After the inspiring town hall meeting with our chief executive, André Lacroix, I decided to share my story with other interested colleagues from all over the world. I was not sure until now, if my personal achievement can be included in our joint effort to Build Back Ever Better under Intertek’s umbrella, but if my story can inspire other colleagues, then it is worth sharing it. 

My name is Zoltan Marosi, and I am part of the Global Market Access team from Intertek Kaufbeuren. I am very happy with my job and I also feel appreciated. As I am a GMA researcher and a freshly graduated student, I used to work sited on a chair, in front of my monitors from 8 am to 7 or even 8 pm continuously, dealing with a high amount of information. In the last three years, except for the lockdown periods, I managed to cope with fatigue, stress and to keep myself healthy, by walking daily to my office and back, around 7 kilometers or 1 hour and a half. I got used with the walking so much that I did it sometimes even when we couldn’t go to the office due to pandemic restrictions.  

The former prime minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher, is said to have remarked that “a man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.” I am with 2 years older as that man and I still don’t have a car, but I find myself anything else than a failure. I can say confidently that the lack of a car really helped to keep myself healthy, I kept my weight under control, my mind sharp and ready for new challenges. I also reduced my ecological footprint significantly. It was only a gain for me and my environment. I also saved so much money for future travel plans. So why should this be considered more like a failure, instead of a success? Of course, living close to the workplace is a privilege which many do not have, but this happened when I moved to Kaufbeuren, soon after getting employed, so I had the chance to search for a rent as close as possible to my new workplace. And I managed well implementing my idea of commute-free workplace with the help of Intertek. I also have colleagues which occasionally are coming with bikes from more distant places and when they do, they feel fresh and happy. Only the weather can be an obstacle, but I managed to tackle that too.

So, if we put the puzzle pieces together, obtaining the big picture, under my subjective perception, it can be concluded that the lack of a car is not as awful as it seems to be.

The advantages:

  • Without a car I am obliged to do the walking every day, even if I do not have the mood for it. This is good for my health and forces me to do the minimum physical effort every day, pulling me out from my comfort zone.
  • I can wake up and clear my mind during the walk to the office and get myself ready for highly efficient work. I can also destress my mind after a long working day with many calls, reports, research, on my way back home.
  • I significantly reduced my ecological footprint by eliminating the emissions of a car.
  • I saved a lot of money.
  • During the walks to the work and back home, as a foreigner, I managed to make dog owner friends with whom I meet periodically until we started a conversation.
  • I became highly passional about ecological ways of transportation, most of all about electromobility and cycling.
  • I am not spending time in traffic during rush hours, many times seeing angry drivers in their cars, waiting in long lines.

Of course, we can also show the other side of the coin:

  • Sometimes it happens to get wet at work (but I got used to have a spare pair of shoes in my drawer).
  • Sometimes I feel unsuccessful when everyone talks about their car and I have nothing to say.
  • Although I have a driving license, not driving daily makes me rusty and even a so called “Sonntagsfahrer.”
  • I am dependable on public transportation (but I love trains and I am organized, so I can follow a schedule without problems).

What is the role of Intertek in this?

The answer can be short or very detailed. First of all, Intertek Kaufbeuren provided me the information / announcements regarding available places in the town to be rented, and this made it possible to me, as a foreigner, to fulfill my ideals to live close enough to the workplace and get rid of commuting. Secondly, the nature of work we are doing, made me part of a greater scope. I got familiarized with electromobility, renewable sources of energy, best practices in the fields of safety and environmental friendliness. Intertek also offered many chances to test on myself and / or buy means of e-mobility, like e-bikes or similar vehicles. My colleagues also offered me many times their support to carpool with them, which is also a good way to reduce the emissions and the traffic. Therefore, it was not a sudden decision of mine to change my life so radically, to give up on the car, it was more likely the entire environment around me, promoted and developed so efficiently by Intertek.