Surviving a Long Commute & Public Transit Nightmares

Traffic, public transit, smelly commuters, loud talkers and angry drivers… You know the feeling, am I right?!

This blog post was inspired by my favorite website Apartment Therapy where they review the 5 Ways Smart People Survive a Long Commute.

As per a study by Statistics Canada: “In the six largest metropolitan areas, the average commuting time was 44 minutes for public transit users and 27 minutes by car.”

I guess I’m far from the average commuter since my daily public transit commute is approximately 2.5 hours, and 40 minutes on the weekends. Which is an average total of 750 minutes of commute time each week. Cue the tears…

I don’t have a driver’s license, so taking the bus really is my only option. I’ve been taking the bus for most of my life, and luckily I’ve found several ways to make the most of my time productive and enjoyable.

    1. Music

If I don’t have my headphones with me, I’m basically miserable, so I’ve made the habit of checking my bag before I leave the house each day. I plug them in and listen to my favorite tunes all the way to my office. Lately, my playlists consists of Justin Bieber (I’m not even slightly embarrassed about him being the first on my list), Iggy Azalea (working on my shiiiit), The Weekend (especially when it’s rainy, so soothing), Lana Del Rey (duh) and random oldies.

2. Podcasts

The great thing about podcasts is you can actually download them to your device instead of streaming them on the bus! I mostly listen to Tim Ferris, Call Your Girlfriend, The Mystery Show and my new favorite The Meditation Podcast, any time I feel anxious, nervous or frustrated, I put my headphones in and listen to their 8 minute podcast and I feel a thousand times better.

3. Lists

Lists, oh how I love making lists. I plan my day, I plan my evening, I plan my week, I plan everything, and it helps keep me on track and I usually avoid forgetting things… Usually… I put everything in the Notes section of my phone, and set daily reminders for things I absolutely can’t forget. If you can’t already tell, I’m a very forgetful person.

4. E-books

I LOVE E-books! Unfortunately in the last couple of years I’ve become nauseated from reading in a moving vehicle, that’s when I discovered E-books. The last one I read was Furiously Happy, which I recommend times a million to anyone who deals, or knows someone that deals with mental illness.

5. Naps

I’m not even kidding, sometimes I definitely get some sleep on my way in to work. I’m not a morning person, don’t judge me. It’s never a full REM sleep obviously, but I feels good to close my eyes. And luckily (knock on wood) I’ve never missed my stop.

Now, for the totally unacceptable things to do in public transit:

Disclaimer, if you do any of these things, you’re a terrible human being.

1. Cut your nails. I’ve actually seen this happen more often than I would like to admit, and I mean I’ve even seen people take their socks off and cut their toe nails. DON’T EVER DO THIS.
2. Lounge. By all means, read your book, I have no issue with that, but understand that this isn’t your sofa, I do not want your elbows on my person, so GTFO.
3. Argue on the phone. Listen if you’re on the phone, I don’t care, that’s why I have headphones, but do not yell on your phone swearing about how your brother ate the entire bag of Cheetos last night. True story.
4. Eggs. Nothing makes me want to puke more in the morning than someone eating hard-boiled eggs on the bus. COMMON NOW!

#facepalm

Let me know the things you do to pass the time on your commute into work! I’d love to add somethings to my list! And share any horror stories you’ve witnessed on the bus or other public transit – we can console each other about how messed up some people are.

Happy Monday everyone!