Taking a Train to and From Work. Why drive if you don’t HAVE to!

Life behind the wheel, there’s another way…

Commuting its something we’ve probably all done for years. And let’s be honest, it just sucks. Sure, you’ve got podcasts and maybe your ride has lane centering and adaptive cruise if yer lucky. Regardless, do you really like staring at brake lights for over an hour and seeing how crappy drivers get their reputations? Even better at the end of the day you do it all in reverse, day in, day out, kinda like that groundhog movie with Bill Murray minus the groundhog. Sometimes by the time you get home you don’t want to talk to anyone except maybe the dog?

So, after facing this road-based Greek tragedy for years, I tried our local train. In Central and South Florida it’s called Brightline, but I’m sure you have something similar near you, especially if you live in a big city. Sorry, small-city folk 🙁 I feel for you, but at least you don’t have traffic like we do! 😉

I actually have ME time?

Somewhere between Fort Lauderdale and Palm Beach, I get to do stuff like: answer emails, schedule things I forgot about, think and plan for my day, write this article, or just veg. Can you do that when driving? Well, not legally or safely. Please, don’t try it! And time actually flies for real! 35-40 minutes? Gone in what feels like nothing. Take out the stress and you get to think and enjoy things. It’s like a bubble of time all your own, devoid of traffic, GPS hints and where to go, nevermind the garbage truck blocking that “shortcut” I took once. True story. Dare I say, you start to feel like time is actually on your side. GASP.

The Wi-Fi works. That sounds like a low bar but it genuinely matters when you’re trying to get things done or at least stream something without it buffering all the time. I’ve also just put headphones in and stared out the window for 40 minutes, and that was great too.

Driving is expensive in more ways than you think

So, I’m not talking out the cost of filling your tank. Granted, it can also add up. This little thing called mental fatigue. The stop and go, all the input, dodging that “person” that decides that they need to be in the same space you currently exist in. All those activities take it out of you and nothing kills your creativity more than lack of energy due to stress and fatigue. Imagine two hours a day of your brain working in a way that isn’t really productive or relaxing. It’s just spent. On the train, that energy stays with you.

Riding home AND decompressing at the same time!

The ride home might be even better. There’s something about stepping off a train and already being decompressed versus crawling down some highway still thinking about whatever went sideways a few miles ahead of the gridlock you’re currently “enjoying.” Nowadays I actually look forward to the commute home. Imagine saying that to yourself? Apple Music playlist? Sure. Catch up on some reading or Audible? Why not? Send that email you forgot to send before heading out? It happens, but no problem, it’s done! People and car watch the whole way down. No problem.

Perfect? Nope nothing is. Worth it? Hell YES!

Nothing in life is perfect. For example: Hearing the train horn blaring as you feel the engineer slamming the brakes is never a fun exercise. Seems like sometimes people forget trains will always win, but they still try to “beat them.” Worst case a full stop and a “ding dong, ding dong” sound over the PA system as the crew tells you that you have a wait on your hands, as cleaning up the mess might take a while. Granted, they don’t actually say that, but you get the gist.

But honestly, that’s a rare occurrence; most days the tradeoff is worth it more days than not. If you’ve been on the fence about trying the train, just go once. Worst case, you take the train once. Best case, you’ll wonder why you ever did it any other way. BTW, I’m not responsible for late trains, taking the wrong train, or anything else that happens during your little adventure. Happy commuting.

Want to see more great articles?

• 
  EV | GAS | HYBRID: Don’t Buy Your Next Car Based on Tech Hype
• 
  Project Glasswing: Anthropic’s Mythos AI Has Hands (And We’re All in Trouble)
• 
  Your Agentic AI Assistant is Coming: 5 Realities to Consider
• 
  Stop Overpaying: The New OpenClaw Strategy
• 
  Were Humans Someone Else’s Successful AI Experiment?