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I think it’s not just addiction but anxiety of being alone with one’s thoughts.

I love doing long solo bicycle rides. Just heading out and spending whole day riding by myself. Over the years, I bumped into many people who find such trips scary. Scared of thoughts that could pop up. Some said they could do that with headphones and music, but silence was no go.

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Man, that's grim. I just think these people think the moment they go out alone with their thoughts, the first one is something real morbid: Maybe I should kill myself! Slow down buddy, we were just going on a walk alone.

To be fair to those people, I did have plenty of grim thoughts pop up in my head. Dealing with some of them wasn't easy. But IMO it's better to be away what is going on deep inside yourself rather than let it brew till it explodes in very nasty ways. But I do see how unprepared people may be afraid. Especially if they do have vague idea of what is going on inside them.

Same here with the rides. Yesterday I rode 50 miles by myself for the first time in a while, and was impressed with the amount of things going on in my life that I just hadn’t thought about.

All of my best ideas come on the bike or in the shower.

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