Author Topic: Tell me about your walking commutes  (Read 3669 times)

roomtempmayo

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1142
Tell me about your walking commutes
« on: March 26, 2023, 09:40:42 AM »
Inspire me: Who does a long walking commute?  Care to share what you do, and any tips you may have?

***

I live 2.4 miles from work, and I've managed to bike commute year round for almost five years.  Our child just started daycare, and the jaunt to do pick up and drop off makes the commute 3 miles each way.

Eventually I'll bike commute with her, but she's still just a little small for the trailer and we're in a daily freeze-thaw cycle at the moment that creates lots of white ice patches in the mornings that can be treacherous.

For now, my plan is to do the commute as a walk with our jogging stroller.  At some point, I may try running it, although I'm not sure if it would feel worth getting suited up in running gear for four ~1.5 mile segments every day.

The commute is about 80% on bike path through parkland, and is a big part of why we live where we do.  I'm looking forward to seeing how I like walking for two hours a day.

iris lily

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5671
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2023, 09:59:08 AM »
For my working life I lived a perfect 30 minutes walk from work. Some years I walked, some I didn’t.

JAYSLOL

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2137
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2023, 11:31:36 AM »
I’ve never really walked (or biked) to work, but my most badass (and most Canadian) commute was by canoe to school.  It was about 20 min to canoe across the lake, or a little over 20 min either way you drove to go around the lake, so the canoe made the most sense. 

Dictionary Time

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 144
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2023, 05:40:16 PM »
I have a twenty minute walk to work. I love it! I’m in a car centric suburb, but I do have sidewalks all the way. I have to cross a 4 lane state route, but I do have a light with walk signal. (Even so, caution abounds) I pick up trash some days, look for birds, podcast sometimes, sometimes not. This past winter was not very snowy, so I barely missed any days. The previous one has a lot of accumulated snow, and no one clears these sidewalks, so I was pretty stuck (and antsy).

EVERYONE at work thinks that I am some sort of lunatic for this behavior. I think at one point they thought I was poor, but with other evidence to the contrary, they really don’t know why I would do this to myself. Especially if the weather is not picture perfect. I just shrug and thank them for their kind offers of rides, but I’d really rather walk.

GilesMM

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1489
  • Location: PNW
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2023, 09:20:07 PM »
I rarely had the patience to walk to work. Morning person. I sometimes did it on Fridays. 30 minutes. Lovely. Took the bus home.

Metalcat

  • Senior Mustachian
  • ********
  • Posts: 17383
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2023, 09:35:30 PM »
I have a twenty minute walk to work. I love it! I’m in a car centric suburb, but I do have sidewalks all the way. I have to cross a 4 lane state route, but I do have a light with walk signal. (Even so, caution abounds) I pick up trash some days, look for birds, podcast sometimes, sometimes not. This past winter was not very snowy, so I barely missed any days. The previous one has a lot of accumulated snow, and no one clears these sidewalks, so I was pretty stuck (and antsy).

EVERYONE at work thinks that I am some sort of lunatic for this behavior. I think at one point they thought I was poor, but with other evidence to the contrary, they really don’t know why I would do this to myself. Especially if the weather is not picture perfect. I just shrug and thank them for their kind offers of rides, but I’d really rather walk.

Get some Yak Tracks and you won't care if there's a ton of snow.

DH used to bike to work all winter, but if there was a snow storm, he would run instead with Yak Tracks.

ca-rn

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 173
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2023, 10:18:21 PM »
My commute is 2 miles each way, crossing some stroads, mostly thru residential streets. 

I've biked to work for some years now and walked a few times.

Actually love walking, got a nice buzz/burst of energy from walking and I can enjoy the birds/trees more while walking vs biking (have no bike infrastructure, car drivers speed/routinely run red lights etc).

But I bike vs walk because
1) haven't found a easy way to carry my heavy bag of food (breakfast/lunch/snacks in glass containers).  Hate backpacks but carrying my bag-o-food made my hands/arms tired.
2) with the time change, its dark early in the am- don't feel as safe walking in the dark as I do biking. 
3) have to get up even earlier in the morning for the longer walk commute time.  So I walk/hiking on my off days.

I think walking takes about 30 minutes, biking takes less than 1/2 and that includes having to walk from the super far crappy bike lockers.

