A thousand roads, a thousand lives ahead

Fork in the road, Kazakhstan 2012 (c) Adam Hughes

Following an ice cream van in Kazakhstan, 2012.

"Ain't you thinkin' what's it gonna be like when we get there? Ain't you scared it won't be nice like we thought?"
 "No," she said quickly. "No, I ain't. You can't do that. I can't do that. It's too much--livin' too many lives. Up ahead they's a thousan' lives we might live, but when it comes, it'll on'y be one."

- Rosasharn and Ma in The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck

When you're biking you have to choose a road and go with it. Bike-touring provides far too much time to wonder what lies ahead and what you are missing down each road you cannot take. We can't do it all and that's good because when a place starts to wear you down, it helps to leave some areas unexplored, to save some hope in another beautiful place around the corner -- blank spots in your mental map to fill in another day.

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