Frequently it always seems that data and then-contemporary sources will focus on the literate, obviously; what I am curious to know though, is how frequently peasants from various trades would have ready access to a wagon or cart (not a carriage which appear far later) for personal transport?
If you wanted to go to the next village over and were traveling light, it would appear you walked. Maybe a few more villages over you'd need to borrow a horse or use one of your own. But say for one reason or another, be it pilgrimage or otherwise, you needed to trave long distance yet you still had access to fine roads and paths; would a family or inviduals use a cart for transport of people as they might otherwise usually use it for goods?
Do we have any accounts of accidents, anecdotes of the slowly rolling hills of the countryside not on the back of a horse but the bench of a cart?
Can you expand on mid-medieval/middle ages personal transport at all?
A pilgrim would typically travel on foot, as would most travelers.
(1) A cart or wagon pulled by one or two horses did not move much faster than a person could walk.
(2) Carts and wagons were not comfortable to ride in, since most roads were in a poor state of repair.
(3) Typically the only people who rode in a cart were sick or elderly.
(4) If you were a tradesman who needed a cart to haul stuff, you might rent the cart, horse and driver from a carter. This would not be inexpensive - in his book "Daily Life in Medieval Europe" Jeffrey L. Singman estimates a cost of "4d. a day" in the late 13th century. Then at the end of the day, during which you traveled only 20-25 miles whether on foot or in your cart, you have the food/lodging/stabling expense for your rented transportation as well as for yourself.