I suppose it makes more sense, given the scope of most people's lives at the time, than the notion of a planned route from start to finish. As I understand it, the "Road" was less a journey for a single merchant, as it was the game of telephone played with products by dozens of merchants.

Basically, a human telegraph for tangible goods, with a mark-up at each step. With that in mind, the price of cloves in Medieval Europe starts to make a lot of sense, as do the crazy stories behind some of the spices. See: The alleged source of cinnamon!