The Daily Commute

On average, I drive 150 miles roundtrip each day for work. Obviously there a helluva lot of negatives with that commute. However this was a great “opportunity” to turn a negative into a positive. (Yes, I’m using quotes because it wasn’t easy).

Negatives

• Gas consumption.
• Wear and tear on the car.
• Having to get up earlier to compensate for travel time
• 1 - 1.5 hour drive each way

Initially, I really hated the drive. After a few months I’ve grown accustomed to, but I’ve been able to tweak some of the negatives into positives

Positives

• -Gas consumption-
  • I drive a Saturn, which gets me between 32 - 37 MPG. Still costs around $260 a month in gas though. ** Janson and I carpool, which saves a bit of gas
• -Wear and tear on the car- This is still a bit of a sticky point.
  • Switching vehicles with a carpooler will in addition to the above, not stress a single vehicle. It also has a benefit of not having to pass around money.
• -Having to get up earlier to compensate for travel time-
  • This was probably the hardest for me as I’m generally a night owl. And Janson can attest, I still need work in this area. I can only deceive myself in that if we ever move closer, I have a habit of waking earlier and being more productive
• -1 - 1.5 hour drive each way-
  • This was probably the biggest win. I enjoy listening to the “Freebeer and Hotwings Show” in the mornings, but aside from that it’s really nice to be able to turn off the radio, and just think. This will help you organize your day to come, or chew on some things in the evening.
  • With a coworker carpooler, you can talk about hurdles or lessons learned.