Ideas for a long commute
September 6, 2010 5:39 AM   Subscribe

1 hour commute each way. Help me make the most of my alone time.

I don't want to waste 8-10 hours a week staring at billboards. I would like to pass the time fruitfully and maybe even discover some personal growth.

Please give your ideas, thoughts, and secrets to enjoying a long commute to work. I do plan on listening to audio books but where are some good resources that are easy on the wallet? I have a usb connection in cd player and an iphone if that helps.

What are some other ideas besides audio books?

Thanks for your help!
posted by WhiteWhale to Travel & Transportation (22 answers total) 32 users marked this as a favorite
 
I guess you mean that you're driving?

What about learning a language? Pimsleur is the best known company for audio language learning programs. If you picked a really "exotic" language (and by this I mean only distantly or not-at-all related to a language you speak) you would probably want to supplement with something else, but for learning something like conversational Spanish... it's pretty good.

Their programs are expensive but for more commonly studied languages possible to picked up used or, ahem, pirated.

Each lesson is about half an hour long, and it's probably a good idea to only do one lesson a day, so you could listen to an audiobook for the rest of the trip.
posted by Kutsuwamushi at 5:57 AM on September 6, 2010


For language don't fork out for Pimsleur (you said you wanted easy on the wallet, right?). There are loads of FSI Language Courses available.

You might also like podcasts - this thread was commuting-specific, but you could do a quick site-specific search to find some more.

I don't know if you're driving, or taking public transport, but if you're not active in the commute go to your local library and get a library card. Take out a book a week. You could start off with some nice fiction, but personally I'd lean towards introductions to new subjects. The Story of Art would probably be my first loan.
posted by djgh at 6:12 AM on September 6, 2010 [5 favorites]


There are a lot of online audio courses; iTunes University comes immediately to mind.

If you are driving this commute, your options should be limited so you can devote your mind to your task at hand: driving well so everyone stays alive and unharmed!

I had a similar commute, and I used audiobooks to "read" books I would never read. There are so many more options now with podcasts! NPR allows you to create your own podcasts from their site by choosing keywords that will pull stories together into one dump.
posted by kidelo at 6:30 AM on September 6, 2010


I've got a set of regular podcasts that I listen to on my 45 minute daily commute -- these typically give me at least a few interesting things to ponder. They include:

The Slate Culture Gabfest
The Slate Political Gabfest
The Nation's The Breakdown
The Periodic Table Podcast (an element each day --- absolutely fascinating).
BBC From Our Own Correspondent
In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg

Usually I can get 1-2 of these in a day.
posted by scblackman at 6:31 AM on September 6, 2010 [3 favorites]


You may be able to check out audiobooks from your library, which may help ease your concerns about cost. My local library has them.
posted by valrus at 6:37 AM on September 6, 2010


TED podcasts.
posted by musofire at 6:44 AM on September 6, 2010


You may be able to check out audiobooks from your library...
This.
My wife has the same length commute as you and she gets her audiobooks exclusively from the library. She's been doing it for years now. Our library has an online reservation system, so she can plan ahead her "reading".
posted by Thorzdad at 6:46 AM on September 6, 2010


Best answer: They're not edifying in a directed, goal-oriented way, but my favorite podcasts are:

Radiolab
This American Life
The Moth

There are other good ones but these are my three favorite.

If you want to have something to show for your hours on the road, you might consider learning a language. This will, of course, also take some time out of your non-commuting life but 2 hours in a car is a great opportunity to review and memorize vocabulary, pronunciation, and to practice saying things out loud again and again until it becomes muscle memory. You could easily learn 5 words a day this way, which in a year would yield pretty huge rewards. As audio resources, there are podcasts and CDs. CDs tend to be "phrasebook" style, designed to prepare you for an upcoming trip - these are an OK starting point. The better ones are more expensive. You could torrent them or you could record your own! This has worked pretty well for me. I used to review vocabulary while jogging - it helped.

Another thing to consider is structured mind wandering can be hugely beneficial. I had a one-hour-each-way commute for several years and overall it was ghastly, but now a part of me misses the time alone, just to reflect on things. In one of Dale Carnegie's books, he tells the story of a man who allocated an hour at the end of each day to reflect on his day, and each of the ways he could have done better that day. Painful but, in his view, the most valuable habit he ever developed. Similarly, Clay Christensen recently gave a commencement address to Harvard Business School students in which he urged them to spend an hour a day reflecting on the mission of their life. A big commitment - but he felt worth the time. You could use the iPhone voice recorder to capture your reflections at the end of the drive - and review them the next morning.

