For the past 22 months I have commuted daily 30 miles each way to work (excepting holidays and storms, of course). If the railway were as efficient and pleasant as I had grown accustomed to while living in Europe, then maybe I wouldn’t really care. But in the end, the commute sapped my time, motivation, and sanity.
While I didn’t keep any sort of accurate records of each of my commutes, I can guess how many I did, how much it cost, and how far the commute was. My commute was mostly by train from my home station, but occasionally I drove to another station or all the way into work.
Here’s my final tally:
- 22 months commuting
- 1,500 hours sitting in a car or train
- $6,500 in tolls, parking, rail passes, gas
- 10,200 miles driving (to station, to town)
- 20,000 miles on train
- more than 800 miles walking (to and from station, including extended out of the way walks)
- New stat (28may11): gained about 15 lbs
On the train inbound I usually had a table to work on. Outbound I usually stood (probably a total of 300 hours!), so really could only read. I read the Economist (95 weeks of it), read a few books, read a ton of science papers and articles printed out for the ride home, wrote and replied to countless emails, wrote dozens of blog posts, and spent many hours on Twitter.
In the car, I listened to more than 200 hours (practically every driving moment) of Science Friday, NOVA, Long Now seminars, and Melvyn Bragg’s In our Time, and gathered enough wool to clothe China. Sigh.
While the commute to my new job is quite short – a round trip less than 3 miles, 10 minutes by car – I can’t say how long it may last. Also, in my job that’s ending, there was no inter-city travel (only two trips, to Austin). Day 1 in my new job already starts with a 320 mile round trip to HQ and back. And I am sure I’ll need to do at least 20% traveling, so I’ll rack on miles and more wear on me (though probably not like my weekly London commutes back in 2007). But, for sure, any travel will be a different sort than a daily rail commute.
One thing I’ll miss from my commute: my extended 35-40 min walk down Bolyston and through the Fens.
I hope I use my new-found time and money wisely. For example, one goal is to get back into running. The long commute required I leave home early and arrive back late – not conducive to a regular running schedule out here in our semi-rural suburbs without lighting and sidewalks.
Let’s see.
