Story highlights
- New York entrepreneur kayaks to work from Hoboken, New Jersey to Manhattan
- Commute takes 45 minutes and is "very peaceful," says Zach Schwitzky
(CNN)For many of us the morning commute can be a dreaded necessity, featuring gridlocked traffic and a troubling proximity to strangers.
But for Zach Schwitzky, it's a blissful escape from the nonstop hustle of New York city life. In fact, it's a moment he relishes each day, since the entrepreneur makes his trip into Manhattan via a rather unusual method -- by kayak.
Commute to work on a one-wheeled scooter 01:35
"There's not a lot of places in New York City where you can truly be by yourself and not hear anything, not feel there's people around," Schwitzky told CNN.
"The mornings are beautiful, especially at this time of year. If I leave early enough it's foggy and sort of looks like Gotham -- you've got the sun rising and the city appearing through the fog. It's the perfect way to start the day."
Practical solution
Living in Hoboken, New Jersey, the other side of the Hudson river to Manhattan, Schwitzky kayaks across the water in around 20 minutes.
Photos: Canoe commuter
Zach Schwitzky kayaks across New York's Hudson river to work each morning. A 20-minute paddle across the water plus a bit of walking each side gives a commute of 45 minutes. Photo by @amiddletonproject.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
Schwitzky, CEO of a video analytics firm, came up with the idea with his friend and former colleague Erik David Barber. "We were initially thinking a jet ski, but figured we'd get too wet and the price tag might be a bit too high," said Schwitzky. Photo by @amiddletonproject.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
"It really is hassle-free. When I used to pull the kayak to the office, I'd get some looks from people wondering what a guy was doing pulling a 12'+ boat through the streets of Manhattan," The entrepreneur now stores his canoe at the Marina.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
Aside from the trying to avoid the odd cruise ship and water taxi, Schwitzky relishes the opportunity to get some rare alone time in New York.
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!["Generally I don't get wet, so I can make do with the same clothes [to wear to work]. Some days I'll bring a change of clothes in the waterproof bag that straps to the back of the kayak. Outside of ice in the river, I'll make the commute ... a bit of rain or wind doesn't stop me," said Schwitzky.](http://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/161019160829-zach-schwitzky-canoe-commute-large-169.jpg)
!["Generally I don't get wet, so I can make do with the same clothes [to wear to work]. Some days I'll bring a change of clothes in the waterproof bag that straps to the back of the kayak. Outside of ice in the river, I'll make the commute ... a bit of rain or wind doesn't stop me," said Schwitzky.](https://cdn.cnn.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/161019160829-zach-schwitzky-canoe-commute-super-169.jpg)
Photos: Canoe commuter
"Generally I don't get wet, so I can make do with the same clothes [to wear to work]. Some days I'll bring a change of clothes in the waterproof bag that straps to the back of the kayak. Outside of ice in the river, I'll make the commute ... a bit of rain or wind doesn't stop me," said Schwitzky.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
Schwitzky isn't the only person to use waterways inventively to get around the city. Paddleboarding has been widely named as the fastest growing watersport in the world and in Venice, Italy, tourists are using the floating boards to explore the city's canals.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
In London Andy Mitchell, the CEO of Tideway Tunnel, a sewer project for the River Thames, is pictured paddle boarding in front of the city's historic Tower Bridge.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
UK paddle boarding company Active360 says that visitors to London, particularly from the US and Canada, are increasingly choosing paddle boarding as a fun and different way to explore the city. The sport develops core abdominal muscles and balance.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
While Schwitzky's canoe commute is unusual for New York, in other parts of the world traveling from A to B by kayak is commonplace. The mighty Amazon river snakes through nine South American countries and for many riverside villages a wooden canoe is the only available vehicle for navigating this giant waterway.
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Photos: Canoe commuter
Referred to as the Amazon of the Asia-Pacific, Papua New Guinea's Sepik River is among the world's most diverse ecosystems. Locals travel by dugout canoe through the Sepik's dense rainforests and mangrove swamps.
