Short Cuts Make Long Delays/Playing With


 * Basic Trope: A character takes a shortcut, only to get lost.
 * Played Straight: The Tropers are on a road trip. Bob decides to take the Scenic Route...and ends up getting the family lost.
 * Exaggerated: The Tropers wind up stranded out in the middle of the desert.
 * Inverted: Bob takes the Scenic Route, and it gets them to their destination in less time than it would have taken to stay on the main roads.
 * Justified: Bob is too proud to ask directions when he gets lost.
 * The Tropers had to complete some silly Fetch Quest or go see some cheesy tourist trap on the way.
 * Bob had to go off the main route to find a rest stop because one of the kids had a Potty Emergency.
 * There is a possible shortcut going that way, but it's either closed due to road construction or requires several turns and Bob keeps missing them.
 * Subverted: Bob stays on main roads in populated areas.
 * Double Subverted: But he takes a wrong turn and gets lost.
 * Deconstructed:
 * Reconstructed:
 * Parodied: The car is seen in front of stock scenery of Mt. Everest, the Pyramids, a beach, the surface of the moon, etc.
 * Lampshaded: "Christopher Columbus didn't need directions, and neither do I!"
 * Averted: Bob does not take any shortcuts.
 * Enforced: It's the Journey That Counts, Idiot Plot
 * Invoked: Bob decides to take a shortcut, even throwing the map out the window.
 * Defied: Bob is Genre Savvy enough to know that this will cause problems, so he stays on main roads.
 * Discussed:
 * Conversed:
 * Played For Laughs: Almost always is.
 * Played For Drama: The Tropers have to stay in a creepy little town with a Dark and Troubled Past involving a deranged killer.