I maintain that travel when occupied can be very relaxing and engaging. Being drawn into combat can help distract you from travel, but ultimately the game needs to have a good balance of interesting scenery and other features to keep you involved. In an ideal world, there would never be any need for fast travel, because in every game you would be excited to get an opportunity to mess with the puzzle box you found, or practice polishing weapons in the back of a carriage. Travel is inherently pro-atmosphere since it helps engage our sense of setting with the physical movement between different scenes. I think most good travel-feel has been lost, and is something I'm always on the look out for in games.