According to NPR, the average American commutes an average of 25 minutes each way to work a day; that adds up to about 9 full days in the car each year.
When I heard that on the radio this morning, I thought how sad it was that Americans were wasting so much time trapped in their cars every day, time that could otherwise be spent productively or time that could be spent with family and friends. Personally, I hate driving or riding in the car. I always feel it’s a waste of time that I could be using in some more brain-engaging way. It’s the only thing I really don’t like about the location of my house, which is in a rural-ish town. If I want groceries, supplies of anything, a job, I have to drive somewhere. Heck, I even have to drive my trash to the dump.
Well, that got me thinking about my own commute. My commute is about 40 minutes each way. If I take out 3 weeks for vacation and holidays, that’s almost 14 days a year that I’m trapped in my car. Two whole weeks a year wasted — I could be reading books, walking my dog, doing laundry, sleeping, writing blog posts, shopping online, watching the Today show, catching up on my chores, taking a nap…so many things.
How much time are you losing stuck in your commute? What would you do if you had that extra time?
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Longest commute ever was Fredericksburg, VA to Bethesda, MD. That took about ninety minutes using both train and subway, and it didn’t last long we moved, but not close enough and I ended up telecommuting two days a week.
My commute now is about twelve minutes.
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