Is an hour walking commute too much?

[crochetmonkey74]

I've moved a bit further away from work but am missing walking there. My old walk was 20mins , New walk would be an hour each way. Is this a terrible idea?
On the way home, I would have the option of getting the bus after 20 minutes of the walk but the morning one wouldn't have this option. Anyone got an hour long walk to and from work? How do you find it?

I don't find the sweating a problem as even in high summer I'd be walking to arrive at work at 8am so it will be cooler, on the way home I can get straight into the shower. I live in a moderate weather place so ice and snow is rare as is lashing rain.

I walk nearly an hour each way. I have to say that despite living in the North of England I really don't get drenched on the way to work. Even when it's raining we generally just get drizzle here. It's very rarely torrential rain. If it was I'd take the bus but it's just not necessary. I don't even use an umbrella. I just have a good waterproof coat with a hood.
Likewise for the summer - I'm not a sweaty person and it's never that hot at 8am when I walk in. I just wear a good deodorant and set off.
So despite having walked an hour each way for many years, I've never once needed a shower or to change clothes when I arrive at work!

Well- as planned I got off 2 stops early thinking it would give me a 20 minute walk and it was only 11 minutes! Quite interesting how my perception of distances / time was skewed.

I'm on leave today so plan to drive to the beach after the school run and go for a 'lengthy' walk. Not sure how long tnat will be considering!

I think people are suggesting over preparing. You're not going to get sweaty on many mornings if you wash and use deodorant every day and a normal waterproof with a hood will be mostly fine. It's an hour's commute, not the 3 peaks. Do people need a shower after an hour's walk round the shops or local countryside?

This is interesting isn't it. I parked in my further away parking spot today thinking it would add 15 minutes. It added 5!
In the car it seemed quite far away from work. The good thing about the halfway plan Is that I still have my car for out of town errands like postage lockers and supermarket shops

Lucky you! I live in Ireland and it rains most days😂. My hair winds up being the problem - I leave the house with it beautifully styled (well looking okay) and by the time I walk a bit into work (I walk for about 15 mins either side of the bus) I look like I have been dragged though a hedge backwards! It’s irrecoverable

I'm also a bit 😨at what heavy weather (pun intended) a lot of people are making of this. It's walking. A thermos and snack, wtf. I do an hour's walk at lunchtime when I WFH and if anything I find it energises me and counteracts the mental tiredness of working.

The easiest way to do it is, IMO, to pack your work clothes and wear something else to walk in (I go straight to the gym when I arrive at work, so I commute in workout gear) and then shower and dress there. Most companies want to encourage active commuting and so if there aren't good changing facilities yet, you can lobby for them.

This post is inspiring!

I did actually contemplate walking to work and back over a year ago when my employers started charging a higher daily fee for parking, so I tested the route on foot one Sunday to see how long it would take. It took 1.15 hour each way, which I felt was too long at the time, so applied for the staff car park permit instead. However, I since realise they only charge us on the days we park there, so maybe I can start parking further away (if I can find suitable parking) each morning and walking about 20 minutes or so to and from work, as suggested in an earlier post. Or maybe, just one day a week when weather is nice and I dont have any obligations after work I can walk the whole way to work and back. I quite like walking anyway, it's just the time it takes up needed for other tasks at home that I need to manage.

I have very frizzy/flyaway hair, and my carefully blow-dried hair has suffered over the years with wind and rain, like yours. I now don't bother with an umbrella, instead I wear a snug fitting hat covering most of my head coupled with a hood on my coat to stop any drops of rain or mist getting in at the back, so my hair looks fine when I get to work now 😀 - however it's not so easy in summertime if i get caught in the rain, as I would look pretty stupid wearing a hat and coat then 😂

Agree with you on the thermos and snack. Wtf? Though I do have a friend who always turn up with full rucksack with waterproofs, thermos, trail mix etc even if we just go for an hour's ramble round a lake.

Anyway - there is no way my work would provide decent changing facilities no matter how much lobbying. And the loos are minging. Our office is nice but it's shared loos. Public Sector.

I grant you that it is, sadly, not always possible. Until 2019 I worked for a large company whose head office changing facilities existed but weren't very nice. Things are getting better IME, with more companies introducing/improving changing facilities. Car parking takes up a great deal of valuable space, so it can be worth it.

Showering is also not so critical with walking as it is for people who run or cycle in - it's rarely that sweaty, it's more for wet days.

Genuine question for those saying about being sweaty, would you get sweaty walking for an hour round the shops? I just would never get that sweaty from walking at a normal pace . Maybe I am walking too slow?

I would not get sweaty walking around the shops, because you tend to be dawdling a bit, stopping and looking at things. If you are walking on a commute or for exercise you are more likely to be striding out and getting a bit of a move on.

I had a good 50 minute walk today (but that was for leisure). And have been looking at google maps to see where I can get a decent walk in on office days vis a vis bus stops.

No not from round the shops but I walk at a slower pace around the shops.

However, I've done a 2 hour walk to a town/city with a shopping centre and though I walked at a reasonable pace, sometimes I did this in summer, so therefore, I could've been sweaty. But in that case, I just ensured I had anti perspirant/deodorant on me to use, and foot spray for feet and also ensured I went to the toilets (usually in shopping centre or M&S/Waitrose) so I could freshen up and do a very quick wash if I needed to (in cubicle with wash basin).

I used to do it when I was in my 20s, it was hilly too. Bit crap if it was raining and in the warmer weather I'd have to take a change of clothes or stink all day! But it's doable

@crochetmonkey74 - thank you ! I had become a bit lax on my commute and started taking the bus rather than parking and 30 mins walking- to be fair I got put off in winter when it had been quite icy a number of days.

But this week I did it both days I was in and it was particularly helpful yesterday when we got free pizza at lunchtime so I walked the bloated feeling and worst of the excess off on the way back to the car.

I'm loving it! weirdly, I can make myself do it more than the gym. I'm off work for a week after today and am already planning a 40 minute walk to get morning coffee before my day starts and 40 mins home again- I would struggle to embed the gym in this way

I find purposeful exercise far easier! I run to work quite frequently for that reason. Or sometimes I.combine it with a visit to a friend (hopefully who doesn't object to me in exercise gear and a bit sweaty!). I've even put on a backpack and run to the shops and then back again.

No. But walking to and from work I walk much faster - and I am usually carrying handbag, laptop, change of shoes, sometimes lunch!

I am not generally a sweaty person, but an hour walking at a brisk pace in not quite the right clothes for exercise while carrying a packed rucksack will make me glow😂

There was a free bus, but by the time you'd waited for it to turn up, stood up on the bus and walked to and from the stops, I just walked the 40m instead. Has the advantages of time control, not affected by traffic, no jostling with germs folk. Listen to the radio etc. Plus free workout/mental health advantages.

Buy good shoes, waterproof coat, bag covers and headphones, sorted.

I'm thinking of doing this (kind of, and one way only). Dh and I work in the same town, half an hour from home. Normally he drives from his work on the outskirts of town to pick me up, but he finishes an hour and a half later than me. It would take me about 50 mins to walk to his work - much needed exercise for me, plus better route home which avoids him getting into town centre traffic.

I used to and actually found that time calming and very valuable to me.

Everyone should be doing this amount of exercise, it's healthy. You will probably live longer because of it 😂 Get a bike for bad weather days and treat yourself to the bus on the way home occasionally. I can't see any downsides.