Tips For A Happy Commute

themosthappy91 · April 2015

Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.

huskypuppy14 · April 2015

themosthappy91 said:
Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.

If you find a solution, I'd love to hear it. I have a commute where 50 minutes each way is a good day. Today it took me an hour and half this morning. It sucks, but aside from moving (and we just bought this house) I just have to accept it.

Is there a train or something he could take instead of driving, so he could do some work during the commute?

themosthappy91 · April 2015

huskypuppy14 said:
Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.

If you find a solution, I'd love to hear it. I have a commute where 50 minutes each way is a good day. Today it took me an hour and half this morning. It sucks, but aside from moving (and we just bought this house) I just have to accept it.

Is there a train or something he could take instead of driving, so he could do some work during the commute?

Unfortunately no, we don't live in a populous enough area for any sort of public transport between our town and the city he commutes to. That would have been ideal

.

WinstonsGirl · April 2015

My commute stressed me out after about 5 years. I was lucky enough to get hired on at my neighbourhood school, so I walk most days now.

DH listens to podcasts all the time. The radio was my drive background. The morning show was super funny, so that helped a lot. Unfortunately, I don't have any better ideas. Though I loved calling ahead for pizza, driving home and grabbing it on the way so it was ready as soon as I pulled in.

cupcait927 · April 2015

I have no ideas and if someone has something awesome, I'd love to hear it. My commute is 45 minutes each way and it makes me so ragey. I can't even switch up my route because there's only one of two ways to get from my house to my job, without adding on a ton more time. Unfortunately, we still have 4 more years before we can sell our house and move to closer to my job. I told H that once we can move again, I refuse to live any farther than 15 minute drive to work. Even before we bought our house I had a lengthy commute so I've paid my dues and just want to be close. I feel like so much of my day is wasted when I'm sitting in car for almost 2 hours a day.

climbingsingle · April 2015

I don't really have any tips aside from satellite radio and audio books. I commuted 45 mins each way years ago and it made me miserable.

arrippa · April 2015

Happy commute is an oxymoron. I like to listen to podcasts while commuting.

mikenberger · April 2015

arrippa said:
Happy commute is an oxymoron. I like to listen to podcasts while commuting.

True story. I commute 70mins a day. It's not quite that bad, but it's still awful being stuck in a car that long.

jenna8984 · April 2015

Mine is 40 minutes and we're moving next week so it'll turn into 50 minutes. I found early on that it's much easier on me to set cruise control and putz along in the slow lane. Most people are like "I gotta drive the fastest possible to just get there" and they are in the fast lane and swerving and riding people's butt and that is stressful. I'm much more at peace just coasting along in my slow lane and laughing at the morning radio show.

I'm the type who HATES talking on the phone, I prefer texting people. But I often use my evening commute as a time to call my parents/ grandparents/ friends across the country. It makes the drive go by faster but it also provides an easy out when I can say "OK, just got home, I gotta let you go so I can go inside and start dinner".

TrixieJess · April 2015

huskypuppy14 said:

themosthappy91 said:
Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.
If you find a solution, I'd love to hear it. I have a commute where 50 minutes each way is a good day. Today it took me an hour and half this morning. It sucks, but aside from moving (and we just bought this house) I just have to accept it.

Is there a train or something he could take instead of driving, so he could do some work during the commute?

Does the mode of transport have wifi? If not, does your data plan support something like Netflix on a tablet? If that isn't a possibility, could you download series to a laptop or tablet for him to watch to and from work? An hour TV show is actually 44 minutes. I used to crochet, read, and listen to music (with noise blocking head phones) on my hour and a half commute to and from work every day.

littlemushroom · April 2015

I can't help much. My husband has an hour commute each way for work and he hates it. He listens to podcasts and talks to his parents during his commute but it doesn't make it better. That is actually why we are moving to a town half way between his job and mine so we each have a half hour commute. That will make things much easier on him.

littlepep · April 2015

Yikes! Mine is just 20 minutes each way so it's not too awful. I'm going against traffic too so I think that makes it easier. I find it's pretty relaxing honestly. I use it as a time to decompress after work.

The only thing I can think of would be audiobooks, podcasts or playlists. I personally find that blasting Taylor Swift makes my commute more enjoyable, but I'm not sure that would be your H's taste.

Serial was amazing when it was on. I honestly didn't want to get out of the car. FI and I listened to it on a road trip since we were late to the party.

Maggie0829 · April 2015

I don't really have any advice. My H drives all over the state for work. Some days his commute to certain jobs are close to 2 hours. He has a Bluetooth so he talks to friends or he listens to music. But other then that there isn't much more to do (or that you can do safely) when you are driving a car.

Commuting sucks. All he can do is remind himself that eventually his daily commute to school will end.

loveislouder · April 2015

I have about 45 minutes to and from work, and I listen to music and singalong the whole time. If I've had a particularly crappy day I call FI, my mom, my sister, really anybody that is willing to talk to me lol

cupcait927 · April 2015

@littlepep Serial was my temporary saving grace. I'd listen to the morning talk shows on my way into work and then Serial was my treat for the ride home, since it's always more stressful and and takes a little longer. I was SO upset once I finished the episodes because it was an amazing distraction.

climbingsingle · April 2015

TrixieJess said:

themosthappy91 said:
Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.
If you find a solution, I'd love to hear it. I have a commute where 50 minutes each way is a good day. Today it took me an hour and half this morning. It sucks, but aside from moving (and we just bought this house) I just have to accept it.

