Pretty much anyone who hears about my commute thinks I’m crazy.

I work in Washington, DC, and live in Virginia, a fact my coworkers often respond to with looks of horror.  It’s really not that far — I can drive there in about 30 minutes if I have to — and my normal routine involves a quick drive to the Metro station and riding the train to within two blocks of the office.

The car/train trip takes about an hour door-to-door, which is much higher than the average 28.7 minute commute for people in my zipcode, according to Census data.  But when you factor in what I do on the train, it’s really more like a 20-minute commute.

My routine typically involves reading on the way to work and listening to podcasts on the way home.  That works for me in a number of ways.  First, it lets me roll in the time I would spend reading at home into my trip to work, and gives me some relaxation time just before going in for my shift.  I’m usually too tired to focus on reading on the way home, so the podcasts — a mix of sports, economics, storytelling and science — is both entertaining and educational.

Apparently this type of commuting is the way to go.  The Wall Street Journal published an article this week on this topic, saying “people can enjoy commutes as long as 45 minutes, studies show — and men are less frustrated by long commutes than women.”

The article includes several examples of how “predictable” commutes and ones “enlivened by mobile devices and satellite radio” can be happy and productive.

Thanks to working overnights, I have a very predictable reverse commute, going into the city at night and riding out in the morning.  I see horror stories and complaints every day from people who run into ridiculous traffic or rush hour problems on the Metro, but I usually arrive to work within a range of 10 minutes.  Often, that 10 minutes is my own fault in leaving the house too late and missing my normal train.

So yes, my commute may sound horrendously long, but it’s easy, predictable, enriching and really not that long at all.