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currently doing 35 miles or 1 hour each way not great but ok till this morning on M1 south 5 M in 2 hours then 1 more hour. something else to consider... over running roadworks apparently, well they were overunning cos there was no one in sight doing any actual ****ing roadworks. regular 2hrs no way
There's a big difference between commuting on the train, or driving. For some years I spent round about a short hour commuting on the train, and with a walk at both ends it was 50- 65 minutes , and was pretty ok. That time driving would be grim.
I'm circa 20 minutes by car now and that's just fine.
For what the OP describes, that 3 * 16 hours back to back really - that 4 days off will soon be ruined.
I did a long commute for four years, 75 minutes from Moray to Aberdeen, often longer in the winter, along with two weeks of days two weeks of nights. It made me a tired, unhappy, miserable arse and probably contributed to a relationship break down. Never again, life is too short for that crap.
I drove a 150 mile round trip 5 days a week about 20 years ago, no motorways, mostly A roads. 6 months of it nearly killed me and HR were told to get their fingers out and finalise my permanent move before it did.
Would never ever consider doing it again, no matter how much I was being paid.
I'm going to half agree with everything above...
I think if you're driving 2rs each way, every day, that rapidly becomes very expensive wasted time. Not only can't you do any work, you can't switch off.
2hrs on the train is more doable, at least you can sleep, read or work. That said... a guy I used to work with changed job and it had him commuting down from Manchester to London. He tried all sorts. There and back in a day. Down there, stay over, back the next day. Stuck at it for a year before realising that standing around at Euston waiting for news on the latest delayed service was no fun. I did a nearly 2hr train commute for a while which was OK cos it was only one day a week but it was still pretty much dead time.
However....
I now do a 2hr each way cycle ride. Change of job location, I realised I could ride it so I bought an e-gravel bike and I do 2, sometimes 3 days a week in the office. I started out in winter getting the train part way which cut it to a 45minute ride in, now I just ride both ways. I absolutely love it. Done 1500 miles of commuting that I would never have ridden without the e-bike, the route options are mostly fantastic and (for me) it's very much relaxation and unwinding time. I admit I'd probably be saying different if it was 2hrs riding across Birmingham in the rush hour but it's not!
Last week I voluntarily went into the office one extra day just for the ride in and home. Had no meetings, nothing I needed to be there for. Just wanted an extra 100km of riding time!
So yes, dependent on commuting mode I'd say!
I currently do a couple of days each week either in Daventry or Northampton. That’s four and five hours round trip from my home in the Peaks. I try to do split days (usually Tuesday and Thursday) but even if they’re consecutive days then I’ll still tend to day trip unless there is a compelling reason to stop over. On the occasions I’m on three days then I will stop over one night.
That is quite do-able but tiring. The travel days are pretty much written off for work, out early then home late for a bit of food, TV and bed. Fortunately as the following days are usually work from home so don’t have to be an early start or incur travel.
I'm also lucky that my hours are fairly flexible (albeit in both positive and negative directions) but I rarely have to be there by a certain time so traffic doesn’t stress me, it does what it does and I get there when I get there. Sit and listen to the radio, podcast or audiobook. I also get a company car and neither location is my base so fuel costs are recovered and a new car comes along every four years.
I manage it because it’s fairly flexible and the travel costs are covered. I couldn’t imagine doing it without the perks on a fixed shift pattern over regular consecutive days. It would very quickly get me down and I’d find myself hating the commute and then the job.
You spend too much time working to hate it.
Nope,wouldn't do it. I grumble when I have to drive to the office in my works van.
I frequently do long drives to site, but I get paid door to door and it's their fuel.
If renting/hotelling somewhere local works socially and financially, maybe. Otherwise, hard no.
Its basically two hours each way.
Not a fkn chance. I did 60 miles each way for a year around the M60 - Halifax to Knutsford. When it was clear it was actually ok but I remember it being clear twice - once when England were playing in a tournament and everyone had gone home early to watch it and once after my leaving meal one evening. Absolute no way ever, ever, ever again.
Not a fkn chance. I did 60 miles each way for a year around the M60 - Halifax to Knutsford.