Log

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 664
  • Location: San Francisco
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #7 on: March 26, 2023, 10:41:27 PM »
A life history in walking commutes:

All through elementary school I had a 5 minute walk to school. I had an older brother to walk with during the youngest years, and was walking to and from school alone by 3rd grade. Would have been unremarkable a few years earlier, and horrifying child neglect today, but I caught the right years of childhood where it was just a little strange.

In high school I would sometimes walk the 3 miles home. Not regularly, but when the timing didn't work out for me to catch a ride, I considered it a perfectly acceptable option.

My undergrad had a tiny campus, and an on-campus residence requirement for all students. I always lived on the periphery of campus and really enjoyed having a bit of a walk.

I spent my first year of grad school always commuting by subway, but after COVID hit I wasn't commuting every day, so I stopped buying the unlimited MetroCard. On the days I did go in to school for rehearsals I took to walking the 60+ New York City blocks, which came out to a little over 3.5 miles. I'd tell myself I'd walk there and take the subway back, then I'd get out of rehearsal and tell myself I'd walk 10 blocks or so and catch the train at the next station, and then most of the time I'd just keep walking. I had nothing but time on my hands, so I was happy to not spend the time laying around my apartment. And hey, I saved myself a $2.75 Subway fare every time (:

I've had various walking/transit commutes for gigs since then. The main ones have been a 30-minute walking commute in SF, or a 30-minute walk to the bus stop whenever I stayed with my parents out in the 'burbs to play with my home-city orchestra.

I think those years of walking to elementary school as a child were really formative. It's a terrible thing that kids increasingly can't walk to school these days, either out of some irrational fear of child abduction, or out of the perfectly rational fear that some dumb-ass parent dropping their kid off in a giant truck will run a kid over because they can't see over their own hood (or their phone...)

roomtempmayo

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1142
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #8 on: March 28, 2023, 09:09:28 AM »
Thanks for all of the stories.

@Log I was also a walker/and biker to school (and everywhere else) as a kid.  It seems normal to me, still.

@Dictionary Time Hearing about your coworkers' reactions just reminds me how much of a bubble I live in.  There are at least four people on my floor at work who regularly bike in when the weather is nice.  The longest commute is a woman over 60 who knocks out 25 miles each way two or three days a week when the roads are snow-free.  I know of at least two people in my building that are entirely car free.  The elementary school kids still seem to largely walk to school, sometimes with parents, but often without.  When that bubble gets pricked - most recently by someone who shared that their household drives over 60,000 miles a year - I'm just stunned, slack jawed, and speechless.  That's just so much time, money, energy, and emotional resources going into driving.

Update on my walk: I did it yesterday with pick-up and drop-off both morning and afternoon.  It clocked in at 3.4 miles each way and took me 1:24 each way door to door.  It was nice to be out hearing all the birds that have recently returned (we have robins!), but that's more time than I can put into it regularly.  I'll do it once more this week since my wife and I alternate, but I think over the weekend I'll work on getting the bike trailer situation sorted out.

Cranky

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3842
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #9 on: March 28, 2023, 11:10:39 AM »
I have a twenty minute walk to work. I love it! I’m in a car centric suburb, but I do have sidewalks all the way. I have to cross a 4 lane state route, but I do have a light with walk signal. (Even so, caution abounds) I pick up trash some days, look for birds, podcast sometimes, sometimes not. This past winter was not very snowy, so I barely missed any days. The previous one has a lot of accumulated snow, and no one clears these sidewalks, so I was pretty stuck (and antsy).

EVERYONE at work thinks that I am some sort of lunatic for this behavior. I think at one point they thought I was poor, but with other evidence to the contrary, they really don’t know why I would do this to myself. Especially if the weather is not picture perfect. I just shrug and thank them for their kind offers of rides, but I’d really rather walk.

Get some Yak Tracks and you won't care if there's a ton of snow.

DH used to bike to work all winter, but if there was a snow storm, he would run instead with Yak Tracks.

YMMV. I walked to and from work every day (I don’t drive.) My route was along a commercial strip and the worst issue in winter was that plows would clear parking lots and streets and pile the snow over the side of the road/lots where people walked. Yak trax are helpful but not an easy solution to climbing over a 5’ pile of snow.

Alternatepriorities

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1635
  • Age: 43
  • Location: Alaska
  • Engineer, explorer, investor
    • Alternate Priorities
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #10 on: March 28, 2023, 12:36:05 PM »
I started biking to school in either kindergarten or first grade. It was two miles but I could only bike in spring fall because of the extreme weather in winter. Spring was my favorite because being able to splash through puddles on the way home.

