Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 ··· 6 7 8 9 10 11

Original poster

To think I could walk to work and back in nicer weather?

265 replies

NapQueen · 13/02/2017 00:33

New job is, according to Google maps, 2.3 miles away and the estimated walking time is 53mins.

It's a nice walk there, downhill to the riverside then along and up a little at the end. Obviously the walk home would be harder!

Anyone walk a distance like this?

Nb am hideously bad at cycling so that's a no go!

OP posts:

NinaMarieP · 14/02/2017 19:52

I'm with the majority of folk here, I say go for it. I walk the 1.3 miles into work for each shift normally takes me about 25 minutes (longer atm as I have to stop and retch a lot...) before I fell pregnant I would also walk home and it's about a 250 foot climb that way. Not feeling up to that with a baby on board so I take the bus but I'm still a 15 minute (flat) walk from the stop. I could get the bus in the morning but don't see the point in going fifteen minutes to the bus stop, paying a fare and sitting on the bus for fifteen minutes.
I rarely get soaked. If it's truly horrific sometimes I can get a bit wet - usually the front of the legs are worst. It's not the end of the world though.
If you are prone to running late I second advice about a change of clothes - nothing worse than rushing the last half mile and arriving a sweaty mess (at least I start nearly throwing up long before I can get sweaty now).
A walk is a good way to start the day.

hollinhurst84 · 14/02/2017 20:11

I probably would if I could - my work is 1.5 miles away but not walkable

Janeybobs · 14/02/2017 20:20

If you can spare the time do it. My work is just 1.2 miles but by the time I've wrestled the youngest into breakfast club I'm really pushed for time so hop in the car - gutted. I walk when hubby round to do morning drop off.

SherbrookeFosterer · 14/02/2017 20:40

Definitely walk it, at least the walk home.

Looking at the river you mentioned sounds like a great way to unwind after being stuck in an office all day.

15thaugust · 14/02/2017 21:42

I used to walk to work every day, about the same distance. I very quickly became addicted to it, doing both ways meant about six miles a day. I did it all weathers just wear appropriate footwear and a decent coat and you'll be fine. Apart from no more bus or tube hell you will get really fit. I developed a set of serious abs and people would ask ridiculous questions like'do you work out?' Ha ha ha. Walking is very therapeutic. Seeing a river in different lights and seasons will be fantastic. I am sure you will enjoy it.

weeza13 · 14/02/2017 22:13

I used to walk just over 4 miles to work and back each day but I also walk very quickly so would end up getting hot even in the winter. No shower facilities at my work so I would wear a t shirt in then have a wet wipe down and change of top in the loo before work, also arrive in enough time to cool down a bit in the summer.

Heebiejeebies77 · 14/02/2017 22:16

I had a 4 mile walk to work which, when pacing it, I could do in just under an hour. Walking to work was harder than the walk back home, but I comforted myself with the fact that waiting for a bus ( a hopper, which was always packed and stuck in traffic ) plus the walk to and from the bus stops either end, worked out longer time-wise and meant I would have to get out earlier in the morning.
I loved my walk, especially the evening one and now I'm a sahm really miss having that time to myself to think, exercise and unwind. But it did help that I was walking through leafy southwest London and had some lovely routes and cut throughs near a common, parks and pretty streets. I would even extend it sometimes by walking through Richmond park. Sunny summer evenings were the best. But even rain didn't put me off!
I could also eat a lot more than I can now without putting on weight
I would just go for it - you have so much more to gain than lose by walking. It can really help lift your mood, especially after a terrible day at work. You'll become addicted, I promise.

MoonlightandMusic · 14/02/2017 22:20

Completely do-able. I walk in and out to work (3.6 miles each way in c.55 mins) in all weathers.
Means I can plan the day on the way in and dump any stress on the way back. You also never have to think about traffic conditions and, as several previous posters have mentioned, get to stay fit. Win-win really.

GreenShadow · 14/02/2017 22:24

It's one of the perks of my job that I can walk cross-country to work across an AONB.
It's just under 2 miles and very hilly (uphill coming home). I love it (but then I'm part time so don't have to do it everyday and do also have the option of a car if it's wet).
Go for it OP

cowshindtail · 15/02/2017 00:28

My workplace is only a little over a mile from home,but not really walkable as it would be up a busy A road with no footpath and I also start work at 5 am.I have one neighbour who is 70 and not disabled who regularly drives around to a neighbour on the other side of me and also to the postbox at the end of the road.She has attended Weightwatchers in the past.

RiverTamFan · 15/02/2017 02:48

It's about 2.5 miles to DD2's school and she walks there in 45 minutes down a rubbish footpath. Problem is that's down a hill that attracts cyclists who want a challenge so coming home with masses of books isn't much fun. Great views though!

FoxyRoxy · 15/02/2017 12:05

Google maps always overestimates walking times imo. My walk to work takes me about 9 mins and Google maps says it's a 19 min walk! Uphill yes it might slow you down slightly but I'd say go for it, it'll probably take you about 45 mins.

obeseclarice · 15/02/2017 12:13

I'd do it. My work is 6 miles away, and it takes an hour to drive (longer in reality, as there's no parking at work so I have to drive another half mile to the nearest on street parking!) and even longer by public transport. I have thought about walking home sometimes in summer, as it's such a rubbish journey. Commuting is awful.

If it was only an hours walk each way I'd much rather do that than sit in traffic for half an hour.

mellowfartfulness · 15/02/2017 13:38

Oh go for it, OP! I miss my old commute on foot. I loved being out under the sky in the place where I lived, getting to see it in all weathers and seasons. The route I took went over a stream and I used to leave 5 minutes earlier in the morning so I could stop to lean over the bridge and spot fish. Honestly, some of my favourite memories from that job and that town are just me walking home in the dusk and thinking.

Of course sometimes you're knackered or it's raining hard, but then sometimes the traffic's shit or the bus is half an hour late - nothing is perfect all the time.

heron98 · 15/02/2017 13:45

Of course it's doable. I walk to work now - it's only a mile but I always do a loop of the park to make it longer as I enjoy it.

My first job out of uni I had no money for public transport so walked 7 miles there and back (so 14 miles a day)- that was probably too long but it didn't kill me.

Flip

1 2 ··· 6 7 8 9 10 11