The Commuting Paradox - Eric Weiner
NPR correspondent Eric Weiner was on the Diane Rehm show, this morning, talking about his new book: The Geography of Bliss.
Since I often find bliss in bicycle commuting, I was interested to hear what he had to say about the other kind of commuting:
"Commuting, in particular, has been found to be detrimental to our happiness, as well as our physical health. Every minute spent on the road is one less minute that we can spend with family and friends - the kind of activities, in other words, that make us happy."
The paradox is that many of these folks grinding out time on the freeway are there because they thought they would be "happier" in a more rural environment ... farther away from the cares of the urban world.
Similar to the paradox of our increasingly obese children: parents move to the distant suburbs so kids can be "safe" ... but then chauffeur their offspring around and confine kids to the house because that "safe" environment is perceived as being too dangerous.