When your life goes from being a long straight motorway, to a narrow winding road, it makes no sense to carry on driving in a straight line. You'd better grab the steering wheel tightly and try to stay on the road, or you'll wind up in a ditch.
If you've been on the motorway for a long time, its easy to lose concentration and just keep on heading in the same direction. So when that sharp turn comes along, it can really catch you unawares.
The chances are that there where signs posted along the side of the motorway warning you, but in your absentmindedness, you either chose to ignore them, or failed to see them at all.
So this metaphor is not too hard to decipher. But it should not be seen to imply that long and straight is necessarily better than a winding road. In fact, snaking your way around narrow country roads is actually a lot more fun than being stuck on a motorway, always heading in the same direction. The views are often better and the adrenaline rush, of having to negotiate sudden turns, is far more exciting.
Of course, it is far easier to get yourself lost on country roads, you don't always know which direction you are heading. Does that matter? I'd say not. Many great places can be found when you don't know, or care, where the road is heading.
My motorway journey has come to an end. I've come off the slip road and am now heading cross country. I am gripping the steering wheel tightly and looking out for sudden sharp turns. I have no idea which direction I am going, or where I will end up.
It's going to be a wild ride, but I am hoping to stumble across some great new places on the way.
