How I got more relaxed by no longer commuting by car

Yesterday was car free day, at least in Belgium, and by a happy coincidence I came across an article that pointed out a correlation between mental well-being and the means of transportation when commuting to work. It turns out that not using a car, fe. going by bike, on foot or by public transport increases your mental health. The author wonders about the reason for this.

I'm not a psychologist, nor have I done scientific research to investigate this, but from my personal experience, I can think of a few reasons why not driving by car to commute is better for you.

A few years ago, I was commuting daily by car. Construction works were going on for a few months, so every morning I spent 20-30 minutes in a traffic jam (on top of the 30 minute drive it took me to get to work).
Those 20-30 minutes of waiting, driving slowly, accelerating and breaking again, more waiting, ... well, it annoyed me, and I guess a lot of other people don't like traffic jams either.

A few months later, I was told the contract of my company lease car was about to end and I would get a new one.
Then I started wondering if I really liked spending that much time in traffic jams every day, 50-60 minutes of doing nothing else but stare at the car in front of me. So I started looking for alternatives. It turned out there was a train station at walking distance from my office, and it would take me 50-60 minutes to get from home to work. No gain in travel time (and it would take me less time by car if there would be no traffic jam), but I would spend about 45 minutes in a train, not having to pay attention to the cars in front of me, not having the stress and boredom of waiting in a traffic jam. I could listen to some music, read a bit, take a nap, stare out the window enjoying the scenery passing by or having a chat with a fellow commuter.
So instead of spending about an hour getting annoyed and stressed, I could relax while the train driver got me to work and I could get some things done in the mean time.

So I declined the offer of a new lease car and decided to commute by train. I couldn't have made a better decision. From that moment on I arrived more relaxed at work and at home. Of course, commuting by train can be stressful as well : delayed or cancelled trains, crowded with noisy people. But I was lucky to have a quiet commuter train in the morning, and I could usually avoid rush-hour in the evening, so I usually had a comfortable commute, arriving at work or at home much more relaxed.

Commuting by train can be annoying as well, if you have to cope with long commutes, multiple stop-overs, delays and crowded trains on a daily basis, as I experienced a few years later on another job (but at least I could still doze off or read a bit).
But I was relieved, when I found a job closer to home that would take me 20 minutes by bike. No reading this time while commuting, but having the daily physical exercise and cruising past rows of waiting cars was enjoyable (I'm not gloating, actually, I took a route through the car free city center, so I didn't see that much cars on my way to work), but I knew that if I would go to work by car I would end up in a traffic jam and it would take me much longer to get to work.

I don't use the car that much anymore, only for longer drives, places that are hard to reach by public transport, or when transporting heavy or bulky loads. And I like it. I can't imagine losing multiple hours waiting in traffic jams every week.
Overall I'm more relaxed because I don't get annoyed waiting, can do some enjoyable things while commuting or get some physical exercise (which is also known to reduce stress levels).

A a consequence you have to make some compromises and it will take some extra planning, but it's worth it.

Selection test #1.1

Yesterday, I had to wake up early. 6:30 is early enough during the week, but on a Saturday it's even more unpleasant. The reason I had to get up this early, was because I had to be in Brussels at 9 o'clock to participate in a selection test for a new job.

Despite the early time, I managed to get out of bed, take a shower and eat some breakfast. Then I headed for the train station. Because I left a little early I managed to get a train earlier, giving me more time to get a connection at Gent-Sint-Pieters, on my way to Brussels South

The building where I was expected to take the test is near Brussels South, so I just had to cross the street to get there. Being a bit early, I had to wait in the hall, watching the other contestants arrive. At 8:50 we were let in, good thing I planned to take a train arriving at 8:30, because the next one arrived at 8:54 at the station, leaving me only minutes to locate the building, getting there and finding the entrance.

Before taking the test we got an introduction about the company, the kind of work we would have to do, once employed, and an overview of the selection procedure, which was about to start a few minutes later with a written selection test.

The written test was multiple choice, with 40 questions, divide in 3 categories. To discourage guessing answers, every wrong answer was penalized with 1/3 of a point. For every good answer one was awarded one point. In the end one had to score 10/20 to get to next round, which is an oral test.
The three categories were mechanics, electricity (common knowledge) and electricity ( power or signal ). It went rather well, considering that it has been some years now since I graduated and some of my knowledge of these topics is rather dusty. And I didn't have time to review everything before the test.
I managed to solve 28 of 40 questions, of which I'm quite certain.
So now it's waiting for the results. The oral test is planned in two weeks, which leaves me some time to review some more of my previous courses. If you catch me with a book on electrical motors, you'll know why.

BTW: Thanks to Tine, for letting me borrow a non-programmable calculator for this test.

Shopping for clothing

Today I went shopping in Antwerp, to buy some clothes. I left by train in Ghent at 13u13 and arrived in Antwerp about 45 minutes later. Then I went to 'De Meir', the biggest shopping street in Antwerp and bought the following things :

• 1 pair of shoelaces
• 3 trousers
• 4 T-shirts
• 3 pull-overs
  

I left again by train at 15u06.

