Most U.S. driving miles are commuting, which sucks. I took an 8,137-mile road trip when I was 22 and it was a blast. I'd love to do something like that again.

Most U.S. driving miles are commuting, which sucks. I took an 8,137-mile road trip when I was 22 and it was a blast. I'd love to do something like that again. It cost me a few hundred bucks in gas, but it was worth it. However, racking up 20,000 miles in a year just to get from one point to another, while a million people are (being forced into it by social convention) trying to travel the exact same routes at the exact same time, is just horrible. It's a total waste of life. I'd prefer to take public transportation or to bike if at all possible. There is simply no good in a high-traffic, stop-and-go, morning car commute. Automotive traffic is a perfect example of failure-to-scale. Cars are amazing (I'm ignoring the environmental issues, which I imagine electric cars will solve in ~20 years) when traffic is sparse, but become prisons in the typical commute. Also, in most cities, it's actually worth it to live in the city if your time is worth more than about $30 per hour, and when you include career-building effects that applies to most educated young people who have jobs, even if their nominal wages are lower.