Paulina Brown Line Stop, Roscoe Village, Chicago
In addition to my commute being an hour, I counted today, and I’ll be walking up and down well over 100 stairs each way, to and from work. Eek! Before I lived on the first floor and took a bus to work so the only steps were the 1-2 steps I had to climb to get onto the bus. Now I’m on the second floor and am going up and down train platforms. This is great news for my exercise program, but terrible news for a tired commuter.
Here’s an example of what makes it worth it: Last night we were sitting at a restaurant drinking sangria one block away from the new apartment. We called up friends that live one more block away and they came right over to eat and drink with us. That never happened in the old neighborhood. I was kind of giddy thinking that we could have called several people and had a whole spontaneous party just with friends that live within walking distance in my new neighborhood. So, the tradeoff for a longer, more strenuous trip to work is being closer to friends and our social lives. Plus the apartment is fabulous. I can’t wait to have people over to see once things get sorted out and unpacked inside. So, listen to me complain now, but know that in the end it’s worth it. I hope.