Liverpool to Halifax was the same. There were so many potential choke points and if I hit any of them at the wrong time the delays would build and I’d be 2h late.
My commute is a 40 minute drive, which really is my limit. Because I work shifts and not 9-5 there is very rarely any traffic so it pretty much always takes 40mins.
If it regularly took longer due to traffic etc I think I would tire of it pretty quickly.
4+ hours in the car every day, no chance! even for my dream job.
89k, 1.12 each way. It’s not glorious, but podcasts keep me amused and the car drives itself pretty much. I just have to keep an eye out for kangaroos. The great thing is it’s outs in the country so no traffic to speak of, and my favourite trail centre is en route. This means that I can leave super early twice a week and knock out laps and then shower at work. Overall, I make the best out of a bad lot.
So, going on the maths on the previous page, when you factor in fuel, tyres and whatever else, it'll be like losing £5-6k off your gross salary.
The weekend shifts + commute will take up more of your waking hours than your current setup, and the weekday hours will be an awful lot more. And in both cases you'll be far more knackered when you get home.
Unless it comes with a £20k pay rise, I don't think it's remotely worth it!
2hrs on the train is more doable, at least you can sleep, read or work.
I did this for a few years...around the time my kids were born. 15 mins on the bike to the station. 1h 30m on the train. A big hill to ride up on the way home. I was tired by the end of the week. In fact I remember not doing too much on Saturdays as a result.
My commute is 7 mile / 20mins and opposite flow to the city traffic so nice and easy. Cycle route isn't too bad and I've done it for years.
However the problem is that looking for another job I can't find anything with a similar commute so I expect to be here till I retire.
If I was hiring you, and you told me your plan was to commute 2h each way daily as a long term plan, I probably wouldn’t hire you.
if you worked for me and I sent you to another site for the day 9-5, I’d probably expect you to do their and back in a day. If you were starting early/finishing late - no way would I ask you to do that, for a one off never mind a regular thing. If I sent you there for two days in a row I’d expect you to book a hotel.
The weekend plan with two nights local might work, but even then it’s intense - your Thursday evening will be dull because you need to leave early next day and your Sunday night non existent. Monday morning may be recovery time so now your extra free time is Monday afternoon to Thursday afternoon, with the nice aspect of school run soon being a ball ache because you can’t do anything except 9-3…
Never had much of a commute but I did shifts which included weekends for a long time . Days off in the week are great for riding and time for yourself and when my kids were small I got to spend a lot of time with them during the week , lots of museums and park trips . It also made school holidays a bit easier if I was off in the week anyway.
We moved to New Zealand 2 years ago and with both the kids now at school I really wanted a Mon to Fri job so I could be around at the weekends more , I miss my mid week riding days but overall Mon to Fri and being around after school and in the evenings makes family life a lot easier .
The thing I like about not having a long commute anymore is the pre-work mid-week rides and gravel commutes... except i'm currently doing the long train commute again twice a week (supposed to be 50% but i'm hoping nobody notices). This time I do short days in the office and work on the train or make it up on WFH days. Even still I find it a bit of a grind.
I used to commute 22 miles mostly on the A82. In summer it could take over an hour by car in tourist traffic. In winter with few tourists less than half an hour. I was living in a village which I really liked but the commuting and twelve hour shifts didn't work. Moved into town, I miss village life but my commute is now a 5 minute plummet down hill to work and a 12 minute winch back up the hill home
Definitely a no to the new job if I was in your position OP
2 hour bus, 1.5 hour cycle (because its direct rather than the shitty Edinburgh bus system), Minute drive.
We single carred for a couple of years but one car became two and i don't regret it.
"Doing stuff on the bus/train" isn't all its cracked up to be. Its still an extra 4 hours a day, its missed breakfast/late dinner or both.
So I do a 90 minute commute each way to the office (door to door) so three hours a day. Leave at 6.40am and get home at 6.30pm. I only have to do that usually 3 days a week though thankfully and can work from home the other 2.
