rhm

I trust we all understand that fossil energy such as jet fuel is obscenely underpriced. That being the case, jet powered airplanes are more efficient than wind powered sailing ships, simply because they save so much time that they don't need to carry so much food and water. Similarly, driving a car is much cheaper that riding a bike above rather moderate distances. It has not always been this way, and it will not always remain this way, but for now: live with it.

cvskates

LOL - I read that three times before I figured out you were joking!

gerv 

Yeah, if I need to travel, there are lots of rental cars available here at rates that are pretty low. So if I was traveling to, say, a smaller urban center... I'd rent a car. Bigger centers (like say Chicago..) have better bus connectivity and you don't have to navigate the city by car and pay parking.

The only big issue (aside from ecological...) is that car travel often gives me a bad back. Which for some reason bicycles don't.

tandempower

It really depends. If you can take your work with you, such as by telecommuting via internet, you could spend multiple weeks at sea in a sailing vessel and save fuel that would be spent on jet air travel. Likewise, you can dock a sailing vessel at a port that requires less pavement, buildings, etc. than an airport. If you ask yourself what is overall better for the environment, sailing ships docking at ports or jet airliners landing at airports, what is your answer and why? If the answer is that sailing would be better, the question is whether it is possible to make the economy work using more sailing and less airline travel. I'm not saying it's likely considering how engrained the culture of flying is and how presumptive we are that spending time in an office instead of sailing the seas is a more efficient use of time, but if you look at the big picture, it may turn out that the sailing option would be better overall.

Multiday biking is the same. Current workplace norms require M-F work schedules, or something similar, that require people to be present in the same workplace in exchange for getting one or two days off per week. This doesn't afford much opportunity for multiday bike trips, unless you have a job that gives you more free time. However, you can still ask whether it is possible to shift work responsibilities in a way that facilitate multiday bike travel. E.g. imagine you work for a chain business like, say, Dollar General or McDonalds, and you could somehow bike and camp or otherwise get affordable lodging throughout your trip. If you could, this would allow you to maintain a work schedule while biking every few days or weeks to a new destination. Think multistory McDonalds/DG with apartments above the restaurant/store and staying in the apartments are included as a fringe benefit of being an employee. Such arrangements are possible in a climate where regulation and other interests are open to them. Where there is opposition, they become prohibitively difficult to achieve.

Still, I think we should look at the big picture between what's efficient and good if allowed to occur because it's indeed possible, and what is made impossible because people, businesses, and government aren't willing to work to achieve the full range of what's possible when there is a status quo that is easier to maintain if you don't bother with putting effort into achieving those possibilities beyond current popular expectation.