Travel often doesn’t happen quickly enough, even if you’re travelling fast. Often it’s a case of losing perspective, losing the perception of speed. We all know it from driving on the Autobahn - our brains trick us into feeling that overtaking lots of cars slowly in a traffic jam is swifter or more effective than cruising along at the same 140 kmh speed. Similarly, sitting in a train with others in a carriage is torture for me - there is no feeling of progress.

I had this feeling recently when cycling home from work one pleasant evening (weather-wise, at least: work-wise it had been a crappy day) and suddenly felt that I wasn’t proceeding fast enough. It was creating a tension: I wanted to be on my bike, pedalling away my stresses from work - yet, I wanted to be at home straight away, knowing that I would then be in the vortex of kiddy dinner times and puttings to bed.

Then I looked sideways. My shadow was fair flying over the fields between Eppelheim and Grenzhof. Looking sideways radically changed my perspective. I was no longer monitoring the imperceptible angle and distance changes of the road ahead, but seeing the turned soil and the remaining maize stalks sweep my complete field of view in sub-second times. I was experiencing speed again (yes, I wish to reclaim this word) - and it was refreshing.