Perhaps it is not so much the case of traveling, but the case of high level context switching. What does "productive" mean to you? If you don't regard public engagements as productive, then I would agree that traveling for them is very unproductive! Otherwise, doing so could be viewed in the same way as a person who runs two types of businesses (e.g. a restaurant and a software shop) in which case switching between those responsibilities takes a lot of start-up time. I'd therefore agree with mburney's comment above that being aware of those constraints should force you to be more efficient.
I completely agree with the moving wave! I have pondered this very same pattern myself. I'm excited to see it documented and shared on the web.
Taking this "zen" driving a step further and imagining an ideal world of cars that never break down on the highway and where the process of merging onto and exiting from a highway could be scientifically mastered such that the speed of the nearby cars is at most nominally affected, it is not inconceivable that cars could travel at speeds far beyond what is considered safe today.