HACKING MY WAY OUT OF MANILA’S TRAFFIC

Yes, I’m saying farewell to my car and giving my warm welcome to my bike… at least during the workweek.

When most people drive their car during the workweek and take their bike out on the weekends, I do exactly the opposite.
I drive my bike when I go to work and use my car only on the weekends and holidays.

You might be wondering why, but for those who didn’t know, I live in a place where it is considered the “Worst Traffic in South East Asia”.
Metro Manila is set to take the dubious honor as the world’s worst city for drivers.
It takes around 10-15 minutes for a motorist to cover just 1 kilometer in the Philippine capital. Poor Urban Planning, High Population, Lack of Disciplined and Educated Drivers, Limited Railway System, etc., has caused our country total chaos.
And because of that, the Philippines is now losing 3.5 billion pesos a day due to traffic congestion.

It’s not only our economy is affected but the people as well. The majority of the employees, students, and all people who go out regularly are gravely afflicted by it.
Most people who go to work need to leave their homes still dark at night (around 5 am) in order to get to their office on time. Then after work, they arrived home just a few hours before midnight.
They don’t get to see their kids that much because it was spent on transportation time. Their kids too have the same dilemma leaving no time for them to play as they confront stress at a very young age.
It’s crazy! Employees are stressed out commuting so early in the morning and mind you, they haven’t even reached their office yet which is a hell more of quantified tension.

I personally don’t want to feel that stress. So instead of taking my car out and just get stuck in traffic, I would rather ride my bike and get to my point of destination in no time.
My home to my work is only 8 km away. If I drive my car, I need to cumulate an allowance of 2 hours just by going there. Then add 1 more hour going home. That is a total of 3 hours away from my family.
My bike, on the other hand, only takes me 30 minutes going to the office and another 30 minutes going back. That is a total of 1 hour.
So that saved me 2 hours extra time for me giving me more quality time for my loved ones.

Not only does my bike saves me a lot of time, it also gives me better health.
Take note that I bike 8 km going to work and another 8 km going back. That is 16 km of aerobic exercise and burned calories.
Most people don’t have the time to exercise on a weekday or maybe they are just too tired to make one. Having no or little exercise gives them more additional stress and anxiety.

Me, not only do I bike every day from Monday to Friday, but I sometimes use my daily 2 hours of extra time to do laps on our swimming pool.
I swim at least 2-3 times a week, giving me a new set of exercises for my body and muscles.

Riding a bike is also an Adventure.
You get to wonder at the Full Moon while you’re peddling along.
You can get to stop for a while and eat street food like Fishball, Kikiam or Isaw.
You also feel the wind breeze genuinely when you are biking. An ideal way for you to connect back to nature.

One more thing, by the way, it also saves my car from deteriorating rapidly. I don’t need to spend so much money on gasoline.
So in some way, I am also helping our Mother Nature by not exposing Carbon Dioxide in an already toxicated city.

Ever since I bought my Starter Bike (Road Bike), my life became more lively and more pleasant. If only more people would do what I do, then Manila’s traffic won’t be as bad as it is now.
Our economy would be thriving. Companies would be making more money from their well-rested and not stressed employees.
Our government doesn’t need to build more additional roads and can now give their attention to subways and other mass public transportation that could help our daily commuters.

And above all, people would get to spend more time with their loved ones. They will be more physically healthy. More content and happy in life.

If you don’t believe me, I dare you to dust off the cobwebs off your bike then take it out for a spin. Just try it out first, and let your bike do the talking.

Just say Goodbye to your most precious car for a while. And say your warm Greetings to your once forgotten bike.
In no time, you will notice that the 2 wheeled vehicle is the “Game Changer” on your life that will definitely give a big impact not only on your career but on your personal life as well.