Long Distance Driving
I used to travel frequently across the US and Canada. I had a few favorite drives, namely El Paso up to Albuquerque and Tucson to Phoenix. I’ve also had some scary drives, like descending the mountains from Logan, UT, to catch a flight from Salt Lake City in the middle of a squall.
Recently, I’ve made a few trips on the 401 in Ontario to visit family. As I’ve grown older, I’ve found that the trips seem to take less time. As a child making the same route, these would seem like an eternity. However, with some mindfulness practices, I relish the opportunity to focus. The road forces this. Even with kids in tow, the drive seems to flash by.
Could it be road conditions are getting better? The roadside rest stations are much easier to get in and out of and are virtually identical (OnRoute). Could that be it? Or is it I welcome a break from frantically running after children when they are strapped into seatbelts?
When I was younger and would make the same trip many times, I would be stressed for some reason to get from point A to B as quickly as possible. It become a contest with myself and to this day I don’t know the logic. Reducing the travel time by 5% makes for the whole journey 30–40% more enjoyable.
What other applications can be made more enjoyable by a small reduction in some metric?
