Country Living: Our Man in Arundel

You've had the excitement of my Friday night train trip - but that's only half the story. For the purpose of journalistic research, I decided to catch the bus all the way home. Okay, that's not quite true. It looked like rain and the bus stop is much closer to my home than the railway station.

I was at the bus stop for 7.55am, which is when it leaves the previous timed stop. It's there 10 minutes later, so no complaints. Traffic's heavy but I'm doing my best not to let it bother me. After all, I can work on the bus. Well, I can work a bit. It's hardly a mobile office, is it?

By the time we're approaching Brighton it's raining a little. I'm pleased that I won't be walking home from the station in the rain. We're on time, which means there's half an hour to buy a coffee at Churchill Square before the bus to Arundel arrives. Besides, I need some change for the bus. The ticket costs £3.60, making the total journey a bargain £6.40. It's only £8.39 if you factor in the coffee and muffin. I'm still wondering why there are people who regularly want to travel from Brighton to Arundel at 9.45am but I'm not going to start asking.

11.08am and I thought we were supposed to be in Arundel by now. Instead we're parked on a housing estate in East Preston while the driver has a quick cigarette. A miscalculation on my part - I'd misread the timetable online. It’s a 2¼ hour trip from Brighton, which gets me home for noon. That’s over four hours to travel 30 miles at a cost of 21p per mile. From an environmental point of view, much better than driving. From a financial viewpoint, about the same as a car that does 18.5 miles per gallon. And as for time management… let’s not think about that. Okay, so I’m still smiling… but I’m also going to pick up a copy of Auto Trader.