I biked to work most of the time through college, but spent one summer walking 3 miles to work and running home at 1 AM. Hooray for the midnight sun…

I was ~10 miles from the office for my first two engineering jobs so that was always either bike KT drive.

Then I moved to a village off the road system and walked to work almost every day for a year and a half. The colder it was the more inclined I was to walk because it avoided starting the car. The coldest days were about -60F.

My last work before retirement has all been working from home so I walked all the way to my desk. I did also walk across Spain during that time though so maybe that counts?

No I mostly walk the neighborhood and in the mountains for fun and exercise.

draco44

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 527
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #11 on: March 29, 2023, 09:02:45 PM »
I used to be able to walk 20 minutes to work and loved it. Then after peak-pandemic, my office moved on me and now I do 15 minutes of walking followed by a train ride of about 15 minutes. Still not bad but I miss not having to worry about a train schedule.

Walking as a commute is basically all easy, but I'd offer two tips: 1) always carry a travel umbrella and 2) consider being somewhat strategic in how much and what you carry to work each day. Instead of carrying a prepacked lunch in each day, for instance, I'd often bring ingredients for 2 or 3 lunches twice a week and then use the other days to carry other stuff like packages I'd need to deliver in town or library books that needed returning. This was never a big deal but it was something I thought about. Now I go into work fewer days in person so it's not as much a concern.

I wish I could canoe to work like @JAYSLOL

JAYSLOL

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2137
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #12 on: March 30, 2023, 10:14:52 AM »

I wish I could canoe to work like @JAYSLOL

I highly recommend it, some of my best memories.  Fresh air and gentle exercise gliding across a glassy lake early in the morning as the sun was coming up, sometimes a little bit of fog or mist sitting on the top of the water, and the occasional bald eagle flying overhead.  No traffic, and basically complete silence.  Was a nice way to start the day.

wonkette

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 128
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #13 on: March 30, 2023, 10:44:01 AM »
~2012-2020: 30 to 45 minute walk depending on if I took the sidewalk on the direct but noisy major road, stopped for iced coffee, or took a side street. There was a bus for rainy days or days where I was carrying a lot.

Pandemic era: 1.5 mile walk each way to childcare and back to home office. Childcare was next to a super handy commercial strip so I could also get in a run to the post office or to the grocery store for a few things.

I liked both as soft launches into work. I would go through the news, scan my inbox, sometimes make a phone call or listen to a work related podcast, and form my mental to-do list for the day. We've switched childcares and now have a bus commute which isn't nearly as peaceful.

Zikoris

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 4536
  • Age: 37
  • Location: Vancouver, BC
  • Vancouverstachian
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #14 on: March 31, 2023, 09:08:49 AM »
I'm at 20 minutes now and it's great. I've primarily commuted to walking since I was about 19, and just highly, highly recommend it. It's a great way to wake up in the morning, and decompress at the end of the day, and it makes it easy to hit that minimum activity level needed to not just like keel over from a heart attack from being too slothful, etc.

cincystache

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 337
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #15 on: March 31, 2023, 11:07:49 AM »
I walk or, if I'm running late, ride my bike to work 1 mile each way rain or shine. The first half is an old neighborhood and the second half is a light industrial area. It's great for the most part, nice sidewalks and very light traffic in the early AM. We only have 1 car and I can't imagine going back to a car commute.

Chris Pascale

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1335
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #16 on: March 31, 2023, 03:59:30 PM »
Wish I could, but my walk is from bed to the den. Sometimes the kitchen.

TreeLeaf

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1495
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #17 on: March 31, 2023, 04:18:26 PM »
At the end of my bed there is a desk and chair with my work laptop.

I walk around 5 steps to get there every morning. Usually it's a pleasant stroll with temperatures around 70 degrees. Sometimes I can hear birds chirping outside. On occasion I will trip on a child's play toy that was artfully placed between my bed and desk...almost as though it were done on purpose.

Before this I used to ride an ebike to work, around 7 miles about 95% of which is a bike path. I then charged the ebike at work. It was pretty fun, and I admit there were some days I didn't feel like peddling and just throttled it the whole way.

Blue Skies

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 172
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #18 on: March 31, 2023, 04:46:56 PM »
I work from home, but I spend about 45 minutes each morning before work taking a walk around the neighborhood.  It is a nice way to start the day.  I do have a treadmill for the really rainy days though.

cincystache

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 337
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #19 on: April 01, 2023, 07:09:25 AM »
I admit there were some days I didn't feel like peddling and just throttled it the whole way.

