I don't drive...it's not that I haven't ever driven before or had a license. I've done all of that but I don't drive now. There are several reasons why. A couple of the main ones is not owning my own car and not feeling comfortable on the road. So, getting around can be difficult and you have to really plan. 

My most recent transportation adventure has been with the Kansas City Metro and the Johnson County bus systems. Three days a week I work at the Cokesbury book store at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. It finally motivated me to figure out my bus offerings. Before, I wasn't working outside of the home and I had two small children so the idea of riding the bus anywhere just didn't excite. Have you tried collapsing a stroller while holding your squirming toddler in the other arm and then boarding a bus? That sounded like an embarrassing nightmare. Don't get me wrong. If you are a mother in that situation I commend you. As far as I'm concerned I was probably being a weenie.

Well, this crappy economy got me out of the house and into this crazy working world that we live in. I also needed some adult conversation and an opportunity to use my brain more fully.  So, my next step was to figure out transportation. My husband took me for a while and then that started to wear on things and gas money got even tighter. It was time for plan B. 

I want to give a big thank you to Google Maps for making that research possible and for helping to make some sense of a complicated bus system. All you have to do is put in your starting point and your ending point and chose the transit option before you click get directions. Without this wonderful service I probably would still be holding several maps trying to figure out all the transfers.

Right now as I type this I'm on the second of three buses that I ride to get to work. I have to get up around 5:30am to get myself out the door and walk to my first stop. The Jo has free wifi on almost all of its buses and since I'm spending so much time riding I might as well get a little bumpy work done.

I have only been doing this for a couple weeks but I like it so far. I enjoy the time to read and get things accomplished without too many distractions. There are limits to what I can do and I have to be able to carry everything I need with me but that hasn't been too difficult yet. Talk to me in the middle of winter and see how I'm doing. 

How have you gotten creative and used public transit?