So long Highway 174: Orléans commuters share pros and cons of working from home

Some people who live in Orléans who normally travel downtown to work are luxuriating in hours of found time, thanks to work-from-home arrangements and their truncated COVID-19 commute. 

For Tatiana Folefak, working from home for Telus means gaining hours each day. "Add in the time that you take to get ready, do your hair? Maybe a couple of hours."

But those extra hours don't always translate into free time. "The corollary is that you do spend much more time working on the job," said the 35-year-old. It also means spending more time parenting. Folefak has a nine-year-old son in online school, and a two-year-old. 

"Also it was a bit of personal time, or 'me time', which I don't have," said Folefak, admitting she thinks back on her commute with a "sense of nostalgia."

Pre-COVID-19, Folefak used to read or catch up on the news while she rode downtown.

"I don't get to do much of that right now."

Kathryn Foss moved to Orléans in 2019, from Clarence Creek outside Rockland, to shorten her 125-kilometre daily commute to and from her job at the Department of National Defence in Nepean.

"I spent a lot of time in traffic," said Foss, describing how she would often call a traffic hotline, to the point the traffic reporter would say, "Oh, Kathryn, it's you again." 

Foss, 50, retired recently from the military and re-enrolled in university, but since COVID-19, her courses are entirely online.

"My commute in the morning ... ends about 30 seconds after I've left my bedroom," said Foss.

And while Foss enjoys not having to get up at 5 a.m. and fight traffic, she, too, misses elements of her commute. 

"It was really easy to decompress. The frustrations … all kind of disappeared by the time you got home." 

Foss would listen to the radio, sometimes sing along, or even wave at people in passing cars. 

"That was fun. It was a way to to be in the moment and forget about all the worries," she said.

These days, Foss has the time to fight stress in other ways, such as taking her daughter's dog for walks and looking down from the Highway 174 overpass.

"I do appreciate not having to … honk the horn at the person that cut you off at the split."

Christine Chretien is also enjoying a reprieve from Highway 174. She now commutes just two days a week, down from five, working as a case manager in the hematology department at CHEO.

"I'm able to walk with my dog in the morning — longer — before I actually have to sit in front of the computer," Chretien said. 

Chretien, 55, has more time for herself now.

"Even more time to make good food choices, and not the, 'I'll just pick up something quick at the cafeteria' type thing," she said.

So have the longer walks and healthier eating helped whittle the waistline? 

"No, we're still working on that," said Chretien, laughing.

There's no aspect of the commute Chretien misses. Once COVID-19 is over, she's hoping to negotiate a permanent work-from-home arrangement. 

"I drive because I have to, not because I like to," she said.

Eric Hallam is also hoping to avoid commuting from Orléans after COVID-19 ends, and he's allowed to return to his job downtown as a financial analyst with Health Canada. 

He's making the most of the extra time, taking courses toward his Chartered Professional Accountant designation, learning Spanish and Portuguese, and improving his French.

"I spend about fifteen minutes a day after work, just doing five minutes per language," said Hallam. "I thought it would be fun to learn for future travels."

He has another motive. The 28-year-old recently proposed to his girlfriend, and "my fiancé's family is Portuguese."

Hallam does miss the morning ritual of commuting. "I'd read my morning briefs on my phone and browse ... Reddit on the way in. It was nice to have that alone time," said Hallam.

"But I've adapted. Now I've got a new morning ritual."