The long way home still gets you home. You just see more on the way.

Arriving late by an unplanned route is still arriving. A detour costs time, and it also hands you a wider set of things you have seen and done that the direct path would never have shown you. People with unusual routes tend to be better at strange problems, simply because they have been in more rooms.

If your path has been indirect, stop apologizing for the shape of it. Practice saying what the extra years taught you, plainly and without embarrassment. Then use it, because the odd combination of things you know is usually the most useful thing about you.