The new digs works out better for our family in many ways.
But one.
I am now a commuter. Depending on traffic, it can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and a half each way.
Any advice for those of you commuting out there?
How do you carve out your blogging time?
How to best pass the time in the car?
I know I have negelected everything blog for awhile, but please link on up with any posts that can take us away, even if it is only by a state of mind...
36 comments:
Fortunately, I haven't had a commute in a good, gee, 7 years or so. I try not to think much about it - it's a rotten experience. I know I became a VERY aggressive driver and it used to scare Beloved to death to have me drive him anywhere.
Do you have a portable tape recorder? Perhaps you could use it on your drive to make mental notes about what to blog about.
Things will settle down for you soon. I hope. Glad the family is enjoying the new digs.
Books on tape/CD. Best dang invention EVER!
Yowza... Yeah, I suggest books on tape/CD. My commute is much shorter (about 20-30 min depending) but I do find it's a great time to think about my stories and "write" in my head. I figured out how to use my cell phone as a voice memo recorder too, that way I can compose sentences without texting or typing and thus killing myself (or anyone else!).
Audio books. You can get them at the library for free. You can then put them on your iPod if you want or just listen to the discs in the car. Or? Just a lot of good upbeat tunes in the car ... no slow or downer songs. I spent all of yesterday on Southern California freeways - and you know how much fun THAT is!
I think books on tape/CD are the perfect solution! For my first job, in prehistoric days, I commuted an hour and a half each way (ah, the foolishness of youth)--if BCDs had been available, they would have been such a blessing. Now I enjoy knowing that when I hop into the car I'll be at work in 5 minutes. Sheer luxury...
No tapes
No Radio
Just you and nice thoughts. Enjoy the quiet and us it to breathe and relax. Savor the hour as it is one of the few times in our schedules that we get to enjoy just "us".
Alone time!
Good time to just let your mind wander. I commuted forever, and found it relaxing, especially since I could not control the traffic. Books on tape are good; but music is better!
i was an hour commuter for a couple years...i have tried books on tape, enjoyable...using the time to mentally write my blogs...just listening to soothing music...its good to switch it up occassionally as well.
How about books on audio???
How about trying a new solution like the new Yike Bike that is going comercial this year? Looks really fun to me.
http://thegreenertruth.com/2010/03/commuting-the-yike-bike-way/
Yep, books on tape. If the commute is THAT long, exercise the brain!
UGH that's an awful commute, even in Hawaii. I feel sorry for you! I'd suggest books on tape - or I suppose now they're called books on CDs. That's how I used to pass the time in grad school driving from Florida to Virginia many, many weekends.
Buy a Jeep. Remove the top and doors. Sit back and enjoy the ride. You'll wish your commute was longer.
An hour and a half?? Holy crap, you live on a tiny ISLAND, how far can you GO?? You should be able to circle the island six times in an hour and a half.
Buy a Jeep with REALLY BIG tires, and drive over the cars that get in your way.
I commute 45-60 minutes daily, coming and going to work. I alternate between NPR and listening to things that make me feel good, be it music or morning talk radio with crazy DJs. I mainly try to get my day off to a positive start, and frequently sing in my car. That ALWAYS lifts my spirit!
With traffic, it's too hard for me to get into an audio book, I find myself missing whole sections of reading, so I just don't pursue it.
If I could take a train into work, I'd do it and catch up on blogging stuff. As it is, I have to carve out blogging and other creative writing time and be really protective of it. Sad to say, juggling your creative self with your fulltime work-day self just isn't easy.
P.S. I mentioned a seashell song in my blog today, and I wondered if you were familiar with it? Pop by and see when you're free.
My brother and SIL lived in Honolulu many years (still have a condo there but are living a year at their house in Montana to see if they want to raise kids there). My SIL would call me often and talk while she was on the half hour drive to work. Now my son is living in their condo and he has gone from a walk across the street to the bank to work to a 45 min drive to work each day. You and he are probably waving to each other in the traffic!
Well, as a former commuter I can say I would do it on the train, straining my eyes and thumbs on the ol' Crackberry.
Don't recommend doing it while driving though.
Having said that, I've read a post by Mr Condescending that was apparently typed while driving...
I have to wonder how many of these people have actually used a book on tape for their commute? I just can't do it. I say find a good radio station or two (I vary between country, pop and NPR).
Also, green lifesavers and gum. Absolute must. They'll keep you awake, and they keep you from gnawing your hands off when you're creeping upon dinner time.
