Part 5:
Home is where the heart

stove, iron, toothbrush, nail clipper...is

Commuting is facilitated by non-spaces. A train for a traveller is supposed to be just a moving seat that bridges the gap between here and there, now and then. It’s meant to give the illusion of seamlessness, of a world where distance has been obliterated and everything is fundamentally connected.

But in practice, it’s a tiring, trance-like state that ends up inevitably meddling with your day. Leaving a segment of it up in the air. You get home and you’re unable to fully close your laptop for the evening, you reach the office and worry if you remembered to pack your kid’s lunch.
Both home and work are invading each other, blurring the boundaries of former spaces meant to host them. And the train might just be the most obvious scapegoat for that.


If you’re also spending more than three quarters of a day on public transport every week, here’s list of tasks to do on your commute to reclaim free time and space where possible:

  • catch up on emails
  • call your parents
  • read the news
  • journal
  • finish your homework
  • write your grocery list
  • deep breath
  • nap
  • do your makeup
    • eat breakfast
    • hang clothes on the occasional hooks next to the window to steam them?
    • complain with fellow travellers
    • repeat