Got an interview for a job (working in the cycling industry). The job is a few hours drive, google maps is stating 2hrs, but the roads can get very busy so it'll be more like 3hrs.
I don't want to relocate as my kids are settled in their school and we all like where we live.
Will I go mad within a week or two if I were offered the job adding 6hrs to my working day? It's a job I'm really excited about, so would that outweigh the commute?
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Is a 2-3hr drive too far for a daily commute?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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6 hours a day? I would imagine that would get quite tedious within one or maybe two days.
Posted 2 years ago # -
you know the answer already
why not work away mon-fri, home at weekends?
Oh, and who would be paying for the fuel!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes, clearly.
Posted 2 years ago # -
On a motorbike it could be fun, in a car - boooooooooring. Unless... Classic FM.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I got fed up very quickly of a 1.5 hour (each way) car commute, I certainly couldn't put up with a 3 hour one. You'll probably end up falling asleep at the wheel to...
Posted 2 years ago # -
Anything more than an hour is pretty ridiculous imo.
Posted 2 years ago # -
You'll probably end up falling asleep at the wheel to...
At least it won't seem like 3 hours if I doze off.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Personally, I think you'd be crazy! 2 - 3 hours? Is a job really worth that?
Posted 2 years ago # -
run the numbers - leave the house at 6am to get there for 9. that means up at 5. get home about 8-9 if you leave at 5. Thats a fifteen hour day every day. not to mention horrendous commuting costs.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Weekdays would just be sleep:eat:drive:work:drive:eat:sleep, you'd hardly get to see the kids and drive your partner crazy with the moaning
Working away Mon-Fri may work out less stressful
Posted 2 years ago # -
Up at 5 am, leave at 6am for 9am start. Leave at 5pm get home 8pm. 5 days a week.
Sorry did you say you had a family?
Posted 2 years ago # -
Up at 5 am, leave at 6am for 9am start. Leave at 5pm get home 8pm. 5 days a week.
That's nuts, why would you do that?
Posted 2 years ago # -
**** me, anything more than 10mins in the car commuting is rubbish!!
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yes, definitly.
I used to commute an hour each way on the M25 for about 4 years and it used to really piss me off. Now my commute is 25mins on country roads and my quality of life is lots better.
2hrs each way? - I'd give you 6 weeks before you'd quit.
Posted 2 years ago # -
i am working in Chester and living in Cheltenham, it usually takes me 3hrs to do the drive. During the week i am living in a hotel. doing that drive every day, are you clinically insane?
It is not something i would recommend anyone do, it is a **** way to live.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Are there actually jobs in the cycle industry that'll pay for £150 a week of petrol?
Posted 2 years ago # -
i dont! I'm saying thats what he would be doing on those commute figures. I live 20 mins from the ofice and was still 20 mins late this morning
Posted 2 years ago # -
Used to have to commute from Kent to Birmingham, albeit only a couple of days a week, and that was bad enough. A 2 or 3 hour drive after an 11 or 12 hour day is a killer & I really didn't like not seeing the nipper before he went to bed.
After a month I got it down to once a fortnight with an overnight stay which kept the boss happy & didn't interfere with family life too much.
Doing it daily would send me insane within the first week.
Posted 2 years ago # -
My first job was 45 miles from where I was living (with my parents at the time). It took an hour on a good day. Often it would take an hour and a half to get home.
Even at the age of 21, with no family of my own, no cooking, cleaning, etc I found it impossibly wearing. I'd get home for 7pm, eat, watch tv a bit, get on the net, wind down as much as I could (and wasn't ready to go to bed until about midnight). On a friday I'd get home and just pass out by 9pm and not wake up until mid day on saturday. I spent the weekend doing my laundry and getting ready for the next week, then back into it. I was laid off after 6 months, which almost came as a relief.
Now I have a commute that is 25-45 minutes. On the way home the last 7 miles are country roads over the pennines and there's two large hills between me and work. I am MUCH happier.
Seriously, don't do it. A friend of mine has done the weekly commute thing (working in derby, living in cambs) and he missed his family terribly. Quality of life is a combination of many things, but I think that no matter how good the job, you'll be paying too high a price in terms of driving stress, missing your kids (they'll be asleep when you get up and go, and they'll be in bed when you get home) and just not having any time for yourself.
Posted 2 years ago # -
my dad used to commute that sorta time - project manager on a large building site.
If there is something i dont want to do its that - long days - high stress -not being able to wind down at nights = heart attack at 34 - and a follow up at 43 (x2)
Posted 2 years ago # -
Its too much - either stay-over, work from home if poss, move, or don't take the job.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Simply divide your pay by the extra hours you'd be doing unpaid during the commute, it won't look like much value then. But sometimes needs must, if you have a family to support and it's a short time job then sometimes you just have to suck it up for a while.
Posted 2 years ago # -
clearly, you are totally nuts.
Posted 2 years ago # -
100% yes, too far, it's just not worth it at all.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Think I knew the answer long before posting. Have been looking into cost of staying in a caravan, going home one night during the week and home for the weekend.
Fingers crossed I mess up the interview, because if offered it I think I'd find it really hard to turn down.Posted 2 years ago # -
3-6hrs a day in a car? Are you mad?
Even if it was a commute in a Aston Martin paying 100k a year I wouldnt do it. Come the weekend and I wouldnt want to get in the car to go for a ride. I'd just sleep in.
Plus the stress/wear and tear on the car (cost).
No.
If it was as a Traffic Policeman- that would be the exception.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Wouldn't take it that far hora, I'd go out of my way to take all the back roads in an aston, 4 hours of playing each end of the day
Posted 2 years ago # -
Even if you can hack it day to day, there'll be days when everything goes wrong at work and you have to stay late. Even staying until 6 or 7 will be an absolute nightmare when you have that kind of commute, nevermind the days when you're stuck there properly late.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Aye- and smoke a cigar enroute
Posted 2 years ago # -
why can't you all move? kids will settle in new schools, if its your dream job etc, just do it.
Posted 2 years ago # -
depending on the employer you might consider flexitime - say drive up sunday night, sleep mon-weds night, pack in a 35+hr week 3.5 days and drive home on thursday afternoon.
As the role matures you may be able to spend less time at the "office" and take an extra on the computer at home?
Posted 2 years ago # -
[quote]why can't you all move? kids will settle in new schools, if its your dream job etc, just do it.[quote]
How long can you expect a 'dream' job to last though? Keep family in one place IMO.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I did it for a couple of years before uping sticks and relocating. It's way too much. I would say an hour is too much too myself - on both the effect on yourself and on the wider planet. Oh aye, and the cost in fuel is just scary!
Either take the job and relocate, the kids will deal with a change in location (I did it often enough as a nipper) or don't bother.
Posted 2 years ago # -
yes madness to even consider it I and extra 4 hours minimum to working day. You will never see your family
Posted 2 years ago #
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