The shopping spree took me under 3 hours, to buy enough clothes to have no need to going shopping for another year.

People might wonder why I went to Antwerp to buy clothes. If I would have shopped in Ghent, I might have spent even less time. The reason is simple : I like going to Antwerp once in a while, and the shop where I usually buy my clothes is bigger in Antwerp than the one in Ghent, so there are more clothes to choose from.

Barcelona tube

Earlier this year, I mentioned going on a trip to Barelona.
Well. I went, I saw and I enjoyed it.
One of the things I enjoyed most, was the metro system. It is very practical : you enter a station somewhere in the city, take a train, maybe switch lines halfway and leave a metrostation in a totally different part of the city in no time.
I noticed that the metro trains in Barcelona are airconditioned, but the stations are not. Once you're on a train the temperature is enjoyable, but in the stations it can be realy hot. It is sometimes even hotter in the stations than it is above ground.
Prices are acceptable. You pay 1,25 EUR for one ride, but when you buy a pass for 10 rides (6,90 EUR) or a one (5,25 EUR) or two-day pass (8,30EUR) , it costs even less.
You can use the same ticket on bus and tram in the Barcelona area.

Adventures at the counter

Yesterday, I ordered train tickets for a trip to Barcelona and today I headed over to the train station to get them.

It was quiet in the station hall, no one seemed to take a train at that moment, so I went to the counter and told the person behind it I had ordered some traintickets and would like to get them. She asked me for the reservation code and some details about payment. Everything went well and soon my tickets were being printed.
But then two ladies entered the station hall en came to the counter, standing behind me, waiting to buy a train ticket. There was only one counter available at the time, so they had to wait until I had finished receiving my tickets. Because the transaction of printing ordered international train tickets takes a little longer than buying a local trainticket, the two ladies behind me started mumbling after about a minute of waiting: 'Why does it take so long?' It seemed that the noun 'to wait' didn't occur in their dictionary, as one of the ladies soon stood next to me repeating the same question.
Naive as I am, I responded that I was getting some ordered tickets, but that she could get her ticket at an automatic ticket dispenser located a bit further in the station hall. I suspect she didn't like my answer, looking at her facial expression while she mumbled something like, 'Me? Do 'I' have to get my ticket there?' Later, I realised she probably wasn't aware something like an automatic ticket dispenser existed, let alone that she knew how to operate one.
But she gave it a try, heading over to the machine, but soon returned to the counter, standing next to me while trying to get the attention of the person behind the counter.
The woman behind the counter ignored her and continued handling my tickets and started explaining which tickets I had ordered before putting them in an envelope.
Then the lady next to me started talking to the person behind the counter, telling that she needed a train ticket urgently.
The woman behind the counter answered : 'I'm busy, wait your turn.'
Then the woman next to me replied : 'But I need to get a ticket urgently, I'll miss my train.'
The woman behind the counter responded : 'I can't be bothered, I'm handling an international dossier. Wait your turn.'

The woman behind the counter continued putting my tickets in an envelope, while the woman desperatly needing a train ticket backed off. When the woman behind the counter handed me the envelope I thanked her, wishing her a nice evening and started heading out of the station hall. While I left, I heard the woman, who stood behind me earlier, ordering her train ticket.

I think I was less than five minutes in the train station, which was not such a long time for getting international train tickets. I remember standing behind a couple ordering their international train tickets with only one counter available in the station, when I needed to get a train ticket, with the departure of my train getting nearer as minutes passed by. I don't remember clearly how long I had to wait then, but I'm quite sure it took longer than I had to wait for my tickets today. But I got a ticket and that train on time, probably with seconds to spare, but who cares about that when one gets on a train right on time.
Normally, I use a railpass for 10 rides, that I have to fill in before getting on a train, so I don't need to wait at the counter before I can get my train.
But if I have to buy my ticket, I use this rule of thumb : 'Leave 10 minutes earlier, in case you have to stand in line before you can get a train ticket.', a rule of which the two ladies behind me probably hadn't heard before. If you don't have to stand in line more than 10 minutes, you can get your train without rushing and maybe you have time to buy something to drink or enjoy the sun or the people passing by while standing at the platform. If you do have to wait for more than 10 minutes, well, then there's nothing you can do about it, but wait. There are plenty of trains to come after the one you are missing. Missing a train gives you even more time to enjoy the sun at the platform, or watching people in the train hall, rushing to get their train. Or maybe you can get something out of your bag to read while you are waiting for the next train.
This is what I meant when I mentioned, 'relaxing trip' when traveling by train, in the previous message : reading a bit while listening to some music, watching people or enjoying the scenery. But some people don't seem to get this.

Barcelona, here I come!

The idea to go to Barcelona by train arose during a conversation during this winter. The plan was to go on a relaxing trip, both during the travel to Barcelona as during our stay there. We looked forward to do a bit of reading while driving by train and taking a peek every once in a while at the beautiful French landscape passing by.

We haven't made any arangements until now, but I just booked our train tickets so this means we are on our way in a few weeks time. Shortly after the examinations will have ended, we head for Barcelona.