The first few years I lived in NYC, I commuted cross-town via subway and bus. The best days, it took 30-35 minutes. If I left a little too late, or if something was amiss with the trains or car traffic crossing Central Park, it could take 60+ minutes. But I really have no memories of dreading the commute, it was just a part of my daily life. I would check my phone/email on the subway, and then read or zone-out on the bus.
So in the spirit of the possibility that I will be re-introducing a 45-60 minute bus ride commute into my life, a list of things to convince myself I'm OK with it:
1. SLEEP. Wake up 6am, catch the 6:20 bus, sleep en route. Arrive in DC at 7ish, run/gym, at desk by 8:30ish.
*Bonus of this plan - I don't have to give up the DC trails (Mt. Vernon, C&O, Potomac Heritage) that I love.
2. WORK. I'm planning to talk with supervisor about making this part of my work day - being on email and starting the work day when I 'sign on' via the wonders of 3G. I don't think the full 2ish hours would fly, but if it meant leaving my desk a bit before 5pm to make the 5:01 bus or arriving a few minutes past 8:30, it may be a possibility.
3. READ. Eh, not sure about this one, I tend to get motion sick when I read in the car unless it is dark out, so this will be a winter-time possibility.
4. WATCH TV. We have recently talked about getting rid of cable and using Netflix/Hulu. My new obsession is The Following - 1 episode would be a lovely 1-way commute. And I have hours of popular shows I've never watched that could keep me entertained.
A lot of people, some of our family included, think we are crazy for considering the move we want to make, but for us it's a tradeoff between space, cost of real estate and planning for our future. Related, during a majority of the year, I will be traveling 2-3 days per week, so this will not be a 20-day per month round trip commute.
ALSO, it will put me 30 miles CLOSER to multiple rural, beautiful biking options that I spent last summer driving 90 minutes to enjoy.
So in the spirit of the possibility that I will be re-introducing a 45-60 minute bus ride commute into my life, a list of things to convince myself I'm OK with it:
1. SLEEP. Wake up 6am, catch the 6:20 bus, sleep en route. Arrive in DC at 7ish, run/gym, at desk by 8:30ish.
*Bonus of this plan - I don't have to give up the DC trails (Mt. Vernon, C&O, Potomac Heritage) that I love.
2. WORK. I'm planning to talk with supervisor about making this part of my work day - being on email and starting the work day when I 'sign on' via the wonders of 3G. I don't think the full 2ish hours would fly, but if it meant leaving my desk a bit before 5pm to make the 5:01 bus or arriving a few minutes past 8:30, it may be a possibility.
3. READ. Eh, not sure about this one, I tend to get motion sick when I read in the car unless it is dark out, so this will be a winter-time possibility.
4. WATCH TV. We have recently talked about getting rid of cable and using Netflix/Hulu. My new obsession is The Following - 1 episode would be a lovely 1-way commute. And I have hours of popular shows I've never watched that could keep me entertained.
A lot of people, some of our family included, think we are crazy for considering the move we want to make, but for us it's a tradeoff between space, cost of real estate and planning for our future. Related, during a majority of the year, I will be traveling 2-3 days per week, so this will not be a 20-day per month round trip commute.
ALSO, it will put me 30 miles CLOSER to multiple rural, beautiful biking options that I spent last summer driving 90 minutes to enjoy.
My commute into DC is about 60 minutes (from the minute I leave my house to the minute I sign in at work) and I don't mind it one bit. I spend most of that time (45ish) minutes on a train so I either sleep, read, or catch up on email/twitter. I've also made some commute friends who help pass the time. I've never lived in DC so I can't compare it but it's honestly not too bad.
ReplyDelete