My commute time to work recently tripled - here's why I'm excited about it
But earlier this spring, we decided it was time to move on.
When we told our friends we were thinking about buy a home in the suburbs (gasp!) they all warily asked the same thing: "You really want to do that commute?"
Sure, that was on our "cons" list. But the pros outweighed the few negatives we thought up, so we moved forward with our search.
A few weeks later, we found our would-be home on Long Island - about 35 miles from New York City. In late May, after securing a mortgage, we closed and moved in.
Of course being a homeowner isn't all fun and games: There are more bills to pay, things to fix, rooms to clean, and grass to cut. But for us, there are also a lot of benefits: We have more space, we're not "throwing away money" on rent, we have a real, full-size, grown-up refrigerator, and we have a longer commute.
Yes, you heard me correctly. We have a longer commute - about three times as long as it was when we lived in the city - and I love it.
Barring any subway delays or bad weather, my commute to work was typically about 20 minutes when we lived in Manhattan. Now it's closer to an hour. We take a 45-minute Long Island Rail Road train to Penn Station, then I walk another 12-15 minutes to work.
Sure, my adoration for the longer commute will likely wear off as time goes on (or after we experience our first major train delay). In fact, I'm almost certain that once we have children and I want - or need - to get home quickly to see them, the hour-long train ride won't be something I appreciate. Or, when we have events in the city that end late at night and I remember I can't just hop in a cab and be home in 10 minutes, I will be pretty disappointed.
But for now, the longer commute is something I actually look forward to most days. Here's why: