Originally Posted by halcyon100

…I'm a big fan of the author Paul Theroux. In his travel books, he writes a lot about why he prefers "overland" travel over air travel (overland being most forms of travel where you actively see what you are traveling through). A plane is faster than a train, but you mostly see a layer of clouds below the plane. A car is usually faster than a bike, but you need to have a certain focus on other cars and road users, which detracts from your ability to mindfully observe your immediate environment.

Traveling by bike, however, strikes the perfect balance between being able to mindfully travel through the environment, while also being able to reasonably travel to places within a much larger radius compared to what you could walk to. Commuting as passenger in a bus, car, train, etc. is preferred over driving due to the ability to freely immerse yourself in observing and "being" in your immediate environment…