You take the yellow trail-it takes you along a gushing, natural brook, the only one left of its kind. You’ll walk past a pond and under a canopy of cool, green trees. It is a loop and you’ll come back to this place, gauranteed. You take the blue trail-it goes over hills and past a marsh. It is more scenic and intersects with many paths. But it is longer and will take you somewhere far from where you begin.
All I’m offering are options. Will you take the yellow trail or the blue one?
Or will you go off trail altogether?
Trail markers are pretty awesome. They add an element of ‘choose your own adventure’. Sometimes though, they’re not clearly marked. Or the marker’s get hidden from view. That still adds to the adventure part. Checking maps, a compass, finding natural landmarks to get your bearings.
And then sometimes they’re so clearly marked that you don’t have to think. You can walk on effortlessly, without pause even, trekking your way through the trees as if you own the place. It’s easy, it’s breezy.
The best trails, or the ones that are the most fun I should say, are the ones that are a perfect combination of both. Just enough directions to get you from point A to B with enough unknowns to add a bit of challenge. But not so many that the easiness of it becomes boring or so many unknowns that you are in danger of walking in eternal circles, deeper and deeper into the belly of the woods.
And then again, some would argue that there’s a third option. Going off trail. Armed with food and water and a knack for directions, you walk your own path, create your own adventure instead of choosing one from whatever’s been made available.
Which one is it for you?
And no, I’m not just talking about trails.
Mariam Sultan 