If you have a long walk to work...

[Changedusernameforthis2]

Got a new job and the walk is 50 minutes.
I could do with more fresh air, more exercise, all the usual things. Anyone got a similar length walk and is it OK? (I know you cant all know my exact fitness etc etc )
But generally speaking?
I'm figuring when I was London based getting home took me an hour, and only 20 mins of that was on a bus.

My walk is not quite as long but I like the walk and I listen to my podcasts!

Sounds great! Exercise and a break in your day between work and home life is a good thing. Sounds like you are used to using that amount of time already.
do you have wet weather options? Ie somewhere to change at work or bus

I used to have about 45 minutes. I am the least fit person going, so anyone else would probably only take 30 minutes or so.

I'd listen to music, or an audio book, and it was helped by having a pretty route to walk, alongside the guided busway/bottom of the Downs, so traffic free.

I really enjoyed the walk, until it was autumn/winter, when I had to walk along the main road (didn't like the other route in the dark).

But 45 - 60 minutes is an ok walk, in my experience

What's the actual distance?

how Safe is the route? I have a shorter walk, about 35 mins, and that’s fine but I have to watch out for homicidal pavement cyclists all the time so it’s not very relaxing. Also breathing in petrol fumes.

Are there public transport options of the weather makes the walk deeply unpleasant, or if you’re exhausted? Is it an ok walk to do on dark mornings or after dark?

Not as long as yours but I walk 25-30 minutes to the station, then get the train for another 30 minutes. I'd much prefer a 50-minute journey on foot tbh! Assuming it's safe then it will be great for your physical and mental health.

Make sure you have:

• comfortable shoes (I change shoes when I get to work)
• decent waterproofs, not just an umbrella (a long waterproof coat in the winter and something more lightweight for when it's a bit milder)
• a comfortable backpack

Oh, and the most difficult is in icy or snowy weather. Pavements aren’t usually cleared so it can be pretty treacherous going, especially after a melt and refreeze.

My walk is about an hour and I put my headphones in and enjoy. My only advise would be to look and see if you can find a back roads route because I always feel like it goes faster than on main roads but that’s just me.

Thanks for all this. The walk is safe, it's not pretty nature wise but it's good for.me as it's into and then out of a town centre so I can stop at a shop etc on way home. Dark mornings would be safe. Good advice about the waterproofs. There is a bus from the town centre if I'm.absolutely soaked/shattered and that's at the 20 minute mark

I'm not sure

I'd look at getting some YakTrax for the winter (they go over your shoes/boots and act like snow chains - very useful for icy paths). When I was a teen/early 20's, I didn't drive and would walk the approx 3-4miles to work each day (sometimes, I'd cycle it). Buses from the village we lived in were rubbish. It was a nice brisk walk (I do walk fast!) that took about 45-50 minutes. I made sure I had my phone charged up (phone had a torch on it) and decent gear for the weather (good shoes/coat/backpack). It was lovely, as it was a good way for me to get a decent amount of exercise in each day.

I drive now and work is approx 5miles from my home. I cycle when the weather is good (or the cold sets off my Raynauds) and when it's light in the mornings/evenings. I've walked it in the snowy weather but I'd be wrapped up like I lived in the Arctic!

Have a nosey on google maps to see the distance, maybe it will also show other routes too.

It would be lovely in spring/summer with light mornings and evenings. But fucking miserable in the winter when it's dark, cold, wet and icy. Or those days when you're feeling a little bit under the weather, but not ill enough to stay at home, or just feeling tired.
Is working from home ever an option? Or a bus or taxi?

I don't live in a place where snow and ice is an issue generally, and on those very very rare days every couple of years I could get a taxi or lift. Glad to know it's enjoyable. I already plan to get a coffee on my way through town each day

I disagree actually.

In a previous job my daily walk was about 35 minutes, so a bit shorter than OP. But, properly equipped, I genuinely enjoyed it in all weathers and actually found it a way to unwind after a day at work.

I wouldn't like that walk to work every day. (Is it every day @Changedusernameforthis2 ?) If I was full time, and worked from home 3 days, and only had to do this walk on 2 days, then yeah maybe...

But not every day. Too many variables, too much risk of bad weather, (rain/snow/ice/high winds/freezing fog/hail/freezing temperatures,) and me sitting there all day struggling to thaw out, or struggling to dry out. Even in summer you risk rain and high winds.. OR you risk having to walk in 30 degrees C or more temperatures, which is also not great. Plus, I couldn't be arsed with an almost 2 hour round-trip walk every day on top of my 8+ hours at work.

I enjoy going for walks, when I feel like it, when I have time, when the weather isn't too bad/is nice, when I am off work (or after work.) Some days I CBA. I wouldn't want to HAVE to do almost 1 hour of walking (before work,) and then another almost 1 hour after. I am assuming it's a 3 mile walk.....? So a 6 mile round trip?

It's a no from me.

I do about that, it's 2.5 miles each way and it is fine. I do have waterproofs when needed and I have the free audiobook apps my local library offers so I often have either an audiobook or a podcast or some music in one ear as I go. My only down side is I live up a hill so at the end of a long work day that can feel a challenge but as my job is mainly desk based I know how good it is for my health to have it.

I used to do an hours walk each way and it was fine. I found it less tiring that the following job which was an hours drive each way. The walk was relaxing and energising in most weather's.

It’s not going to be realistic everyday in reality is it? Fine in the summer but winter? Probably not.

My walk to work is about 50mins. I listen to music and enjoy it. Mostly I cycle, which takes me 15mins, so you could consider that.

Oh, I forgot to say, I see a few of the same people on my way in to the office in the morning and exchanging a greeting with them really brightens my morning.

I do about 40 mins to work - it's absolutely fine.

I agree about getting a good waterproof coat and a comfortable bag.

I actually quite enjoy it - I listen to something, usually a podcast on my way in and music on my way home.

I totally disagree with the PPs who say it's not doable in the winter or in the dark, I don't mind that at all. The only thing I don't like is when it's icy

My walk to the office is 3.5km (just over 2 miles). It takes me about 40 minutes once you factor in waiting to cross roads. It's ok but I wouldn't want to do it both ways every day! It's quite far if you're carrying any amount of stuff (laptop, lunch, gym kit etc) and in bad weather it's pretty miserable. I'm also lucky to have showers and a drying room at work if I get soaked or sweaty on the way in.

It's fine so long as you have somewhere at work where you could stash a change of clothes/shoes for the odd occasion you get soaked - which might be a bus driver thinking its funny to whizz through a puddle at speed and soak the pedestrians...... don't ask me how I found this out.

I would say that a lot depends on how much you are going to have to carry and whether the route is uphill (in either direction).