Do many of you walk to work?

[Iamzod]

I start a new job next week and it will be the first time ever that I have worked within a 15 mile round commute from home to work and back again.

In fact it is only 2.3 miles to the office, this is part of the reason I decided to up sticks from my current employer as although it is a great company to work for they moved the office about 9 months ago making it a 50 mile round trip, this obviously costs me time & money.

In my mind I don't feel that 2.3 miles is that far, I am thinking this is walking distance in decent weather. It isn't a boring roadside walk either, it takes me down a paved farm track initially for about a mile, then along a canal tow path & then through part of what I think is a nature reserve next to a marina.

Everyone I speak to at my current job, my wife & all my friends think they would walk for a week or so then just give up and take an extra 40 mins in bed as it is just a 3 minute drive down a 60MPH NSL road.

Do any of you guys walk a similar or longer distance to work, how do you find it?

(ps - I can just about manage 27 miles off road on a Mountainbike, but it did nearly kill me last time)

 

[Moley]

I walk from the bedroom to the bathroom for ablutions, then downstairs to the kitchen for tea, then back to the bedroom to get dressed then across the hall to my office.

Sure beats the years of commuting into London I've done - losing 3+ hours a day to travelling is toxic.

 

[Sasahara]

I used to walk around 2 miles to work after a 15 min train ride for well over a decade. For 6 months that became just over 4 miles including train ride. That was a bit much.

Now due to moving I cycle to work 4.1 miles, no train.

Car hasn't been an option.

So 2.3 miles isn't too bad. And if you have the option to drive in bad weather that's even better.

 

[BIG_M29]

Walk, bus, train, walk. In that order. One way. It takes ages and driving would save me a good 25 minutes.

 

[D3K]

I walk from the bedroom to the bathroom for ablutions, then downstairs to the kitchen for tea, then back to the bedroom to get dressed then across the hall to my office.

Sure beats the years of commuting into London I've done - losing 3+ hours a day to travelling is toxic.

You have stairs to tackle. My office is 2 doors away from my bed, about 10 feet.

 

[Flubble]

if i was sat in a office all day, maybe i would, but i'm on my feet all day running around everywhere so i can't be bothered.

 

[MacRS4]

I go to the office a few days a week - my office is about 3.3 miles from home. On nice days I'll walk in to the office, and it takes around 80 minutes-ish. Would I do that every day? Nah.

 

[TS7]

I think it comes down to how much you value the extra time and the opportunity cost of about 30 minutes each way, total of an extra 1 hour (minus the time it would take in a car).

I had a similar situation in my last job. However what incentivised walking was parking wasn't free as there was no work carpal and alternative was £8 a day in a private one and traffic was awful. In summer I would walk but in winter most days I'd just pay up. However if it was free then I'd probably almost always park at work.

I suppose the additional benefits of walking would be health, no traffic, no looking for parking etc. On the flip side, I love driving and early morning blast down NSL road would be much welcome especially if it saved me an hour a day instead of walking.

 

[[FnG]magnolia]

I'd probably bike that sort of distance if it were an option. Still, it's a nice problem to have

 

[Steeps]

I live in a small town and work in an office in the centre. Even if it was possible to drive the short ~300m door to door distance the closest place to park would still be my drive. Anything above a mile I'd want to cycle to save time.

 

[Iamzod]

It's free parking at the other end and the drive there is pretty much a dual carriageway, one roundabout then a dead straight single carriageway. A boring drive

I must admit it would be nice to be walking through the front door at 17:05 every day, but then it'd also be nice to not have to worry about morons who can't park denting my car.

Fuel cost is irrelevant as a tank of fuel will last 10 weeks or more even driving in every day.

 

[terley]

One of my ex colleagues lives in a house with a large garden and open countryside.. he struck up a deal with a local farmer so he could fly a microlight to work every-day. Although he would have to spend a lot of time every morning and afternoon checking the weather, often he would end up having to find conventional means home.

I would cycle if i lived the type of distance you are referring to though.

 

[Bishie]

I live adjacent to my workplace, so it's literally a minute's walk away. Pretty convenient, seeing as I suffer from Perthes disease. Walking long distances would be murder!

 

[Caged]

Would walk/bike if I could - not sure I'd want to be 100% remote but could embrace flexible working and do a couple days in the office and the rest from a home office.

I think the current planning policy which is trying to find ways of housing people to commute into London in new towns which are nothing more than sprawling housing estates is a huge mistake. With a bit of vision and yes, probably tax incentives, there is no reason why we can't work towards getting people's journeys to work to a distance that can be tackled on a bike.

 

[Rroff]

I probably wouldn't walk 2.3 miles to work these days - I get too impatient to get home at the end of a shift lol.

I used to cycle or walk ~3.8 miles to work but I'd just drive now.

 

[Energize]

Walk about 30 mins to walk, saves loads of money.

 

[dowie]

I get public transport in London, I don't fancy cycling on London roads tbh... but... Farm track then canal tow path then nature reserve... I'd actually be tempted to cycle in that situation.

Walking is about 30 mins or so each way - I'd maybe consider it mostly in Spring/Summer, though if you wear nice work shoes/clorthes then tbh.. cycling and getting showered/changed at work would probably be beneficial and probably still take less time than walking.

 

[Hades]

My daily walk is only about 15 mins to the station, then 10 mins at the other end with a couple of trains in between. I do occasionally get off a couple of stops early on the way home to get some exercise.

But on a summers evening on the way home I'll occasionally walk from Canary Wharf to Waterloo (longer than I expected the first time) and used to regularly walk from London Bridge to Waterloo along the Embankment (a lovely walk in the summer). Mind you, si

When I was younger I'd regularly walk across parts of London to get home. Living in zone 2 I'd walk home a couple of times a week and before that when I lived outside of London one time I walked around 15 miles after I missed my last train. That was folly though as I was majorly drunk, (sober when I got home!), had a shower and just went straight back to work (train) as it was already about 6am.

But I love walking through London. If I lived in zone 2 again I'd probably walk most days. It's a lovely city in parts.

Probably not the answer you were looking for but it got me thinking about old times

 

[DONOHUE07]

One of my ex colleagues lives in a house with a large garden and open countryside.. he struck up a deal with a local farmer so he could fly a microlight to work every-day. Although he would have to spend a lot of time every morning and afternoon checking the weather, often he would end up having to find conventional means home.

I would cycle if i lived the type of distance you are referring to though.

That's the coolest commute I have ever heard!

 

[Efour]

I would bike it. Faster and still unpowered.