The Life Post | A New Commuter

For those of you who don't know (well you should cause I have said about it a million times) I have recently started a new job in London. I am however not planning on moving up as my partner is based down here and really I just don't think it's fair to ask him to uproot his life when he's been working hard at his job because I have started a new one. We are planning on moving closer to the train station, however until further notice I am now a commuter. In my real life I get so many questions about commuting, my experience and how I feel about it so I thought I'd just throw together some tips from my experience...

#1 Make the most of the journey up

So, my routine is this - get up at 5.30am, leave house at 6.20ish and get the 6.50 train. Tired tired tired. When I then get to work I'm not in the brightest of states. I've now learnt to just nap on my way up. My train on average takes around an hour and a half, so I stick my headphones in, pop on a playlist (at the moment it's either Rudamental or Foxes albums), pop my head back and nap. Now, it's not a full on sleep but it does give me some rest and it means I'm definitely more awake and brighter when I get to work.

#2 Do your research on travel prices

I live just outside of Portsmouth, so a season ticket to London isn't exactly the cheapest thing in the world. There were so many stations I could go from so I did major major research. This included ticket price, car park price, car park spaces, petrol, time etc. I even had a look at Oyster prices compared to just adding the underground on my train ticket. In the end I had to balance it all out for pricing and timing and I'm really happy in terms of where I go from.

#3 Chill on the way home

I am really scared about falling asleep on the way home in case I miss my stop (case and point father) so I try to keep myself busy on the way home but also something that is just going to chill me out so I can come down from my busy work day and underground travelling slowly. For me this is reading! My kindle lives with me at the moment and I'm reading none stop on the way home and it's just really good for winding down. That is one thing I love about commuting, I have the opportunity to wind down before I get home.

#4 Don't let it rule your life

At the moment, as I'm still new with this, I am a bit anti social in the evenings, however I am slowly getting back to my normal evening routine of seeing different people - just a little later than I used to. This is so important for me as my new job is like a whole new life which I love, but I don't want to leave my old life behind either and I love my friends, my family and of course Adam so I am having to work twice as hard to stay awake and alert to see them but I am determined not to let commuting rule my social life.

#5 Always carry water with you, and concealer

A bit of an odd combo... I literally carry a bottle of water everywhere with me since I've started commuting. Running for trains, hotness on the underground, tiredness - water solves everything and it's just a really good little safety net if you feel a bit weird on the train. And concealer? Well, that's for the baggies under your eyes that keep threatening to surface! Obvs...

I am incredibly lucky to have colleagues that understand why I'm tired sometimes and others that think I'm completely insane for doing what I do - but honestly, it's not a huge deal to me. I've always wanted to work in London, but in terms of living there I've not been too bothered. My life is where I live, so it's better for me to commute and for the moment I couldn't be happier!

What are you tips for commuting?