A commuters view on commuting

in #life7 years ago (edited)

I thought I should share some experience on job commuting since I commute pretty much every day to my job.

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Every time I tell someone where I work and where I live I get the reaction that I'm insane and questions about how I can live like that. I commute to my job in Stockholm and live some 120 km from my job. There are a few points that answer that question.

First point is that people mix up remote commute and local commute. You cannot extrapolate the time for a local city commute to a long distance commute. Commuting 20km in a city may take as long time as commuting 100km when outside the city. People living in a city also tend to believe that other cities are farther away than they really are.

Next point is that I commute by long distance train which are much more comfortable than commuter trains. This means that I can sit and do something useful during the time.

I usually work. But sometimes I like to read or watch YouTube or Netflix. There is internet connection onboard the train and also pretty good mobile network connection along the way.

The scheduled time for my train is around 55 minutes. You can produce pretty much on that time. A steem post for example.

My working environment. This day alone in a double seat.

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I also have very flexible working hours and my job does not require me to be at the office at a specific time. This is probably the most important point. If having a job with strict working schedule I would not commute.

There are of course some drawbacks. From time to time the train does not go as scheduled, are delayed or cancelled. That sucks, but luckily it doesn't happen that often. The best is when taking a train from an end station because then you can hop on and take a seat and don't really care if departure is delayed or not.

It may also happen that the train is very crowded and there are no seats available. Again, this is very rare.

A not so crowded day on the train.

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The days tend to be a bit longer even though I do work on the train. If I had family at home that would be a bigger problem but for now I think it's ok.

So 55 minutes on the train isn't that much,right? How much time does it take for you to get to your job? And how long distance do you travel?

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I have about the same commute as you.

I work in the centre of London and travel about an hour each way.

In the mornings I first get an overground train, then I change onto an underground train. I live at the end of the line, so in the mornings an empty train pulls up and I can pretty much choose where I want to sit. That train is About 40 minutes and then I change onto the underground. That is also usually empty ish and I get a seat. Another 10 minutes and I am at work.

You soon get used to a commute don't you?

Ah, interesting. I'm glad I don't have to change train.
Yep, you quickly set some routines. What do you do when on the train?

That's a great spirit to see the positive side of traveling like this, you se possibilities of what you can make done during the time.
Most people I know only sees the negativety.
Great post, thanks for sharing.

Thanks, kind of you! I'm a positive person and would never have commuted if I didn't see opportunities for working, reading during the time.

I belive that and sometimes it can be good to have a little time before work 😉 Hope you are having a great day and week.

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