Why Slow Travel?

I like to travel slow. To some people, that means going by car or bus instead of flying. But I prefer to go even slower. My favorite ways to travel are by bicycle or on foot (horseback would be good, too). Some would guess the reasons I enjoy those means of travel have something to do with physical activity, or challenge, or just being outdoors, and they'd be right. But there's something more -- something you don't necessarily recognize if you only ever travel in a vehicle. Robert Pirsig describes it in Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance:

"In a car you're always in a compartment, and because you're used to it you don't realize that through that car window everything you see is just more TV. You're a passive observer and it is all moving by you boringly in a frame."

Given my druthers, I don't even like to watch TV much, so it's no surprise that I'd prefer to remove that frame in my travels. Pirsig goes on to say that when you travel without the protective shell of a vehicle around you, "You're completely in contact with it all. You're in the scene, not just watching it anymore, and the sense of presence is overwhelming."

I can remember times during my hiking and bicycling when I looked around and consciously thought,"I'm not just looking at the scenery, I'm part of it." Most often it happens when I'm halfway up a mountain and see nothing but mountains all around me. Or in the middle of flat, treeless Montana where there's nothing between me and the horizon to break up the miles. In the face of such vastness I feel a humbling insignificance.

Perhaps we all need more of that perspective, to get out of the box and back in touch with what's real. Let's get over our own sense of self-importance. Slow travel helps us remember just how small we are here on our earth. And when you realize you're a mere speck in a much larger environment, you tend to give that environment its due respect.