Commuting!

Hi Guys!

At the end of last semester I decided to withdraw from my student accommodation in order to commute to uni instead. I can honestly say it was without a doubt one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make. However overall I believe I have done the right thing. It is a great feeling when you feel as though you have made the right decision. I have been commuting for 4 weeks now and so far everything is going great.

I thought I would make this post today in order to help anyone who is thinking of commuting. It is honestly not as scary as I thought it would be. I had visions of delayed trains and rushing into lectures and seminars late, but with a bit of planning it turns out fine.

I thought I would explain the pro's and con's of commuting. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's all wonderful, but overall I do believe I made the right decision for me.

Lets start with a positive shall we. I can't deny that being able to go home to my parents (and the dog) every night is amazing! One of the hardest things I found with being in student accommodation was how isolated I felt. I hardly ever saw my flat mates and as a result I just seemed to spend hours at night on my own in a room that never quite felt like home. I just felt so alone. If there is one thing that anxiety feeds off it's time to think. Now if i've had a bad day, I can come home and talk to mum and dad and you would not believe how great that is.

However commuting does take quite a big chunk out of my day. I have a 25 minute bus ride, then a 20 minute train ride and finally a 15 minute walk to uni. That doesn't sound that bad, but it's all the waiting around that makes it longer, especially on the way there. It seems that the trains and the buses just do not seem to coincide at all!

On the other hand, all the time that I have to wait around can be put to good use. I usually use the time that I have to read. I normally have about 2 hours a day in which I can read whilst i'm commuting and this allows be to get through the set texts that I have to get through easily as well as reading for pleasure sometimes.

The early mornings and late evenings can be hard sometimes. If there is ever anything I miss about living in student accommodation it is not being able to practically roll out of bed to get to uni, especially on a Monday morning. I have a lecture that starts at 9am. This means that I have to get up at 5:45am to be out of the door for 6:30am. This makes Mondays feel like they last about 3 weeks long! I have to say I do find it quite hard when people complain about that lecture! Equally I have two late night lectures at finish at 6:30pm and 7pm. For some reason there is one train at 6:30pm and then not another one until 7:30pm. This means that get on the same train on both days, meaning I don't get home until about 8:15pm.

Ultimately the best positive about commuting is that my anxiety feels a lot more under control again. Don't get me wrong, I still get anxious, but not half as bad as I did last term. Overall this means that I feeling a lot happier and this helps to confirm to me that I did make the right decision.

Thanks for Stopping By! :)