The Darling Commute

Now that my commute has gone from car to train, I have had to change up the way I prepare for my day away from home. With my car, it was easy to find myself living out of it for the week with multiple outfits, hair curlers, and emergency overnight back stowed in the backseat next to snacks and empty coffee cups. But now that I’m traveling by train, I’ve adopted a minimalistic lifestyle with the help of this leather backpack from Vera Bradley

Vera Bradley Backpack (c/o) || Pink Linen Crop Blazer || White Blouse (also in a floral pattern) || Gray Trousers || Nude Heels || Ring || Necklace || Watch (c/o Daniel Wellington use code “DownSouth” for 15% off your order || Earrings (c/o Lisi Lerch)

In a car-commuter city such as Atlanta, changing from driving to work to taking the train was a huge shift not only mentally but physically as well. I can understand why most don’t want to take the train- the schedule is difficult to adhere to, you fumble around looking like an idiot your first week, undoubtedly you take the yellow line when you meant to jump on the red line at least once, and not having personal space on your morning commute can be unsavory enough to scare the masses away from mass transit.

However, once you get over the fact that you had to jump off the yellow line and opt in for the red, learn the schedule (every tenth minute on the seventh minute), and you get on the right car to ensure you get a seat, public transit in Atlanta is a God-send. I shamelessly say I haven’t filled my car up in over a month because I rarely use it. Now that Atlanta’s highways are broken (cough cough 85 and 20), I rarely find myself driving anywhere that Marta won’t take me.

But with the helpfulness of public transit also comes the downside of having to be prepared for my day and whatever the day could throw at me. So, that’s why I started looking around for a backpack to carry to alleviate some shoulder strain from my overstuffed tote I was dragging to work. Not too big, not too small, but enough to fit my book, an umbrella, and other one offs I’d need throughout the day. This was the perfect solution to needing something functional and cute. I love when it works out that way.

Vera Bradley Backpack (c/o) || Pink Linen Crop Blazer || White Blouse (also in a floral pattern) || Gray Trousers || Nude Heels || Ring || Necklace || Watch (c/o Daniel Wellington use code “DownSouth” for 15% off your order || Earrings (c/o Lisi Lerch)

This pack has been insurmountable to my success as a master of public transit. It doesn’t joggle around on my back when I’m sprinting down the stairs in heels to jump through the train doors just in time, it easily goes from work to happy hour in the city, has multiple pockets for me to misplace my Marta pass in, and keeps me from over-packing my life on the way to work. Now it’s forced me to think if I really need to bring something. To say that I’ve become a better outfit planner for work because of this might be an overstatement of the truth, but at the same time the correlation is too coincidental to pass up.

Shop The Story

PS this is the start of a new bi-weekly series for all of us who public transit to work! Stay tuned for more posts that’ll help you get through your work commute, and maybe give you some entertaining material to read while you leisurly listen to your Release Radar on the way to work every other Friday. 

Author: Cynthia

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *