Complex Numbers

Moving Right Along

Sorry I’m late.... was busy with other stuffs and driving around tonight.

With that said... what is your favorite method of traveling, and why?

I quoted the entire prompt above, not to call out the prompt-giver (Dragon is hiding is cool, and so is every other judge over at "The Writer's Cramp"  [13+]) but because it's relevant: My favorite method of traveling is... wait for it... driving around.

Of course, there are some exceptions here. I still can't drive to Hawai'i. Or, well, most islands. Hell, entire continents. They keep talking about building a bridge across the Bering Strait, which would in theory link the bulk of the world by road, but, well... Russia and the US aren't exactly on "drive-across-the-border" terms right now.

Another exception is that I won't drive if I've been drinking, not only because it's illegal, but because I'm not a fucking asshole. Well, not when it comes to endangering others, anyway. But even then, I'm happy to let someone else drive.

When I'm in a city like New York, I'm fine with using public transportation. Driving in NYC isn't as bad as you probably think it is; the problem is finding a goddamn parking spot. So, sometimes, when I go to NYC, I take the train. That's a pretty relaxing mode, usually.

As for flying, well, I love the "flying" part, and despise the "everything else about it" part. Leave it to humans to figure out how to use SCIENCE to freaking FLY and then turn the experience into a bloody nightmare.

I think I'd like traveling by ship, but see previous entry on cruises to contrast the ideal of the cruise with the reality. But I love being on the water, provided of course I'm protected from the accursed daystar.

There are, of course, other modes of transportation: bike, horse, rocket, elephant, rickshaw, camel, lysergic acid diethylamide... all of them have their place. I rode an elephant once, by the way. It's... an interesting experience, being that high up. Not scary at all, but I'm not afraid of heights. I do have some concern about being trampled, but that's kind of hard to accomplish when you're on the other side of the elephant from the tramply bits. I rode a camel once, too, but that was a very long time ago; I think we were being chased by a saber-toothed tiger.

But driving... well, I do like the feeling of being in control of my route and destination, however illusory that might be sometimes. I should emphasize here that this is not about safety - I'm aware that driving has its hazards, and is far more likely to kill or injure than some of these other transportation options. Life is inherently risky; you also have a good chance of dying if you stay home and go nowhere. Well, technically, you have a 100% chance of dying, regardless, but hopefully you know what I mean.

More than that, though, is the scenery. From an airplane, you see airports, the sky, clouds, and this big round thing below you. On a boat, you're surrounded by ocean. A train provides some scenery, depending of course on the route (I highly recommend NOT looking out the window whilst riding on a train along the Northeast Corridor), but even there you're usually limited to a narrow field of view.

And, of course, with driving you're not limited. I know a lot of people like to leave point A and take the most direct, most efficient, fastest route to Point B, and they're done. That's fine, but that's not me. I purposely go off on side trips, and sometimes I avoid interstates (usually the fastest way) entirely.

Because, to me, there is no such thing as a "destination." There is only the journey.