Walk This Way

In my last post I blogged about the end of my days as a Personal Assistant and, four days into my new role as a Communications Officer, I find myself in a new office – an office that is located in Dundee’s city centre. This is brilliant for many reasons. The first being that it’s convenient to be located in town (I’ve already been to the Zara sale and Braithwaite’s for a fix of good coffee), and the second is how easy it is to get to work.

For the last five years I’ve driven to work because, due to location, it was simpler and quicker than anything else. Now that I’m in the city centre, I’m leaving the car and taking the bus most of the way. My weekly ticket is cheaper than petrol and parking costs combined (more pennies for the sales), and I can get some work done while I travel – two birds, one stone. There’s a stop right outside my new building – which is great when dealing with the unpredictable Scottish weather – but it also goes right through the city centre, so it’s easy to hop off early and enjoy a stroll to work on dry days (which is fairly often, as Dundee is Scotland’s sunniest city). In the past four days, I’ve enjoyed walking the short distance from the city centre to the office; I’ve discovered that a short walk (whether brisk or not) is a good way to prepare yourself for the day ahead – it clears my head, boosts my mood and invigorates my body. Just like a shower wakes you up in the morning, a walk sets the body in motion….Think of it as a really good stretch, but with better scenery.

In addition, I feel like I’m getting a bit of extra ‘me’ time, which is important when negotiating our busy lifestyles – so often is the case that we forget to take time out for ourselves, or even worse, we feel guilty about it. The walk to work is a good excuse to unwind with your thoughts, as well as keeping active as part of a healthy lifestyle, and what’s more, if you walk all the way to the office you’re also helping to make Scotland a greener place to live too.

So, who’s in?

Follow my journey on Instagram (@The_Daydreamer_) over the next few weeks, where I’ll be getting involved with the Scottish Government’s #walktaework campaign by posting regular photos of my walk to work. I’d love to see you join in too – share your pics with me and the Scottish Government on Instagram (@greenertogether) and Twitter (@Greener2gethr) using the #walktaework hashtag. You could also be in with the chance of winning a Fitbit Charge HR – there will be one up for grabs every week throughout August for the best, brightest or strangest walk to work pic. Read the Greener Together blog post to find out more about how you can win. 

Image: Dundee sunrise by Kris Miller

With thanks to the Scottish Government for sponsoring this post, and for encouraging the people of Scotland to stay healthy.