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Yo ho, yo ho, a commuter's life for me

When I lived in the Chicago area, I would walk a mile to a train that would drop me 1 mile from my office. Such as it was, I was getting daily exercise and a mostly relaxing ride into work each day. Missing a train wasn't such a bad thing as the longest I'd ever have to wait for a train was 1 hour, and during peak times, about 20 minutes. I enjoyed unlimited commutes for about $120 per month.

When I moved to Atlanta, I knew I would be driving. But I had no idea just how much. Out of strange curiosity in mid-January, I began keeping track of my mileage. My daily commute is about 36.9 miles each way. This translates into 90 minutes in the morning and about 75 minutes in the evening.

Here's a table of my 2006 Hyundai Sonata's performance to date.


For those keeping score, I am paying more to drive into work. Add in what I pay for parking, and it's close to double. There is a spectacular trade-off however. Back in Chicago, what I spend on my mortgage today got us a two bedroom apartment in a safe but not so nice area. We lived above two people who I'm sure preferred we did not and made certain we were aware of their distaste.

So, now audiobooks and NPR have become two of my favorite things about weekdays. This morning my commute took 2 hours and I thought to myself, "I should blog about this new long-distance commuter lifestyle of mine."

I have, to me at least, some fantastic thoughts on the road. I have "read" some fantastic books and listened to some wonderful music. I would like this blog to reflect where I am in life as a commuter dad.


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