Haven't been around much myself, so I'm glad to hear the new place is working for everyone -- and reaaaaalllly sorry you have such a long commute.
Wouldn't reliable, safe mass transportation be great? Then you could read/write/work instead of having 45 minutes of dead time.
Leave early. Some places like the Pali, even ten minutes can make a difference.
I'd rather leave early than sit in traffic.
Yep books on tape,ipod,music. A longer commute can give some great time to yourself to decompress and have some me time. Phone talks (speaker phone/earbuds) if you can manage it safely. At least there aren't any snowstorms to drive through! Or, leave late and get in some gym time or blog time at school/work! As limon said, a few minutes early or late can cut commutes significantly!
I suggest retiring or private teaching from home and eleminate the need to commute at all ;-)
I like the idea of switching it up. I have a longish drive once in a while (zero commute), and I've done all of the above suggestions, but often silence is a great choice.
I love the voice recorder possibility for the cellphone... interesting.
Good to see you back in my google reader. I wish I weren't so busy so I could participate...
That chant I sent you, it's the only solution :) You'll feel calmed, primed, and so many other wonderful things when that has been entering your mind, heart, and soul for 45 mins!
I've never been a books-on-tape person; my mind starts wandering on its own and I keep needing to go back. But I do get the creative juices flowing when I need to drive distances. Get a little tape recorder to pour some ideas into. I also give wonderful free concerts to my favorite CD's to anyone driving nearby...
My friend commutes 125 miles round trip each day. She swears by Satellite Radio and claims her sanity depends on it.
When I commuted I was lucky enough to be on a train so I could read or nap.
Maybe you'll meet a carpool friend to share in the driving????
Have a great weekend.
xo
It's been a long time since I had the a commute (six years and counting), but I was a big fan of the books on tape--reaquainted myself with all the classics and picked some hefty books that are too thick to crawl in bed with.
Is it the Kalanianaole? The views aren't bad.
Silence. Silence is good, too. Really, how often do you get that??
My library will now let me download audio books to my ipod. I can then listen through the car radio. Otherwise you can dowload through itunes. You could always learn a new language while driving in the car....
Alternating between audiobooks and SILENCE!
I'm a teacher as well. Between my children at school all day and my children at home all night, silence is PRECIOUS!
I haven't had to commute in years but I still have trouble fitting in the blog time lately. When I did commute, I always had a loaner book on tape from the library. It was enough of a distraction that I didn't want to ram my vehicle in to the a-hole drivers you routinely encounter on the highways of Miami.
that's a sucky commute. i think i would enjoy the silence, or my boyfriend singing to me, but it would get old FAST.
Regardless of how long your commute is or how you spend it, you're still in Hawaii, so stop whining.
x
Ah Pseudo, I feel your pain here. I have balked at job hunting in Wichita for the past year for that very reason... I do NOT want to commute an hour each way every single day. Now I have my first big, big job interview in that very town on the 17th and I have great odds of getting this job, which would be a plum one. My hubby is so excited and so proud... and yet I am sad, as it's going to put me back in the corporate world and in a commuting position I did not want to be in.
I imagine I will end up getting some of my phone chores crossed off my list on my way home everyday.
And I know my blog will suffer the most once I am back in the corporate world. Unless I change its theme to one of whining. :)
Commuting sucks, the only thing that ever kept me remotely sane was some good music.
I have been reading your blog for several months now, though since I prefer to lurk this is my first time to comment. Having lived in the country for many many years, I am well acquainted with long commutes. Before moving last month, my commute to and from work clocked in at 1hr 10min each way; that's 500 miles each week. The best way to pass the time is good music and audiobooks on your iPod. It helped immensely, especially when there was traffic. I also came to appreciate the built-in decompression time I got each day. It was nice to have an hour to unwind, so when I got home I could leave work issues in the car and enjoy my evening. A long commute is never great, but hopefully you'll find some ways to make it a little less unbearable.
Also, I lived in Mililani for two years when I was a kid. It's nice to read your description of childhood haunts and places I still love. Hats off to you for being a teacher. When I was there, Hawaii schools were ranked 50th in the nation. It was so bad my parents decided to homeschool my sister and I. (It didn't help that I have fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.) I'm happy to hear things are better now. Of course, that was 20+ years ago. Yikes!
Hope you're settling into your new home. Good luck on the commute - I know Oahu traffic is a royal pain.
Glad you're settling into the new place! I've never been a commuter, but hubby used to be a long-haul truck driver. He got lots of audio books under his belt during those cross-country drives.
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