I feel you, I do that sometimes even when it's only a mile away! I feel like a lazy bum but at least I didn't drive a  4000lb car that 1 mile...

Avolonte

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 54
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #20 on: April 01, 2023, 10:35:00 AM »
I live 3 miles away from work and it takes me about 1 hour to walk it. I haven't been walking it regularly, since I do the school drop off and pick up and there were some timing issues. But starting this summer DD is able to stay at home by herself all day, so I'll be doing it beginning in May. My goal is at least 3 days a week. I take a backpack with a water bottle and umbrella, and keep work appropriate shoes at my desk. I'm also planning ahead to take lunch stuff once a week. I am lucky though, in that we have a free cafeteria where I can grab something to eat if needed. I don't go there everyday because you must eat there and it can be shoulder-to-shoulder packed.

Trudie

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 2106
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #21 on: May 08, 2023, 08:44:28 PM »
We retired to a university town with great walking routes and cheap buses.  So, while I no longer have a commute, I have modified my behavior to get services (haircuts, pharmacy) right in my neighborhood so I can walk. I love using the bus for many things, and like the fact that walking short distances between destinations and stops is a great thing for my health. Or, I may take the bus in one direction if I have an appointment, then walk home.

They have started to add electric buses to the fleet also.

What I think is interesting is that people will go out of their way to try to offer me rides if they know I am walking or taking the bus. It really is a choice that I enjoy. I find the buses relaxing. I like doing the walking for my health. And the feeling that I can go places without being in a hurry is a big relief.

HenryDavid

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #22 on: May 22, 2023, 04:05:15 AM »
University walking commute, 20 minutes to an hour (route changed depending on whim) through interesting city neighborhoods, parks, etc.
Lasted 4-5 years (took a break mid-degree).

Grad school walking commute, very similar, different city. Lasted 4 years.

Employment walking commute, 40 minutes via bridge across an ever-changing river (ice, snow, ducks, geese, eagles, spring melt, greenery) then past a hideous mall and across a stupidly enormous traffic intersection, waiting in the -30 wind looking at solo SUV drivers poking at their phones. This commute got replaced by biking whenever possible--20 minutes to an hour, depending on route choice, on paths or side streets, whenever the ice was melted enough to ride. A daily mini-adventure. Lasted 28 years.

No car commute, no traffic hassles, no parking hassle, no commuting-car costs. Ever. (At various times I picked up a junky car for out of town trips, or rented cars here and there. Dirt cheap tho.) This meant that once the job got less fun in 2013, I could downgrade to part time 2 years later and bail in 2018. Done.
Meantime everyone said all along "yeah well you're lucky, you're fit and youthful and always in a good mood." True. Wasn't purely luck though.

If you can walk or bike, do it! Huge, huge benefit to quality of life, and savings. If you have to move, consider it seriously.

Anon-E-Mouze

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 192
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #23 on: June 03, 2023, 05:58:50 PM »
For part of my undergrad years and all of law school, I lived with my parents a fair distance from the university (e.g. 90-minute, multi-vehicle commutes on public transit), so when I got my first job post-law school, I vowed to have shorter and simpler commutes whenever possible. In several different cities, I was even fortunate to have walking commutes. For about 5 years, I had a 15-minute walk to my job in downtown Toronto. In Paris, I had a lovely 22-minute walk on the edge of the Bois de Boulogne on the Western edge of central Paris. For the 10 years I lived in New York City, I could either take a fast (but chaotic) 15-minute walk from Wall Street to the World Trade Center or a leisurely 35-minute walk along the Hudson River boardwalk. Now, I have traded space (in a house with a garden, garage and home offices/studios) for a longer commute (walk-bus-subway-subway). Biking isn't an option (nor is driving), because I can't see well enough to do either, so I'm stuck with the subway part of the commute, at least. However, when the weather is decent, I walk home (about 22 minutes uphill) from the subway station.

AMandM

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1673
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #24 on: June 04, 2023, 02:40:20 PM »
Meantime everyone said all along "yeah well you're lucky, you're fit and youthful and always in a good mood." True. Wasn't purely luck though.

Does "lucky" mean "enjoying the consequences of your actions"?

It's not exactly a commute, but during the school year I often pick up one grandchild from preschool 1 mile away while pushing others in a double stroller. Leaving early is key to avoid the stress of possibly being late, because the time needed to walk with small children in tow is not only longer on average than going alone, but also much more variable. Also the right clothes for the weather and good footwear are needed.

