For me cycling does the trick. At one point there comes a feeling of being in a zone, where puzzle pieces in the brain just start to get put together. For this reason I always have a voice recorder in my cycling gear.

I also find cycling to and from work helps process the day. Cycling forces you into the now, you have to deal with the reality of situations around you. My theory is a that this has some similarities to sleep in that it frees up the brain to perform that clever thing it does that makes you smarter. Probably.

There's something to this for sure. I went from not riding a bike in 10 years to doing a 111 mile ride this summer. One of the main things I noticed was a noticeable drop in negative thoughts/anxiety in my daily life. When you're pushing your body to its limits, combating fatigue and pain, your thought process seems to really change. In the moment it's kind of like meditation, and afterwards it adds some perspective to things.

I think driving is a less distracting experience than walking

Considering that I'm almost thirty and still don't have a drivers license, simply because it overloads me with multitasking issues (looking around, steering, the mess that is changing gears, all the other knobs) yet have succesfully been combining walking with all kinds of activities since a very early age, I respectfully disagree.

EDIT: Although the points raised by others about cars providing a nice isolated comfortable environment makes a lot of sense as well. I guess it all depends.

Allow me to disagree (after all, you don't drive). Driving becomes subconscious after a short time, something most drivers can confirm, and the driving environment is actually less stimulating than walking. I would bet "subconscious walking" or "subconscious cycling" is a much less common thing, due to the larger number of distractions/unexpectedness.

Quick test: it's easier to concentrate for lengths of time listening to the radio when in the car than when walking.

Disagree with your Disagreeing. You don't want the act of driving to become subconscious, because that means you miss stuff like stop signs and pedestrians. I hate driving. Way too much to pay attention to (signs, lights, pedestrians, other drivers/cars, trying to remember directions). I know that if I start making it subconscious, I start speeding and missing information.

It's contextual. If you walk or drive in a disrupting location you won't be able to wander or think. Taking the bus works sometimes when they're almost empty. One disappointing thing I learned is that the less efficient is biking, I thought I'd be able to day dream while riding but it's the fastest path to injuries.

For me, cycling sort of clears my mind by grabbing my attention. So it's great if I'm angry, frustrated, or depressed. But the attention grab also works against thought, so I simply cannot daydream or think about stuff while cycling, even if I wanted to. And I would love to. It's a shame really, because I love cycling. I also love being deep in thought, which happens mostly when I'm walking, sometimes in the shower.

EDIT: The attention grab isn't because of traffic. I can ride an empty road in the middle of nowhere and the action of pedalling and looking down the road just grabs me.

Totally, I forgot that. Having to go all in into an activity is pretty awesome. Physical ones are very challenging for the mind, be aware, react, control your body. It's kind of faking pressure on your brain to cleanse it. In a smaller scale, playing drums or music does that too.

Depends on where you live - I grew up in the countryside of the Netherlans, which has excellent biking infrastructure, almost no traffic, and a calm environment in general. Biking to and from school every day was very good for my mind.

Well you are lucky. Somewhere between bad drivers, bad roads and the lack of any flat distance whatsoever, it's impossible for me to leave my mind off the road for any length of time when cycling.

Probably, but then you must ride slowly, otherwise not paying attention can lead to collision.

Nah, did 18 kilometers in 45 minutes every morning.

There's really, really little traffic, and it's mostly long straight roads.

Oh okay then, the main bike lane in my area has regular curves and vicious intersections, with people/kids walking by. I don't stare at girls anymore since I don't like kissing trees that much.

Walking provides a potent combination of fresh air, exercise and the freedom to explore that driving never could.

I mostly agree but vehicles shields you from the environment which is nice too. I don't know how many people function this way but being in my own physical bubble makes my brain expand.

Unbelievable, and you get downvoted for this. Folks, you've all had ideas come to you in the shower, yes? The heat, the warmth, the isolation from all else tends to make it a great place to just relax and think.

Now imagine a mobile climate-controlled bubble with no noise but whatever you put on the radio or barring that, the constant background of rubber rolling across asphalt, and you get that same effect.

Who was downvoted ?

All in all there are different environment which helps thinking. Long walks put your body in long term effort, releases endorphins which helps inspiration, or at least relaxation. Isolation helps too, be it showers, cars, toilets ... whatever works.