Released July 1968 Length 3:14 Writer(s) Mike Pinder | Recorded 28 May 1968 Label Deram Records Producer(s) Tony Clarke | |
"The Best Way to Travel" is a 1968 song by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. Written by keyboardist Mike Pinder, it was released on the album In Search of the Lost Chord. The song's lyrics explain in different ways how "thinking is the best way to travel." Noticeable on this track is the wide stereo panning (ping pong stereo) effect made by the pan pots on the Decca custom-built four-track recording console (20 microphone inputs) used during 1967–68.
The song features Mike Pinder on lead vocals, with Justin Hayward backing the vocals during the chorus. It also features Pinder on the lead acoustic guitar, with Hayward on the electric guitar.
The track features on the 2010 compilation album A Monstrous Psychedelic Bubble Exploding in Your Mind: Volume 3 – The Third Ear by Amorphous Androgynous.
An extract of the song appeared as the opening and closing theme music of the ITV Playhouse episode "Rumour," written and directed by Mike Hodges that originally aired on 2 March 1970.