Riding a motorcycle, especially through rural/wooded/wilderness (haven't had the pleasure yet of that last one) gives me a really similar headspace to backpacking. Due to how alert I have to be while driving, I notice everything about my surroundings way more. I'm not sure why it feels SO different than doing it in a car, or even a bicycle. I think those two are two different ends of this line motorcycles straddle beautifully.

Cars - for whatever reason, even with all the visibility cars have, you feel bigger in the spaces you drive through. Motorcycling gives me scale, similar to walking through a landscape vs driving.

Bikes - I think there is SO much focus not only on alertness but also the physicality, that I'm focused on making sure I'm pacing myself, not getting too tired, etc. Motorcycles remove that elements (though it does start to wear on you after a few hours)

There's also this "head empty" flow state you get into because (for me) when I'm riding, mentally all I'm focused on is doing the task at hand: safely and well... fun-ly. Backpacking is similar to where my brain is just nowhere but focusing on what exactly I'm doing in that moment