While it is not necessary physically exhausting, it also isn’t mentally relaxing. There is constant low level stimulation above a level that would allow you to relax. You have plans to keep in mind, other people to constantly be aware of, etc etc. The whole situation, while not necessarily *un*familiar, is hardly like being plonked down in your house. Your brain does a surprisingly large amount of extra subconscious work while “out and about” just keeping an eye on everything that could change. For 20 minutes this can be recovered from almost without noticing, for 7 hours though? Well that starts to wear you down.
One important consideration is the constant body position. Sitting around the house when you’re relaxing, you’ll be shifting positions periodically, leaning forward, leaning back, bearing more weight on your hipbones or your thighs, lifting or crossing or uncrossing your legs, etc.
A long car or plane ride doesn’t give you nearly as much freedom to do that. The sitting position is pretty rigid, and you might be able to lean the seat further back or more upright, but that’s typically about all the freedom you get. Add to this the fact that you’re actively balancing even as you sit, if there is any wobbling, bumpiness or G-forces on the ride. You can’t fully relax in a car because muscles in your back and abdomen are constantly responding to the little lateral forces produced by handling the car. Depending on the size of the plane and the air conditions, the same might be true on a flight.
Finally, the sensory input can be mentally exhausting. Highway driving is noisy, and can expose you to pretty fast-moving visual scenery which, even if you’re not really paying attention to it, your brain might be noticing and spending some energy on. Planes in flight are also very loud places to be. That can wear you down and push you toward mental fatigue.
Airplane rides have a lot of extra happening before and after, even though the ride itself might be fairly relaxing. Bus rides I find exhausting because of how close you sit and the constant motion (and the fact that I get car sick if I read). Train trips however I always find very relaxing. No checking in of luggage, no sitting super close, not so much turning that I can’t read. So if I can pick – long distance train is always preferable.
Side note, my former company used to have us do driving training every month on the computer. We’ve watched so many videos that make the point of driving is work and physically/mentally exhausting. We have to follow all rules of the company even when driving company vehicle to and from work (I brought company vehicle home with me). So with that all being said, why don’t you pay us for drive time to and from the jobsite? You’re expecting me to follow your rules while even you say that it is “work”. They would also have us work a 12 hour shift then drive over an hour home. Your own driver training says that’s not ok. If you expect me to work 12 hours then my drive time should be part of that shift.
Latest Answers