I have a chance of a contract but will involve a long commute (from the south to just above Manchester). Some 170 miles. Up the dreaded M6. Up Monday morning back Thursday evening.
I am not used to such regular long drives and distances and staying away so any advice would be really helpful.

it’ll be shit and you’ll hate it.

HTH.

I’d respectfully suggest “balls to that” frankly. It’s fine at first but quickly wears you down.

A mate does similar, South -> Bradford every week, up Monday, back Thurs. He started off driving but now takes the train, if you do that and can travel up in the evening then the rail fare is substantially cheaper. With the train you can rest up on the journey, well worth it IMO.

How long is the contract?

Ooh, good question.

Leave early doors Monday, like proper early. Take a bike for midweek play time after work and leave late (after 7.?) on the Thursday.

Living away is surely a matter of taste. But it would have to be a lot of money for me to do it, and even then surely only for a very limited time.

Oh, now I think about it, I did have a similar situation in a long distance relationship. Though it wasn’t “away from home in the week” so much as “visiting the girlfriend at weekends”. Bedford to Liverpool. M6 wasn’t as bad back then (20y ago), used to do the trip on Sunday evening rather than face the morning traffic though. And sometimes she travelled to me, or we didn’t meet that weekend. We lasted a few months at it.

I do roughly the opposite of this commute. 155 miles Shropshire to South West London tuesday morning to thursday night. I leave before 5am and am at work by 8-8:30.
(for me) it’s really not a problem i quite enjoy the relaxed time in the car, overall my commute time is less per week than when I lived in London, it’s much more comfortable, the costs are not too dissimilar and i no longer have to live in london. I’m winning all round.
the M40 is great but dealing with manchester could be a bugger.

I’ve been doing Nottingham to Reading for the past 3 years (140ish miles).

As long as I leave early (before 6am) it’s not too bad. Overall i spend less time in the car than if I had a 40 minute commute every day.

It helps that I have a couple of different options that are all similar distance wise so can choose which way to go to avoid anything major.

If staying away, try and find a Monday to Friday place where you can leave some stuff. Having some sort of base makes a big difference

Traffic wise it’ll be fine if you’re leaving around 5am or earlier on the way up, and 8pm or after on the way down

It’ll be a real slog though

I used to do this – Amersham to Knutsford. It was fine – 3 hours door to door on average. Leave by 07:00, past Coventry before the rush started, M6 toll, M6. Return, Leave by 15:00, M6, M6 toll, past Coventry before rush hour.

The traffic did screw up a few times buy not enough to make it unbearable (although M6 and M42 shut at the same time wasn’t good).

I also got a guaranteed bike ride each week because the alternative was drinking and watching TV in the hotel.

I also got a guaranteed bike ride each week because the alternative was drinking and watching TV in the hotel.

Where abouts “North of Manchester” will you be? There is usually a bunch of us out on a Monday evening.

Can’t help with your commute though.

Train definetly is an option but at £250 for an open return is somewhat steep.
Thanks for he ride offer, I’ll see how things go first. It’s 1 year and pretty lucrative.

Whats the going rate to rent a room in sw london for 3 to 4 nights a week. Cheapie hotels seem to be c 50 to 100 per night and you cannot leave stuff there.

The M6 between Stafford and the M62 is seriously screwed up just now with roadworks “upgrading” it to smart motorway. I commute on the M56 and literally every morning and evening on the radio traffic news there’s an alert about an incident and a jam on that section of the M6. Fortunately I live in Chester so if I have to go south I take the A41 or A5/M54 and by-pass it joining the M6 at Birmingham. Unfortunately as you’re going to Manchester you don’t have that option. I’d need to be paid a hell of a lot to do what you’re suggesting. I think travelling Sunday evening and late Thursday evening might be the only way to make it bearable.

I’m surprised no-one’s suggested it yet; move to Manchester, cos it’s better than the south.

Whats the going rate to rent a room in sw london for 3 to 4 nights a week. Cheapie hotels seem to be c 50 to 100 per night and you cannot leave stuff there.

Luckily i work with a very good friend who has a spare room. I cook for him, drive him to work and give him £150 a month for 2 nights a week. If i was using hotels it would be unsustainable, air bnb at £40 a night would be vaguely acceptable.

Before this i was living in London but commuting from hamburg 3 weekends a month so I’m no stranger to a long painful commute.

Sorry OP, but I filed that sort of nonsense away as not worth it a long time ago.

At least you get your weekends, I left home Mon at 8am and left Rotherham at midday on the Friday.

Hated it, will never do it again. The drive is shit, but you get used to it (if not the frustration) but it wore me out – every evening laying on a bed in some boring hotel, eating too much, watching too much crap TV.

I did that for 4 months in the opposite direction. I still had a house in Salford where my wife and kids were, and my job was down in Cardiff.

Sometimes took the train, and sometimes took the car.

It was shit. The first few weeks were okay, but it very quickly lost any appeal.

I’ve spent 3 years doing Monday – Weds or Thurs in London. I live North of Manchester.

I was lucky – I could take the train and do the journey door to door in just over 3 hours. I was also lucky because I’m a perm, so travel was funded. Though living in a hotel – even in London – got old pretty quickly.

It’s not the best thing in the world, but it’s an experience and you get paid. Getting paid is the priority. If, as a contractor, the rate is right then give it a go. You can always can it and look for another job.

I did east of Ipswich to Bristol for six months back in ’99/2000 and that was bad enough when travelling sown on the Sunday night and back on Friday lunchtime.

Any sort of distance like that is balls. If you are going to do it, make sure the money is worth it.