I really enjoy driving and riding my motorcycle. They are two different experiences, but they also have things in common.
The feel of the road under the tires is great. I feel connected to the road below me as I move along. I love looking out and seeing what is around me. I don’t get that in a plane, and I don’t usually appreciate it as much when I am a passenger in a car either. I don’t know why that is since I would think I would have more time to look around as a passenger, but I don’t. I love the adventure of driving. There is always something different to see if I am paying attention. Long road trips are great because I can see and experience the changing landscape. Moving through a sweeping canyon with walls that tower above, riding next to a river that is really flowing, seeing a waterfall in the distance, snowcapped mountains on the horizon that rise up as I get closer to them, and the changing leaves of fall all around me. They are all great experiences. And of course, the joy that comes from getting to where my destination lies.
Are there things I don’t love about it, of course. Traffic is the number one thing. I can’t stand sitting in traffic or going really slow in traffic (especially on my motorcycle). I don’t like drivers that don’t pay attention to other around them. Those that don’t use their turn signals or cut me off.
The vehicle makes a difference too of course. Being on a motorcycle is so much different than driving my rugged SUV or my family sedan or my old bug. I am more connected to the world around me when on my motorcycle. I feel more of what is going on. This is good and bad. I love the feel of the wind going by me, but I don’t like the rain, snow and hail that can happen (hail really hurts). Even when it is 100+ degrees I enjoy riding my motorcycle. Although I don’t like sitting in the heat – that is when it gets bad. But I also love the SUV because I know I can take that vehicle nearly anywhere and it will be just fine. I have driven in small rivers, up very tall mountains, over rocks, through 18” of snow, and I have never been overly concerned. I have been cautious, but never concerned. Then there is my bug. That is a car that is amazing to drive. I will write more about it some other time, but you get to really drive when driving it. There isn’t anything fancy about driving it, and that makes driving it that much better. Yes, there are quirks, but I still experience the drive more in that than any of my other cars.
Driving isn’t for everyone. My wife can’t stand to drive if at all possible. She can’t wait for autonomous driving to become a normal thing. As a family we have done that, and while it was fun it wasn’t great in my opinion, but my wife loved it.
I pray that I can drive most of the rest of my life. I want to enjoy the journey of getting somewhere, and the adventure of getting there. And part of that enjoyment comes from me being behind the wheel of a car (or handlebars of a motorcycle) and taking myself (and others) with me.