Early Retirement Extreme Forums

It depends on many factors, namely how long do I work (I will be less willing to walk 5 km after 12 hour shifts), what is the scenery on the way, weather (a lot of snow or too hot are fine only going back) and what are the alternatives. I love to walk, though, and in your case I'd 100% walk. My rule of thumb is:

less than 3 km (30 min) – always walk
less than 6 km (1 hr) – walk if alternatives are only ~25% faster

More than that would be too annoying. So, for me the cutoff is 1 hour.

p.s. I also walk plenty in my life (I think I average 6km per day in USA, and it was like 8 km per day in Europe) and never got blisters!

5 miles total for one trip seems to be the maximum I do before the laziness equation pushes me back toward taking public transport at least one direction or part of the way.

Below that I am too lazy to deal with following the bus schedule.

I walk around 1.7ish miles to and from work, each way. I think that's near my maximum. By 3 miles, I'd definitely go for a bike or electric scooter.

I started a second job that's about a two mile walk on a path, and I plan to walk it everyday. However, from past experience, that walk feels a LOT longer when it is pouring down freezing rain and there is a foot of snow on the ground. Also, people start getting worried for your physical safety and think you are dead broke. When I would walk three miles to get groceries, people would stop their cars and ask if I was stranded and needed help. Also, I had to sometimes pack extra clothes and my work shoes, because I wore boots to trek the snow and mud and rain and stuff, and coming to work all rained on, then changing, also apparently shocks your car-dependent coworkers.

40 mins is a good amount. Shorter people cover less distance than taller people, ceteris paribus.

For me it's not about the distance, it's about the weather. If it's already 35C and muggy at 7am, I would be a stinky wet rag with cottage cheese brain by the time I get there. Ditto in a downpour. In nice weather, I've walked 45 min but then my most recent job has a walking route to work which takes you right past a construction materials factory where it constantly smells like industrial solvents. In many places, AQI is also an issue - China is the standard example but India etc. and the Middle East aren't far behind. Istanbul had an aqi close to 1000 one winter when I happened to check the app for fun. Etc.

@Walwen you're badass, go you man

I bike two miles to work currently (was 5 miles at my last job), but I only do it in fair weather--ie, not raining. I don't really mind it being hot because it is never really hot here in the morning, and I don't care if I'm super sweaty when I get home. In the rainy season I take the bus.

40 minutes.

Currently 40 minutes (4 km) each way. A route through woodlands makes this enjoyable. If I had to walk next to car-infested roads I would bike instead just to minimize time spent there.

I used to walk from lower manhattan to midtown for work, about 3 miles, which took me roughly 45 minutes. That's about as far as I would want to go for a daily walking commute.

On a related noted, I read a biography of Ghandi that said he would often get up at 2 AM, walk 20+ miles to his law office, work all day, and then walk home at night.

45 minutes each way starts to add up to a lot of time. My preference was to keep it under 30 minutes whatever mode I used.

@Walwen - you might consider cycling if the weather or time becomes an issue. It would significantly cut down your time with that sort of distance.

I started cycling to and from work about 2 years ago (previously was walking + metro + walking). It’s about 3 miles / 5km each way, takes about 20-25 min at a leisurely pace + following all the rules of the road. I’m fortunate that my office has changing facilities and I keep clothes there so it makes it easy - perhaps also an option for you?

Cycling would also cut down on getting groceries - if you get a good pannier rack and/or just use a backpack. I essentially use it as my sole means of personal transport, though still use public transport when traveling with my family.

This is a great thread and is giving me much to think about. When we pull back into port in Sasebo (Japan) I'll have to find a place to live. Everyone tells me to get a car and that it isn't hard to learn to drive on the left side of the road. But part of me wants to avoid that hassle and part of me wants to prove to myself that I can get by without a car.

I had initially planned on trying to find a place within cycling distance of the base/ship but know I am thinking more about walking/running to work every day. I think it would be great to run to work every day. I will still have my state room available on the ship when we are in port so can shower when I get there in the morning and if my day is too taxing or long I can just stay on the ship for the night. This could be great for my fitness and self discipline.

I'm not sure how long you'll be there, but in my experience (was just in Japan for two weeks) the public transportation system is elaborate and highly developed. There are buses even in most rural regions. You'll need to, of course, figure out how it works, and this is often overwhelming to noobs. You are, however, an MD. If I managed to wrap my head around it in about 3-4 days, you'll sort it out, too. Google maps gives excellent public transportation directions in English, and many signs all over the place are in English. Traffic is also not that intense, so biking is easy. There were rental bikes here and there as well. Imo it's much easier to sort out and use the public transportation than it is to get a car. Ymmv depending on where you are, of course, but I personally never lacked public transportation options. Your no-car plan sounds great, especially given that we're entering the cooler season and the weather will be favorable. If you're not afraid to break a sweat, I say go for it.

Public transport during rush time drains me, personally, so if the choice is between a bus and walking, and they take the same amount of time, I will walk. The bus always takes longer than you expect, in my experience. Never shorter, in any case!

Even if you find walking to be a drain occasionally, consider the drain of travelling at rush hour.

Also, the idea of walking one way and then the bus home works if you are tied. Listening to your body is a good idea, there is no need to be too rigid when it comes to this.

@ertyu: I'll be there for about 20 months. Sasebo is more of a rural area and I haven't really seen much of it. I need to access how walkable the area is (sidewalks etc). I'll research public transportation but will likely use it to get to larger cities. Trains seem to be the best option for that. I hope to start a journal on this site and can report on my transportation situation then.

I used to live 5kms from work and used to take the bus to work and then walk home.
The bus to work was awful because it was slow and packed. But, I also needed to be presentable. So, I didnt want to get all sweaty walking that far to work. But, getting home it didnt matter and was nicer to walk, I think 5kms is the limit of what I would be prepared to walk in either direction though as its a huge use of time when you are time poor.
In terms of getting to work the longest I would do, because of needing to be presentable, it 2.5kms. The longest return was what I did, 5kms. Any longer is too long.

My personal practical limit is about 1 hour, so ~6kms one way. I enjoy walking, I also listen to stuff sometimes, so I don't see it as time wasted.

It also depends on the situation. E.g. walking can be the most pleasant way of commuting if you have a nice route and every other mode is in rush hour. But if the traffic is pretty sparse, public transit is more practical.

While living in East London and working in the City a few years ago I walked 1.5 hours to and from work. I had to get up earlier than usual. Did it in winter and summer. Definitely got my daily quota of exercise and it also gave me time to ponder life, listen to podcasts and mentally prepare for the work day. Plus I saved money on public transport. There was some nice scenery of the Thames river on the way. Fun times.

I have 4km to my job, I used to do them by bike, but I switched to walking, it only doubled the time, and it's much more pleasant.
The weather is also much less of an issue when walking than when biking.