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He arrives at Pier 66, West 26th street, where he stores his kayak at the Marina and walks the rest of the way to work -- all in all, it's a 45 minute commute.
Until his business moved further across town, Schwitzky wheeled the canoe ten blocks there on a dolly -- "I'd get some looks from people wondering what a guy was doing pulling a 12-foot boat through the streets of Manhattan."
The idea came to Schwitzky and a friend after a late night wait at Port Authority's bus terminal -- the pair were fed up with their daily schlep by boat, bus or car to the office.
Now after four years commuting by kayak, it feels so logical to the New Jerseyan that other means of crossing the river "certainly don't compare."
"It doesn't cost us anything, we can come and go as we please. The hours we keep it's difficult to get work outs in, so this doubled as great exercise," said Schwitzky, CEO of video analytics firm Limbik.
His friend has since moved to Florida, so as far as he knows he's the only person to paddle to work in Manhattan.
"It's great to be outdoors -- we say half-jokingly it's sort of New York City's version of nature, peace and quiet. Then as sort of a cherry on top, there's no carbon footprint."
Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
Rideau Skateway (Ottawa, Canada) – Each winter, one million people use the five-mile frozen stretch of the Rideau Canal that passes through the center of Ottawa. Shelters, chalets and access ramps for maintenance vehicles are installed to ensure the safety of commuters.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
Roosevelt Island Tramway (New York) – This urban gondola connects Roosevelt Island with the Upper East Side of Manhattan. More than 26 million people have taken the three-minute journey since the tram opened in 1976.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
Teleférico La Paz (La Paz, Bolivia) – Residents of the Bolivian city of El Alto no longer have to brave the gridlocked road leading to La Paz below. Every hour, 11,000 passengers make the seven-mile journey, paying 44 cents each.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
Wicker toboggan ride (Funchal, Madeira, Portugal) – Although more tourists than locals now use this unusual form of transport, visitors to Madeira can still see the odd businessman being guided on wicker toboggans down the city's hills to work.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
Central Mid-Levels Escalator (Hong Kong) – This 800-meter-long Hong Kong escalator is the longest covered escalator in the world. It takes 20 minutes to complete the journey, but the escalator goes in only one direction -- down in the morning and up in the evening.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
The Walberswick ferry (Suffolk, UK) – The Walberswick is the UK's only remaining rowed ferry. The boat is operated by one rower and carries 11 people, each of whom pay around 50 cents to make the five-minute journey.
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Photos: 7 of the world's coolest commutes
The CycloCable – Cyclists in Trondheim, Norway, don't need to rely on pedal power to get them up the city's steepest hill. The Cyclocable allows riders to position themselves at the bottom of the lift and press a button. A footplate emerges, cyclists place their right foot on the footplate and keep their left foot on the pedal.
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Carbon-free commute
Transportation is one of the largest contributors of greenhouse gases in the US, second only to the electricity sector.
Its impact is increasing -- according to the Environmental Protection Agency, population growth and rising demand for travel have meant that transport emissions have gone up 17% since 1990.
But small changes as individuals can make a big difference collectively. A 2015 study by the Institute of Transport Development Policy found that if urban bicycle use reached the levels of cities like Amsterdam and Copenhagen, the sector's CO2 emissions could be cut by 11% by 2050 -- saving the global economy US$24 trillion.
Together with his enjoyment of getting out on the water, the environmental benefit was an added bonus to Schwitzky's choice.
"When you have these big problems, they seem insurmountable and nobody wants to do anything because they think they can't make a difference. But if everybody did a little bit, collectively that's going to amount to a whole lot."
The canoe commuter insists the process is "really hassle-free," and aside from getting pulled over late one evening by a confused NYPD boat, sirens wailing, he has never had any uncomfortable moments on the water.
"I've never tipped over, never come close. So I always feel very safe out there and obviously being the smallest out there you just stay out of everybody's way."
"Being out there, especially at night, is probably the best part about this whole thing. You don't hear anything and besides the moon or the lights of the city it's not bright, there's nobody around, it's very peaceful. It's the best way to end the day."
