Im a big fan of making epic long journeys in TES... those fetch quests where you get sent to the other side of the map? yeah.. those are my kind of quests. In Oblivion, I have (albiet in a lore-decimating fashion) imagined shivering isles is actually part of blackmarsh. Dementia is exactly how I imagine it to be. Mania I imagine lies beyond New Sheoth... so If I want to explore mania, I first have to travel -through- Dementia to New Sheoth, meaning I can't just travel north once I leave the fringe.

So whenever I want to travel to SI, I make a long trek through blackwood imagining I am travelling south to the 'lowlands'. Once I near the coast, I fast travel to the portal and enter the isles. Of course the same applies when returning so that I FT east of Leyawiin when I return. This ofcourse destroys the idea of the SI being an oblivion realm, and warps what the lore mentions about blackmarsh.. but still, thats just how I roll. So if I want to travel from Chorrol or Bruma to Mania... I have one epic journey ahead of me. Taking into account prepearing food and gear, and stopping at inns, I'm looking at a whole play session devoted to the journey alone.

I almost always take the long way to any destination. This is not intentional, it is because I can't walk in a straight line. Even with the compass, I will start out going South, then meander off to the East, then stroll over to the shiny thing to the South, then notice the sunset and walk off that way. And, it's not the mountains that cause this, I can meander just fine in a flat meadow.