I am sitting in a Starbucks at 54th and Broadway in NYC.

It is about 7 am, and at this point, I have already been away for close to five hours. They are playing all Taylor Swift songs including the new album – I cannot say I hate it. I look out the window and see the sign for the Late Show with Stephen Colbert. Everyone who walks in this Starbucks is wicked trendy and probably on their way to a super cool job in a skyscraper.

Meanwhile, I am waiting for the building where my audition is to open. I have another two hours to go and I am at the point where I start thinking that I really should dump my life savings into an apartment in NYC because I could have gone back home after I signed my name on the list and taken a nap.

But to be honest, commuting is pretty great. I am always on the 4:10 am train and everyone else there is a commuter and everyone keeps to themselves. Once I get into the city I always find a new piece of it that I have never seen before and once I am done auditioning it is usually before rush hour. To get on a train in NYC that is not crowded is pure bliss.

Commuting for me means that I get to go back home where I *thankfully* live rent free, do not have construction workers waking me up at 5 am on days I do not need to be awake, and because I do not live there, I never get sick of going to the city.

There is still so much joy in walking through Rockefeller Plaza when the Christmas tree is lit up during the holidays. I know if I lived in NYC I would not be able to stand all of the crowds all the time, especially around the holidays. Having commuted for so many years, I still find joy in heading to the city to be a tourist myself or spending the last half of my audition days roaming the city.

The train naps can be uncomfortable- especially when your train buddy takes more than half the room- and the days can sure be long but commuting is not as bad as it is made out to be.