"In these days of quick locomotion it is becoming increasingly evident that to see too much is to know too little. Locomotion may quicken, but the human brain remains substantially the same; it is no more nor less receptive of impressions than it was in the days of the stage coach. It is one of the greatest of all fallacies to suppose that the enjoyment of travel depends on seeing as much as possible in the time at the traveller's disposal. To many people, and I am one of them, there is something unsatisfactory and unsatisfying in a motor tour or a rapid dash through the capitals of Europe. Memory is the only just measure of pleasure, and the memory of some hundreds or thousands of miles of rapidly traversed scenery is as meaningless as the memory of a cigarette - it stimulates momentarily, then is forgotten.

Sir Malcolm Campbell stated that motor-cars enable us to get more out of life, to see more during our short existence on this earth. They do, but only up to a point; beyond this point speed and distance become drugs on the human intellect. Moderation in travel is as necessary as moderation in alcohol.

To enjoy a countryside it is essential to make a direct contact with it, and this is only to be accomplished by walking over it. To proceed over it rapidly on wheels is to interpose something mechanical and unnatural between the traveller and Nature. That many are realising this is proved by the walking, rambling and camping movements of to-day; they represent the revolt of the human mind from the artificial and mechanical."

Frank S Smythe, writing in "Over Tyrolese Hills" in 1936
......and nothing has changed since then.