Spend an extended time on a train thinking about anything and everything and nothing and come up with crazy ideas that you would only come up with with hours and hours of time spent looking out a train window watching the everything go by.

I used to travel through small villages with brick walls and hedges and bushes and trees flying by… and one’s mind can come up with some interesting thoughts. 3 years ago

I spend approximately a week underground every year on subways, commuting (not all at once!), so I’ve added up some hours.
Maybe I haven’t thought up anything crazy or amazing, but I have mulled over practically every detail of my life. 5 years ago

Trust me, sometimes I do want to read a book or listen to music or whatever—but often it’s simply about letting your mind wander when you have nothing else to but sit and think. Essential for living, that approach. And even if you think you’ve seen it all on a familiar route, often you haven’t. 5 years ago

I have also done this in a car, and on a bus, plane, boat, horse (actually I’m not sure about that one, you have to concentrate more when you’re riding a horse) etc. etc.

The story goes that Kary Mullis invented PCR (polymerase chain reaction, a technique used in molecular biology to all kinds of other processes including in forensic science and paternity testing) when he was on some long car trip somewhere.

I heard a similar claim by a scientist who worked in the medical research school I was at, that he discovered something to do with genetics of immune system cells while on a flight somewhere, but a friend who also works there said that he had suggested this to the guy over coffee at work!

The trick is when you do come up with these ideas, to write them down, because I suspect all kinds of great ideas are thought of on these trips without ever being recognised because they get forgotten once you arrive at your destination and desperately need to pee! 5 years ago

1. As an infant, travelled from Illinois to Jalisco, Mexico.
2. At the age of 20, travelled from Barcelona through Aragon to Madrid, from Madrid to Asturias and back to Barcelona.
3. At 21, travelled from Galesburg, Knox County to Chicago, Illinois.
4. At 27, travelled from New Orleans to Chicago, thence to Galesburg.
5. At 28, travelled from Memphis to Chicago, Chicago to NYC, NYC to Boston.
6. At 32, travelled from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back. Two years later did the leg from Fairbanks to Anchorage, one way, after hitch-hiking the Alaska-Canada highway.
7. At the age of 33, travelled from Paris to Barcelona, and ten days later from Biarritz to Paris.
8. At 35, travelled from Moncton, New Brunswick across Canada westward to St. George, British Columbia. 5 years ago