Artem_F

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 46
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #25 on: June 28, 2023, 07:41:42 AM »
here's my story - it was only for one week, but it's a good experience. I was at one conference on Milos island in Greece and I was a kind of late to the party when I booked the hotel. As a result, my daily commute was 3+3 km to the conference venue and about 6 km of going here and there. The total distance for 6 days was 76km = 47.5 miles. It was very invigorating despite the hot weather, which resembles Washington DC's weather in this period. The upside of this location is the sea - you can swim almost anytime and almost everywhere.
However, I've spent about 6h only for the commute = 1h per day. My regular biking commute at home is a bit more fun, I'd say :) If I had a bike there, I'd see three times more than what I saw and I could get up 20 min later every day :)

Fiddlestix

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 8
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #26 on: July 17, 2023, 01:56:14 PM »
I have a 23-min walking commute along a tree-lined avenue.
I wasn't prepared for how quickly my sneaks would break down. I'm used to it now.
Things always with me: small umbrella, sunhat or baseball cap, sunscreen. Extra handle bag in my backpack. Plenty more at work for those times when you have to carry something home.

I find it fun to figure out how to walk the shadiest route in the summer, and the sunniest in the winter. I'm not great at hot and humid days, but i just make sure I've had water recently, get out there and get home to a shower asap. Unfortunately it's all of 58F in the lab, so I can't wear very summery clothes. I have a fleece I leave at work.

I bring my lunch each day in a pretty heavy piece of crockware. Other than that, it's my laptop and an apple, most of the time.

I love the time to think, see gardens, be one with the weather (!) and notice the seasons more.
I do have a pair of yaktrax, rainboots, 2 raincoats, etc. In my warmest winter coat I find that I'm overheated in 6-7 blocks, most of the winter. I prefer any season over those dog days of summer (right now!)

HenryDavid

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #27 on: August 14, 2023, 01:09:28 AM »
The replies show that organizing a self-propelled commute can be the cornerstone of a cheerful frugal life.

When I worked, lots of people drove there. In cars.
Always felt sorry for them and wondered when they would change that. Few did.

HenryDavid

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 546
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #28 on: August 14, 2023, 01:22:05 AM »
Oh yeah, this one time we got enough snow to x-c ski the 5k to work.
Stuck the skis in the snow that covered the bike rack I normally used.
I’d been hoping for years this could work out. . .

Hula Hoop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1762
  • Location: Italy
Re: Tell me about your walking commutes
« Reply #29 on: August 14, 2023, 05:58:20 AM »
I started walking around 40 minutes (2.7 km ie. 1.6 miles) each way to and from work during Covid. Been doing it every since then on the  4 days a week that I go to the office. We are car-free in a large Italian city but I often took public transport to work before that.  It was usually packed and smelly and just put me in a bad mood apart from the whole covid thing. 

While I walk, I usually listen to a podcast or music.  I used to use tinny cheapo headphones but I just got myself some bluetooth noise cancelling over ear headphones and they are great.

We also walk a lot in our regular lives since we don't own a car and live centrally.  We can walk to lots of cool places.

Anyway I recommend it.  It's a nice way of getting non high impact exercise in.  I also have a cheap fitbit so I see that I hit my 10,000 steps a day goal most days and my health metrics are good - without much extra time or apparent effort on my part.  I hate having to take public transport to work now (which I do occasionally if I have to carry something heavy for example).  I also do pilates for an hour 3 times a week and I feel pretty good for my age.

Just do it - make sure you're wearing comfy shoes and appropriate clothing for the weather.  When it rains, I prefer a raincoat to an umbrella when walking and I only wear comfortable shoes to work.  As others have said, it's good to have a few bits of equipment on hand.  I have 2 raincoats (one without insulation and one fleece lined and long for winter) and 2 winter coats (one formal wool coat and a long puffa jacket).  I also have rain boots which are comfortable for walking, and several pairs of work appropriate shoes and sandals that are also comfortable walking shoes.  I also have some big sunglasses but I don't normally wear a sunhat as I can stay on the shady side of the street during my urban walk. I wear SPF 50 moisturizer every day.  I have to dress somewhat formally for work and I'm female but no longer wear any shoes that are in the least bit uncomfortable.  And get some headphones and load up on podcasts or audiobooks.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2023, 06:06:59 AM by Hula Hoop »