Discomfort: Make It Your Companion, Especially When Traveling for Leisure

Last week, I had the privilege of hosting Martin from Germany, who is embarking on an extraordinary journey. He’s traveling from Vienna to Bangkok on a scooter—not one with an engine or motor, but simply by pushing forward with his feet. You can follow his inspiring adventure here: Martin's Blog.

While Martin's journey might seem extraordinary, he's not the only one I've met who travels with such deliberate slowness. I've met people who have hitchhiked around the world, cycled from Paris to Tokyo, and their perspectives on travel are always strikingly different from my own. They experience the world in ways that most of us miss entirely.

Robert Pirsig, in his iconic book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, captures this idea beautifully:

"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.

On a cycle, the frame is gone. 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."
— Robert M. Pirsig

Speed vs. Experience

The experience of travel is inversely proportional to speed. The slower you move, the deeper you absorb a place. It’s as though each layer of a culture, each nuance of a country, reveals itself at a pace that allows you to truly appreciate it. Rushing through a destination on high-speed trains or in airplanes may be efficient, but it often leaves you with only superficial impressions.

The magic lies in slowing down, in seeking discomfort. Take the long, winding route. Walk where others might drive. Cycle where others might fly. When you strip away the convenience, you unlock a richer, deeper understanding of the world around you.

Depth Over Speed

Why should we seek depth? That’s a topic deserving of its own book. But again, Pirsig says it best:

"We’re in such a hurry most of the time we never get much chance to talk. The result is a kind of endless day-to-day shallowness, a monotony that leaves a person wondering years later where all the time went and sorry that it’s all gone."
— Robert M. Pirsig

Fast travel, or even faster-than-light travel, is a necessity for humanity’s progress. But when it comes to leisure travel, when the goal is to experience rather than just arrive, it’s important to distinguish the purpose of speed. There’s real value in choosing discomfort over convenience, slowness over speed, and depth over shallowness.

So, the next time you’re planning a trip, consider the slowest route. Embrace the discomfort—it’s where the real journey begins.