Getting lost can be exhilarating.
Recently three of us bundled our bikes onto a cross-channel ferry for an impromptu cycle tour of rural Brittany. We travelled light, so light that we didn't pack a map. Our only guide was a scrap of paper — a brief article in the travel section of the Times that inspired the trip in the first place. Unsurprisingly we got lost a lot. Sometimes our unplanned detours were frustrating, wandering around soulless industrial areas guarded by slavering dogs behind worryingly flimsy fences. Thankfully, more often they took us to delightful corners, off the beaten track, where we came across sights and characters that we would never have happened upon on a more organised trip. This infused the trip with a relaxed joy …