Is there a train or something he could take instead of driving, so he could do some work during the commute?

Does the mode of transport have wifi? If not, does your data plan support something like Netflix on a tablet? If that isn't a possibility, could you download series to a laptop or tablet for him to watch to and from work? An hour TV show is actually 44 minutes. I used to crochet, read, and listen to music (with noise blocking head phones) on my hour and a half commute to and from work every day.

Uh. I think he is driving.

littlepep · April 2015

loveislouder said:
I have about 45 minutes to and from work, and I listen to music and singalong the whole time. If I've had a particularly crappy day I call FI, my mom, my sister, really anybody that is willing to talk to me lol

Ha yeah I do a lot of phone calls on the way home too.

redheadbride15 · April 2015

I see lots of long commute stories from people in the Boston area - I feel your pain, ladies!

My commute is 50 minutes with a combination of walking & train. I don't mind it, except when the train is overcrowded, late, and filled with cranky people playing their music too loudly through their iPhone headphones. It was horrendous this winter when we had 7 feet of snow. But I read or check FB or email and it's not bad at all.

FI, on the other hand, has a 2 hour commute (each way!). Fortunately he gets to work from home 2-3 days a week so he isn't doing it every day but it's getting really, really painful. It's a compromise that works for now so we can both work good jobs in our chosen (very highly sub-specialized) careers and save up some money, but is not sustainable.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

I commute between 1.5 -2.5 hours depending on the day of the week, and I listen to podcasts, otherwise I get dangerously close to falling asleep (I know, it's bad). Some of the ones I listen to are:

This American Life

Stuff You Should Know (from the How Stuff Works team)

and Nerdette (interviews with creative/nerdy people about how they do what they do, and why)

I have also started listening to Coffee Break French which are short little French lesson, but stopped because I felt silly speaking out loud alone in my car. I also listened to one episode of Desert Island Discs, which features celebrities (maybe only British ones...it's a British podcast and like I've said, only listened to one) discussing their life and some CDs they would bring with them on a desert island. I REALLY liked the episode I listened to, and will probably download more of them soon.

There are tons of podcasts, so your SO can probably find something to fit his interests. At first I was hesitant to give it a try, but now I hate commuting without listening to something at least mildly educational. It makes me feel like those hours are not wasted.

sarahufl · April 2015

I commute about an hour. 15 minutes of that is walking, 22 minutes on a commuter train and about 20 on a bus, plus a bit of waiting.

I don't mind it (most of the time). I read a lot, or zone out. Which I recognize is a luxury because I am not driving.

TrixieJess · April 2015

climbingwife said:

themosthappy91 said:
Hi ladies- I'm hoping y'all can give me some ideas to help make my husband's daily commute more pleasant for him!

My husband has to commute about 50 minutes each way to and from school every week day. The drive isn't hard- mostly just monotonous. He's been doing this for almost two years now, but recently school has become more demanding and as a result the commute has been getting to him a little more than usual. Moving closer to his school isn't an option because of my career, and we still have two more years to get through (he's in dental school), so I want to come up with a list of ideas for how to make the commute a more enjoyable or productive part of his day, rather than just two "wasted" hours.

I've thought of all the basic stuff (make playlists, buy audiobooks etc.), but if any of you have more creative solutions you'd be willing to share that would be fantastic! I'm especially interested in ideas that help him de-stress and come home more relaxed rather than harried from the road.
If you find a solution, I'd love to hear it. I have a commute where 50 minutes each way is a good day. Today it took me an hour and half this morning. It sucks, but aside from moving (and we just bought this house) I just have to accept it.

Is there a train or something he could take instead of driving, so he could do some work during the commute?

Does the mode of transport have wifi? If not, does your data plan support something like Netflix on a tablet? If that isn't a possibility, could you download series to a laptop or tablet for him to watch to and from work? An hour TV show is actually 44 minutes. I used to crochet, read, and listen to music (with noise blocking head phones) on my hour and a half commute to and from work every day.

Uh. I think he is driving.

Sorry, most people in our area who commute that long use public transportation because we have two seasons, Winter and Construction. I would recommend comedy albums. It's a bit of a diversion from the typical audio book and you don't have to pay that much attention.

southernbelle0915 · April 2015

My mom has a really long commute. She got some Spanish language CDs and was actually decent. Not in a conversational way, but she learned some basic stuff. She only did it for a few months because the CDs were from the library. If she had kept doing it, I think she could have gotten a lot more out of it.

Maggie0829 · April 2015

I do think there is a big difference between driving yourself and public transportation commuting. Driving yourself just is miserable because you have to constantly be alert and deal with shitty drivers, while when you are taking public transportation you can, as sarahufl said, you can kind of zone out and read or play on your phone etc.

