Double Your Commute. On Purpose.
You might spend a lot of time traveling the same route to and from home, work, classes, or visiting friends/family. This is just a reminder to enjoy the journey a bit more. Crazy as it might sound, it can make sense to intentionally add more time to these trips by either switching up the mode of transportation, adding in some stops, or finding a roundabout way to get to (or from) your destination every once in a while.
Some ideas:
- Whenever possible, take a bike. The world is much more vivid when you can hear the sounds, feel the wind, and see the world a little closer as you zoom by at a slightly slower pace (and this sometimes forces you to take a slightly different route).
- Take a bus or a train if you're in a city. Smile, nod, and say hello to another human being from time to time. Doesn't take much to make someone else start or end their day a little more positively.
- Find a place that makes those killer breakfast burritos, breakfast tacos, waffles, (whatever suits you) and make time to go out of the way to stop there and get breakfast.
- Get to a coffee shop and bring a good book, magazine, or notepad.
- Can you cross a bridge? Cross a bridge.
- Pick a few local historic spots or a national park to drive by/through.
- Find a fountain. Everybody loves a good fountain. Stop the car, get out, and listen to the sound for a minutes.
- Go by a dog park and have some coffee / breakfast on a bench. Watch people and dogs for a bit. Just try not to look too creepy.
- I know - it seems counter-productive to add more time to the mundanity you might call the "commute", but this is a nice way to remind you that you don't necessarily have to lose time when you make something take longer, you just add more value to each minute.
On out!
