My Commute.

I am very extra about this.

Last year I took a new job at a rural university that’s about 60 miles from where I live. At the time, I was still recovering from my foot injury and couldn’t drive (or walk, for that matter) so I started the job fully remote which was weird and stressful but also a relief. The idea of going from working fully remote for nearly three years to having to commute 60 miles each way every single day was…unfathomable. Like, how does that even work.

Luckily they allow a hybrid setup so now that I’m all healed up I commute in to work two days a week, At first it was incredibly stressful. It takes me a little over an hour to get there and and nearly an hour and a half on the way back, which seems weird but it’s just the way it is with traffic. The drive to work is mostly highway, then I cut through a small town and once clear of that, it’s all rural, which I love. I’ve grown to enjoy the drive and, now that it’s spring, I get to watch the landscape change week-to-week.

On the drive to work I started noticing things - the field that goes from nothing to blindingly yellow with flowers, the cool kid with band buttons and headphones waiting for the bus, two old guys who ride their bikes together every morning during the warmer months, the every-changing billboard advertising hilariously terrible acts coming to a nearby casino. All of these small things mark my drive week to week, as I make my way through the various segments of my long commute.

I have commute rules.

• I save the best podcasts for commute-listens. Everything Is Fine is for Tuesday mornings, This is Joy & Claire for Thursday afternoons. What Went Wrong and Bad on Paper for the rest.

• Snacks are important. In the mornings I always have iced coffee on hand and also (a small obsession) Mentos in case I need a little extra minty wake-me-up. On the way home my current snacks are a Chomps meat stick and grapes. I just need something to look forward to and I’m very food motivated.

• Always get the tank filled up over the weekend because nothing ruins a day like getting in the car at six fucking forty five in the morning and realizing you don’t have enough gas to get to work.

• Buy the emergency roadside kit already. Just do it because nothing bad can happen when you are TOTALLY PREPARED right?

• Pack a nice lunch. Make it super extra with real flatware, a cloth napkin, and lots of Pyrex containers to keep things fresh. Does your lunch bag weigh 20lbs? You’re doing it right.

I take the scenic route home. It’s a few miles longer but takes about the same amount of time because there’s less traffic. Highlights of my drive home include an alpaca farm, excellent views of Mt Hood, longhorn cattle hanging in a field, gorgeous painterly clouds, odd little farmsteads, and a tiny quaint town that forces me to slow my roll as I drive through it.

I don’t love having a long commute but I do really like being in the office a few days a week. It’s so nice to see my coworkers and be able to have a quick conversation about something instead of scheduling a Zoom call. I have an office with a view and I almost always take a long walk around campus when I’m there to make up for the hours of car time. Plus, I get to dress in an actual outfit instead of throwing on whatever is comfortable. It’s a nice balance.

I’m usually pretty tired when I get home on the days I commute because something about having to be alert for long drives is just exhausting, but I like my job and two days a week with a commute still beats having to be in the office five days a week. Like, how did I even do that? I can’t even fathom it. (I understand that I’m lucky but I’ve done my time. I spent 20+ years going into an office every single day and I don’t want to go back to that unless I have to.)