Exactly. With my current gig, I have a 60 minutes train commute (Paris has relatively good public transportation, apart from the strikes ;) ). This allows me to read a lot of books.
I have a hard time reading at home, with so many distractions (computer/internet being the main one). If I were to reduce my commute, I fear I wouldn't read as much.
Maybe I'm just rationalizing my long commute, though. I should look into living closer to work, and deliberately blocking distraction-free time for reading at home, on a comfortable couch. But it would cost me 700€/month more than my current arrangement, and I don't know where my next gig will be located.
I've been a full-time bike commuter for about 15 years now. I love it, and couldn't imagine driving to work.
That said, I don't mind taking the bus sometimes because it does give me time to think, write, or read. The only thing I don't like about it is being beholden to a schedule.
I'm a bike commuter as well and I love it. Been doing it for about 9 years now. The first 2 years it was a 40 minute bike ride each way. After that I got another job and moved which resulted in a 15 minute ride each way.
Funny thing is I kind of miss the longer commute. Sometimes after work I will take an extra 30 minutes on my bike by taking the long way home. How many times do you hear a car commuter say that?
My current door-to-door commute is about 10 minutes. Most of that is spent waiting for elevators. I'm often late, strangely enough.
Previously I had a 30 minute each way commute by bike, with most of it along a river. I really miss that commute. Watching the seasons change, the different critters come and go, riding faster than the commuters stuck in traffic and feeling really 'connected' to the city. And 2-3 times a week i'd take a longer way home just to get a little more enjoyment out of the commute.
My commute has been ~30 minutes each way for the last five years. Seems like a perfect distance. Previously, I had a 20+ mile commute (each way), which I did three days a week. That was not ideal.
I rotate between commuting by motorcycle, bicycle, and train. Traffic usually works out to where each option takes about the same amount of time, 40 minutes.
Just having the option of not taking the train is a relief sometimes. If it's a beautiful day out, i'll take the bicycle in and get a wonderful start to the day. If it's a little rainy or I'm wrapped up in a book, I'll take the train and get some more reading time.
Also, having an iPad has made the train much more enjoyable.
Seconded. My current commute is a choice between option A: 2*7 minutes walk plus about 10 minutes on the subway and option B: 15 minutes drive. Option A, although longer leaves me much more relaxed than B. I have yet to try option C: a bike ride.
I have a 30-40 minute commute each way from the burbs to SF.
I end up reading interesting books, sketching ideas, or sometimes pop out the laptop to do some quick work.
The savings on rent by living in the 'burbs is a decent tradeoff for having more expendable income for my hobbies.