I bought paper maps from a bicycle touring company that laid out the whole route. Nice, neat, turn-by-turn directions coast to coast. Here's the thing though: I barely looked at them after the first state.

I had Google Maps on my phone too, which I used occasionally. But even that wasn't always perfect. Case in point: day one. Sixty-four miles from Florence to Eugene, Oregon. It rained the entire way. I rolled into town soaked and exhausted, needed a hotel, and asked Google to find me one. I had it in bike mode, which meant it routed me off major roadways. So I followed the directions on a several-mile tour of Eugene, only to arrive at a hotel that was maybe a quarter mile from where I'd started.
​
​Even the best tools don't have all the answers.
​

Out on the road, none of them did. Roads flooded. Construction rerouted me. Locals told me about quieter, prettier stretches I'd never have found following the printed line. Some days I just pointed myself east and pedaled until I found somewhere to sleep.
​

I didn't know which roads would be good until I was on them. I didn't know how my body would hold up until I'd been pedaling for ten days straight and realized, somehow, it was holding up fine. I didn't know who I'd meet or where the journey would shift until I was deep enough in it to notice.

​Every single day, the plan changed. And the ride was better for it.
​

That lesson hasn't gone away. It shows up everywhere. Writing The Weekly Spark. Figuring out what's next. Sitting with a decision because I think I need just a little more information before I can act.
But I don't. And neither do you.
​

Write the first paragraph. Make the first call. Take the first ride. You won't see the whole route, and that's not the point. The path shows up when you do!