Week 1: What have I learned so far?

My first work week without a car has ended!  As a person of consistency, changes are hard.  Even if the changes are something I wanted to have, it is still hard.

Let me give you an update on how my Low-Car Life is going so far.  Have I learned any lessons...?

Lesson 1: Be on time  I'm used to buses not being on time nine times out of ten.  The first morning I took bus to work, I left home about two minutes before the bus was supposed to arrive.  I live a block away from the bus stop.  As I walked down the street, I saw my bus driving past.  What??  I thought the buses here were never on time!!  I guess it really depends.  If there isn't traffic, the buses can be on time.  Simple.  Done.

 Lesson 2: Be at the right bus stop  Luckily, I knew that another bus was supposed to arrive right after that one I just missed.  Phew!  A minute later, another bus drove right past my bus stop.  WHY???  My mind wend blank for a minute and realized that the express buses don't stop at that particular bus stop.  If you're catching an express bus, make sure you're at the right stop that says "express".

this is a "non-express" stop

Lesson 3:  Don't panic  My initial experience with missing my bus (a couple of days in a row, nonetheless) got me all paranoid.  I'm at my bus stop a little early. Scheduled arrival time comes... no bus in sight...wait for a few more minutes...still no bus.  What happened?  Did I miss it again?  Ah, wait, no need to panic.  My co-worker/occasional bus buddy told me about this handy tool called One Bus Away.  You can find out your bus stop number (it is usually located on the shelter) and they can tell you how long it will be for the bus to get to your bus stop.  I've used their phone system a couple of times, and it works pretty well!  It gives me peace of mind knowing that I did not miss the bus.

Lesson 4: Go to bed early  I'm not going to lie to you.  Taking a bus to work takes about twice as long.  That means I need to get up early.  I like to take my sweet time to get ready in the morning anyway (1.5 hours plus) because I hate being rushed in the morning.  I believe it really sets the tone for the day.  So I get up early.  Like between 4:30 and 5 am if I need to be at work by 8 am.  I can totally sense how tired I've gotten this week.  I was doing yoga before I went to bed the other night and fell asleep during Savasana.  hmmm.  I need to start going to bed early so I have energy to continue my Low-Car Life healthy and happy!!

to my surprise, a lot of people start their day so early in the morning.

Although it has been kind of a stressful week (not entirely due to long commute), I haven't missed driving my car yet.  It is actually really nice not to have to worry about driving.  I enjoy looking out the window and see what's going on out there.  Sometimes I close my eyes and take a little nap.  I watch interesting people on the bus and listen to people's conversations.  And if something interesting happens, more for me to write on this blog, right?