Well-trodden trails crisscross the Himalayas, where many diverse communities have long been brokers across economic, political, and religious spheres. These pathways were a necessity of life and led them through many mountain passes, opening to expansive views of the peaks and valleys below. As the necessities of life change drastically with new demands for increased connectivity, to what new horizons do the asphalted roads open? To varying degrees, forms of globalisation and the circulation of goods, people, and ideas largely predate modern technologies. Nevertheless, road narratives insist on promises for a better future, considering roads as a path towards modernity, development, and proper integration. In this Focus, we look at roads broadly speaking as they epitomise the diverse pathways through and around which people devise their own sense of belonging and becoming. The articles assembled, presented initially for the conference “Himalayan Journeys,” are ethnographically informed case studies about people’s mobile engagement with their social and physical landscape. Trails or roads, well-travelled or in progress, are here considered “pathways of sociality,” sites for exchange that convey human relationships and values, as well as sites of expectations, cooperation, and competition. Roads exemplify ambivalent successes and failures; some become dead ends literally and metaphorically, while others remain full of promise.