Hacker News Reader

Comment by systemtest | Hacker News Reader

The reason I love road-trips in foreign countries is being able to stop wherever I want, whenever I want. Talk to locals, visit small shops, visit a historical site, a museum. If I see a nice waterfall on my map I can just route my GPS to get there.

With a train you have to plan ahead for this. Get out at the right station, figure out how the bus system works and how to get to your destination. And hoping that I can even get there, as an example many countries don't have functioning local public transit on a Sunday. Or because the closest bus stop to where you want to go is a couple kilometers out. It feels very restraining to me.

View on HN

Completely agree, did it in a few countries and truly enjoyed the freedom of stopping anywhere I wanted, wherever I encountered beautiful surroundings, and staying as long as I wanted, not to forget enjoying the place on my own rather than among a busload of fellow travelers.

Must say though that the Swiss certainly make this much easier to do with their excellent public transport and the Swiss Pass, which is your single ticket to go almost anywhere in the country including trains, buses, subway, boats and even cable cars! In the few cases its not included, you get a discounted rate. However parts of the country are so lovely that hiking through them is the only way to truly appreciate their beauty!

It's essentially a trade off of responsibility and freedom.

With public transport, you aren't responsible for the logistics of moving yourself. However, you also aren't free to move as you please.

With private transport, you are responsible for the logistics of moving yourself. However, you also are free to move as you please.

My favorite HN-friendly analogy:

Public transport is circuit-switched like the Bell System (i.e. trains must physically "switch the road" to change track).

Private transport is packet-switched like the Internet. Not a big truck, not a series of tubes, but a series of small trucks :)

That's why I used to do when living in Tokyo. I would look on Google maps and find any interesting looking water feature (I like looking at large bodies of water) and then just drive in that general direction.

Sometimes it ends up being a dud[0], and sometimes you find something amazingly beautiful [1][2][3][4]

[0]: https://goo.gl/maps/FoE51Cc8KzJVCocn7

[1]: https://goo.gl/maps/z5CMS4NpTAukgNct9

[2]: https://goo.gl/maps/ZEBCbw6d1h1YWFAYA

[3]: https://goo.gl/maps/A6ZHCT97z2kdrxas9

[4]: https://goo.gl/maps/SxLk2S4D1jFkDhU69

On the plus side, with trains, locals in the areas of between stops are spared of tourists!

you can just leave the station and walk around aimlessly also. plans are optional to some extent. at least once you have gotten lodging. you might miss some specific waterfall but you will find lots of interesting events.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com