Or, find the silver lining.
In case you missed it, my office moved into New Jersey a couple of weeks ago. I have now gone from a very short couple of miles commute to a rather longer, 52 mile one. And you know what? It hasn’t been all that bad.
Be thankful for the reverse
Ah, the reverse commute. Does this expression exist in the UK? If it does, I hadn’t heard it. It’s not rocket science though. It essentially means that you’re traveling in the opposite direction to everyone else. Which I am luckily doing. I go from NY across to NJ whereas many more people come from NJ to work in NYC.
I admit that the extent of this phenomenon did amaze me. I cross the River Hudson at 6:30am. I use the Tappan Zee Bridge, which is well north of Manhattan. Yet even at that time of day, it’s chockablock with traffic headed into the city. This is why the power of the reverse commute should never be underestimated.
Consider your vehicle
Fuel efficiency was my main concern when getting my new car, and little Rowan has not disappointed. I can get 37mpg which is phenomenal in America, the land of huge gas guzzling vehicles. This, combined with New Jersey’s cheap gas prices, means that I am only paying about $35 a week for my 400-ish miles of driving. And that’s for premium gas, not regular. I dread to think how much this would cost in England.
Become an early bird
I now get up at 5:30am every day. This is, of course, all kinds of wrong. But there are two significant silver linings here: the first, missing the traffic. The second, the blissful hour of productivity I get in the office before anyone else arrives.
Discover new things
I don’t know where I’ve been for the last 10 years but somehow I have only just discovered the world of podcasts. Every day this week, my commute has been filled with BTCC, NASCAR, BBC World News, Radio 4 comedy, TV and music. Living in America it can sometimes be difficult to get a handle on what’s going on around the world. For me, podcasts are filling this gap nicely.
Of course, I’m only two weeks in. And the weather so far has been pretty good. But, all things considered, this experience could have been a whole lot worse. And because it hasn’t been, I am thankful.
Want to read more?
I did a few short posts marking the first week of my life as a commuter. You can read them here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
laineyloutodo 