Commutes are often filled to the brink with people, there usually isn't enough space for everyone to move freely, and depending on one's location, you might have nothing but a black tunnel wall outside the windows. Public transport often requires one to switch trains or buses, and traffic jams are a constant worry for drivers.
Travelling, as in actually going somewhere, is often a nice and relaxing experience. Taking a delayed filled-to-the-brink bus to the train-station, switching to a delayed train without a single free seat, switching to a hermetically sealed metro car an hour later and finally arriving at the office 30 minutes late is _not_ a relaxing experience.
I'd love to see my coworkers now and then, but commuting really neutralises any benefits from going to the office.
Hour+ long commutes are also just terrible. Terrible to live through psychologically, they waste time with you sitting still and not moving so you get fat and weak, and they are dangerous.
I have ~2 hour commutes each way, and honestly, they are the calmest moments of my life. Sure, I'm white-knuckling it down I680 and I880 hoping I don't die on the freeway. But hey, I'm listening to my favorite music, planning my day mentally, prioritizing things, basically my commute time is my thinking time. It is the only time in my life where I'm not exposed to constant interruptions. Step into the office and my time is chunked into chaotic loosely structured 30-minute sprints. It's meetings, E-mails that need to be answered RIGHT FUCKING NOW, meetings, tracking people down to ask them to help with something, "pings" from people, more meetings. Then I get home and it's do this, run that errand, play with me, feed me, read this book, parent stuff divided into equally frantic 30 minute chunks. I mean I love being a parent but shit, I sometimes can't wait for my commute.
That's nice for you personally, but most commutes require people to drive, and they can't space out, meditate, or read. Instead, they're stressed out about being late while causing pollution, congestion, and vehicular accidents.
I don't mind my 75 minutes x 2 commute, but 55 minutes are spent on a half empty train and the rest on bikes (mostly on bike lanes or empty roads), so I get to eat a snack, use my laptop and do some mild cardio. I've done the same commute a couple of times by car and it was much more stressful.
Commuting by train, I agree! But when I commuted by car in the past, it was a time to languish in my vehicle, parked on the highway, wondering why a drive normally taking 15 minutes on weekends instead takes 60 minutes on a work day. Definitely not a de-stresser for me!
Exactly. The time gained by not commuting is spent (and worse) on stressing out and watching my 1-year old while trying to accomplish something job-related at the same time.
People who have an unenjoyable commute, like stop-and-go-traffic, probably feel this way. But people who commute while exercising (bicycle riders) or consume books/podcasts/news while commuting probably wouldn't be so inclined.
Above all else, a commute to the office will suck all the creative juices straight from your cranium. Spending 30+ minutes schlepping through traffic each way makes the whole day a waste.
When you have a long commute, even by transit, it tends to crowd out other activities that you might want to partake in. I'm not talking about a 30 minute trip, but rather 2+ hours each way. It's life altering.
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