Linux Mint Debian Edition (LMDE) is my pick.
I've got two study laptops and apart from Tailscale giving me some grief very recently with DNS resolution, I literally haven't had any problems with either machine. Both have been going for 1.5 years.
I like the LMDE route for the DE already having pretty decent defaults and not requiring much tweaking from the get-go. Xfce (as it ships by default in Debian) absolutely works, but I end up spending an hour theming it and adding panel applets and rearranging everything so that it... ends up looking similar to Cinnamon anyway, because default Xfce looks horrible in my opinion
I love taking a casual drive to nearby small towns, especially on less busy freeways at non peak hours. And I also love using my 30 year old nugget that's getting rarer to see around. I do also love a good road trip across states.
However, I really don't like driving in cities or basically when I have to. The city I'm in at the moment leaves a lot to be desired for bike lanes (unprotected bike lanes on the shoulder of a major highway is the only route into town for me) so its a toss up between do I ride there exhausted and trusting idiots in high speed boxes, or do I join said idiots.