People envy my 50 mile roundtrip commute
Around the Sun writes about their company’s new bus pass program and how it’s created a new fat-busting game. So what does that have to do with me?
Because people envy my commute.
I work in Washington, D.C., which is about 25 miles from my home. Here in Rockville, MD, we live a mile away from a metro (subway) stop. People don’t envy the time it takes me to get to work. Rather, they’re jealous because
- I get my exercise by walking a mile home each day (and sometimes a mile to the metro if Stacie can’t drop me off)
- I can walk to the new county library after work
- I get to sit and read for 30 minutes each way
Of course there are a few negatives to walking home:
- If it’s raining, I either have to drive and pay $4 for parking, walk home and get wet, or take the bus, but still walk for 5 minutes and get wet
- If it’s above about 75 degrees, there’s a good chance my work clothes will get soaked with sweat. Therefore, I need to either bring a change of casual clothes to work or take the bus (and not sweat as long)
- It takes 20 minutes to walk home, when I could drive home in 5-10 minutes
Overall, though, I’m glad to be able to walk and ride the metro. It does cost about $7.40 per day to ride round trip, but I can contribute up to $110 per month pretax through my employer’s benefits. Also, I’ve been able to keep my commuting costs down by working from home 2-3 times per month, and not driving to the metro.
I’d like to hear about some of your commuting experiences. Does anyone work over 50 miles (one way) from your home? Does anyone work upstairs from their place of business (not counting “working from your home office”)?
My commute depends. Since I am in consulting (big 4 accounting) it all depends on where the client is located. Sometimes I have to commute from Alexandria to Reston (about an hour), but this Monday I start a client that is in Downtown DC so I get to Metro it into work!
I am looking forward to being able to read on the metro instead of spending hours of wasted time in the car.
Living the the burbs sucks man. People say I’m crazy, but I would much rather hop on the train and get to work.
Right now, I drive 7 miles to work. In traffic, it still ends up costing me at least 20 minutes.
right now i’m working from home…but i used to like my commute in japan. it was about a 20 minute walk to a monorail station. then a 15 minute ride, and another 10 minute walk. great exercise!
but what’s even better is that in japan your company pays your commuting costs.
I live about 16 miles from work and commute by bike everyday save for those days were there’s frozen precipitation as folks around here really don’t know how to drive in the snow/ice.
I ride mainly because I love to ride (and often extend my commute on the way to or from work – sometimes both) but also because if I do have to drive, it’s in our F250 which doesn’t really sip on fuel.
Fortunately, I don’t have to drive often and on those crappy snow/ice days, I can often grab a ride with either my wife or my boss as he lives relatively close by.
i live 24 miles away, but drive about 90+ it allows me to not wanting to punch the inmates and staff daily…very relaxing
I work one and a half miles from my office. I moved last year so I could be closer and live in a better house. It’s great: now I live down the street from my church, 1.5 miles from my work, and within 15 minutes of both my and my wife’s parents. I hope I never have to leave this job, because that short drive is worth everything to me now that I have kids. 🙂
My commute is approximately 30 miles which takes 40 minutes. I drive along the Rio Grande up to Taos, NM. It’s a beautiful drive! There is a “horseshoe” turn just before town that goes down hill and then up hill. As you drive over the top of the hill, you can see the Rio Grande gorge and state park spread out before you. Unfortunately, after two months of this drive, I’ve stopped noticing what a beautiful drive it really is! There are very few spots to pass along this road and other commuters are absolutely fearless while passing in tight spots.
I lived across the street from my office for a while and actually disliked it – I found myself becoming groggy and unfit, and my reading suffered. Now I have a 20-min subway trip, plus a 5-min walk either side, and I’m a lot happier. I would never consider a job that would require my driving to it, it’s out of the question for me.