But I am sure there are pros and cons with both and that commuting is not something that anyone ever looks forward to or wants to do.

NowIamMrsKlein · April 2015

Another person here for the Podcasts!

It's a 7 hour drive to our home town with splotchy radio reception at best, so FI and I always listen to Podcasts. Our favorite is Nerdist Podcasts with Chris Hardwick. Basically he sits down with celebrities and finds out obscure stories from them that you wouldn't necessarily know. He's interviewed everyone from Tom Hanks to Bill Gates. It's pretty fascinating and each are about an hour long.

sarawifenow · April 2015

I'm not much help now because my commute is only 15 minutes each way. Going into work, I have my favorite morning show that I listen to. It cracks me up every morning! Maybe your H could find a favorite? I also like comedy stations.

On the drive home, I just turn everything off and am totally silent. It is my time to just relax and reflect on my work day. I don't take any calls (unless they are emergencies obviously) and just enjoy the drive.

Now my last office, man was that a shitty commute! An hour and a half in the morning and 2 hours on the way home! I hated life for a year! I listened to a lot of books on tape then.

daria24 · April 2015

Podcasts Podcasts Podcasts. I take the subway, but on the occasion I have to drive I find them more effective at keeping me awake than music. And you can download a whole bunch for every mood.

I love Judge John Hodgman, Girl on Guy (Aisha Tyler's podcast), Wait Wait Don't Tell Me for humor.

This American Life, Fresh Air, Invisibilia for interesting/educational

StarTalk is a combo of humor/information

If he has particular actors/comedians he likes, they are always on podcasts, he can search and find them when they are guests. Most of the buzzy TV shows have dedicated podcasts, so if you watch Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Doctor Who, etc you can find podcasts for those shows.

[Deleted User] · April 2015

daria24 said:
Podcasts Podcasts Podcasts. I take the subway, but on the occasion I have to drive I find them more effective at keeping me awake than music. And you can download a whole bunch for every mood.

I love Judge John Hodgman, Girl on Guy (Aisha Tyler's podcast), Wait Wait Don't Tell Me for humor.
This American Life, Fresh Air, Invisibilia for interesting/educational
StarTalk is a combo of humor/information

If he has particular actors/comedians he likes, they are always on podcasts, he can search and find them when they are guests. Most of the buzzy TV shows have dedicated podcasts, so if you watch Game of Thrones, Mad Men, Doctor Who, etc you can find podcasts for those shows.

The Nerdette podcast I listen to had the guy from Wait Wait Don't Tell me on last week (and I think continually) covering Game of Thrones! He was hilarious, so I am totally downloading those podcasts.

FiancB · April 2015

I had a near two hour commute at one point. I worked out my schedule so that I'd work a day, stay that night at my boss' house/where I worked, work the next day, go home, take the next day off to minimize the driving. Still, I only lasted 8 months.

I alternated between audio books and podcats. Jay & Silent Bob Get Old and The Moth are good ones, plus I listened to a photography podcast.

Other than that, not much you can do. Maybe a good time to practice some yogic breathing?

Now I only ever have to drive about 15 minutes and I still hate it. I hate not being able to multitask. When self driving cars hit the market I will gladly sell my soul for one.

thisismynickname2 · April 2015

My question to the OP is, can he adjust his school schedule to commute during less traffic-y times? For example, if it's that long at 8am, maybe he can leave at 7am, get there in a shorter amount of time, and go to a coffee shop or study somewhere.

I used to work a job from 7 to 3:30pm and that was the LIFE. Now that I'm on 8-5, some evenings I want to slice someone for the crazy commute time.

cupcait927 · April 2015

thisismynickname said:
My question to the OP is, can he adjust his school schedule to commute during less traffic-y times? For example, if it's that long at 8am, maybe he can leave at 7am, get there in a shorter amount of time, and go to a coffee shop or study somewhere.

I used to work a job from 7 to 3:30pm and that was the LIFE. Now that I'm on 8-5, some evenings I want to slice someone for the crazy commute time.

I am NOT a morning person but I would jump on the chance to work 7 to 3:30 if I could. The traffic is so much more bearable. I currently work 8:30 to 5 so it's pretty much hell coming and going.

arrippa · April 2015

redheadbride15 said:
I see lots of long commute stories from people in the Boston area - I feel your pain, ladies!

My commute is 50 minutes with a combination of walking & train. I don't mind it, except when the train is overcrowded, late, and filled with cranky people playing their music too loudly through their iPhone headphones. It was horrendous this winter when we had 7 feet of snow. But I read or check FB or email and it's not bad at all.

FI, on the other hand, has a 2 hour commute (each way!). Fortunately he gets to work from home 2-3 days a week so he isn't doing it every day but it's getting really, really painful. It's a compromise that works for now so we can both work good jobs in our chosen (very highly sub-specialized) careers and save up some money, but is not sustainable.

This morning was particularly bad since a truck was in an accident and was dangling off the overpass that is over the redline tracks. They had to bus us which took an extra hour to get into work.

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