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Do you drive a car into work or ride a bike? Take a train or catch the bus? Or a tram? However you commute into work, chances are, it's nowhere near as epic as some of these examples…
This is the famous Shibuya crossing in Tokyo. It's what is known as an 'X' Crossing, where the traffic stops and pedestrians cross from all directions at the same time, one of the best known in the UK is Oxford Circus, but Shibuya is in a league of its own. At rush hour, over a thousand commuters use the crossing every two minutes, when it becomes a seething mass of people all somehow managing to avoid serious accidents. Once the traffic is given the green light, the cycle begins again.
This article features a commuter who drives to work in Watford, just outside London from Porthcawl in South Wales – a journey that takes him six hours every day and covers 372 miles of tarmac. That's four times round the earth every year, but he insists that it's worth it. Meanwhile, Lincolnshire lass Alana Simpson was featured in this Sunday Times article talking about her journey into London every day, costing her thousands of pounds every year.
All of this seems somewhat extreme, but the common factor is that many of these people say that they are happy to travel hundreds of miles every day in return for the "quality of life" they have living far from their workplace. Who knows whether this will change now that the Government have initiated the right for all employees to request flexible working from their employers but what do you think? Do you have an epic commute to work? If so, is it worth it? Do you put up with it to live out of the city, or do you actually enjoy your time spent travelling?
Let us know in the comments!
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I currently live in Stoke Newington and work in Elephant & Castle. I recently switched to cycling to work. The main reasons for this was time, over-crowding and price.
Not including walking time to the bus stop, my daily commute using public transport would take me just over an hour. And that is if I manage to get on the bus first time, which is not always possible due to massive over-crowding in the morning.
My monthly commute would cost me £120. Add in the already high cost of living in London and that is money that could be wisely spent elsewhere (food, bills etc). I ended up finding a secondhand bicycle on Gumtree for £150 and my daily commute now takes 25 minutes!!!
I'm fortunate that my house in Stoke Newington is very reasonably priced, rent wise and is in a nice location. Although, long term, I can see myself moving out of Central London for somewhere with a higher quality of life (and greenery) and sacrificing something in terms of the commute.