Commuting can be tough, best of luck to you in making the most of it!
posted by dx7 at 6:47 AM on September 6, 2010 [2 favorites]


NPR has some really excellent programming during commuting hours. In particular, if you can catch it, Science Fridays is awesome.
posted by zizzle at 6:48 AM on September 6, 2010


For audio books-
Librivox is an organization of volunteers reading public domain books. The audio quality varies, but is usually quite high. There is a large selection.
posted by Adridne at 7:00 AM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Oh, and all of the Librivox books are downloadable for free
posted by Adridne at 7:01 AM on September 6, 2010


I'd second In Our Time, it is usually superb, and fits into an hour. Sometimes I don't want the journey to end, so I can fit another one in...

I learnt a fair bit of German using the free Deutsche Welle resources, you could start at their website here, but I think a quick search on iTunes would find you some of the courses pretty quick.

If you're not driving, how about trying a cryptic crossword? If needed, there is loads of advice on how to start here. I've often enjoyed doing as much as I can in the morning, pondering a few clues during the day, and then returning to it on the way home.
posted by tawny at 7:19 AM on September 6, 2010


for a combination of learning a language and audiobooks:

Librivox has books in other languages, and the public library also has audiobooks in languages other than english. listening to novels is a great way to increase your vocabulary and grammar.

Recently I've been listening to "La Lectora (kidnapping drama adventure)" by Sergio Alvarez, "El Salon de Ambar (art heist gangster caper)" by Matilda Asensi (both on cd from the library), and "Don Quijote" (librivox).
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:32 AM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Bloggingheads. Most of them are about an hour, give or take. The site has a video interface, but each diavlog has an "mp3" link to the lower right of the video. How about a conversation about quantum mechanics with a Nobel Prize-winning physicist?
posted by John Cohen at 7:58 AM on September 6, 2010


Response by poster: I should have been more specific. Yes I will be driving my car. Thanks for all the ideas and resources thus far. I had not considered learning a language.

Keep the good ideas coming!!!
posted by WhiteWhale at 8:52 AM on September 6, 2010


Thanks for posting this. I have a 1.25 hr commute each way, and I had never thought to learn a language. I've been doing podcasts, many of which have been posted here, but also: Leonard Lopate.
posted by nevercalm at 8:56 AM on September 6, 2010


Not only does the library have audiobooks, it may well have Pimsleur language CDs as well.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 9:07 AM on September 6, 2010


I would add Stuff You Should Know and the BBC Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy to the list of podcasts. I often read on the bus, but it sounds like you're driving.
posted by lizabeth at 9:36 AM on September 6, 2010


1. When I had an ultra-long commute, I downloaded every MP3 of every This American Life episode, and listened to all of them over about a six month period. You can still download the MP3s from a secret squirrel location, but it takes a bit of technical savvy.

2. Your local library will likely have a ton of awesome audiobooks all for the low low price of FREE! Which is awesome beyond belief, if you think about it.

I go through a lot of audiobooks. I check them out from the library, rip them to MP3, and listen to them at my leisure. I think this is considered acceptable use (I'm not uploading them to the internet or anything).
posted by ErikaB at 10:27 AM on September 6, 2010


The BBC offers 273 podcasts which should keep you busy for a while. They come in many different languages, not just English, so if you decide to learn a new language, you could supplement with one or more podcasts in that language.

If you'd like to listen to something with educational value, try A History of the World in 100 Objects (see also here).
posted by amf at 11:57 AM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


In addition to language, podcast or audio books, there are other unique things to study through an audio-only format, my favorites being:

Tuvan Throat Singing
Perfect Pitch
Torah

There are hundreds (if not thousands) of professional credential exam prep courses available through audio (bar exam, MCLE, real estate license, etc.) as well.

I *WISH*I had a one hour commute each day so that I could get into more of this stuff.
posted by holterbarbour at 9:21 PM on September 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


Not only does the library have audiobooks, it may well have Pimsleur language CDs as well.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 12:07 PM on September 6 [+] [!] No other comments.


oh boy, does it ever! even in provincial Ocala FL, the public library has hundreds cd or tape courses (use a tape player plus audiograbber or similar to rip tapes to mp3) of a huge variety of languages, from Armenian to -- well, not Zulu or Yakut unfortunately, but certainly Welsh!

for the more dominant languages - french, spanish, german, japanese, there are large audiocourses of specialty vocabularies, such as medical and legal. nifty!
posted by toodleydoodley at 7:31 AM on September 8, 2010


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