I took the job after 7 years in a very similar job which was only 30 minutes each way but paid about 15% less, but on the days I do travel it’s £18 train fare.
It took a lot to weigh it up and I’d definitely have not moved jobs if I couldn’t do it on a train, as driving that journey would be hell. But trains can be terrible too it turns out.
So I’m still undecided if it was the right decision.
When I started proper work I had a 45 minute drive. Felt perfectly normal and that was my life. Sometime later I got a new job and more by accident ended up with a 15 min bike ride in. Total game changer. Life was so much better but it had never really occurred to me to do it. Since them I've never had a long, or even medium, commute.
Nowadays I work in a shed at the end of the garden. Very happy with that. I occasionally have to work in London, once or twice a year. That's 3 hours each way and more than enough commuting for the year. No way would I do a 2 hour regular commute. Might consider it as a very short stop gap but I'd definitely want a plan for change in place.
I used to commute to London from near Aylesbury. 5 mile ride to the station, 55* minute train journey, 3 mile ride to work, get changed (into a suit in those days), rinse and repeat. The cycling bit I enjoyed all year round, but the constant 4 hours a day that you're not getting paid for grinds you down. I can't imagine doing it now.
*Chiltern Railways timetable was aspirational in those days. Occasionally surprised me by arriving on time.
Shed based since Covid. Before then was driving to universities all over the country and staying away from home 5-8 nights a week. Again could never go back to that.
In some ways, the commute I used to do set me up for the job (working for myself) I do now. So it's not a black and white equation.
35-45 minutes for 60% of my working days.
It is annoying but tolerable.
I would not ever go back to full time in an office, or do a longer commute unless it was train and I can count it as working hours
2 hours each way would be an absolute no go for me. I go to one of our offices once a month & that’s a couple of hours each way & it’s miserable.
Also, I’m not sure the allure of F1 should be clouding your judgement. I work for a company that works with 90% of the F1 teams, and across pretty much every other form of motorsport & it’s a ruthless world that I wouldn’t want to be a part of.
That commute + the industry pressure = unhappy.
again, thanks for all the feedback folks. Now the initial excitement and dust has settled, as many have said, i dont think its realistic.
Shame, as it wouldve been a good opportunity, if only i lived closer!
Now the decision is do i use the job offer as leverage to try and improve my position here.... moral compass time 😀
Makes me appreciate my job - something I enjoy, office once a month, pre-work dog walks and post-work biking etc. Work/life balance counts for a LOT. I know I could earn more elsewhere but what I've got is worth literally tens of thousands. I could get a 20k pay rise but if it meant travelling to an office an hour away 5 days a week, I'd turn it down.
I could get a 20k pay rise but if it meant travelling to an office an hour away 5 days a week, I'd turn it down.
I think what a lot of people don't take into account is the sheer cost of commuting, or of commuting and staying over.
That £20k extra can be reduced to half of that very quickly once you factor in season tickets (for rail / bus) or fuel / parking / wear & tear (for car) plus the less obvious / less tangible costs like buying coffee and snacks on the go while commuting, missed family time and so on.
A friend did something where she stayed at a B&B 2 consecutive nights a week and she was thoroughly miserable - not having access to social opportunities, not being able to nip out for an hour on the bike in the evening, no space of her own. She coped with it for a year cos the pay was good (although equally, a significant chunk of the pay went on B&B).
15-16 hour days, if you're lucky. Not a chance, not even if the money was double.
I don't drive, so my commute is by public transport to the city, then either bike or subway to my work depending on the weather. In all, it takes me around 1.5 - 2hrs each way. I get up stupidly early in the morning, get into the lab early and leave early in the afternoon so I can get home at a reasonable time. I've been doing that for 20+ yrs now. It grinds me down at times, but I generally just bury my head in a book, or watch something downloaded from Netflix.
I love where I live, and I love my job. So I just have to put up with it.
dependent on commuting mode I'd say!
+1 a 2 hour cycle commute is great, all the fitness miles you could ever want, and it's offset against it would have taken an hour in the car anyway.
On the other realistic options though, it's a no. I've done jobs that were away 4-5 days on rotation, jobs that were away for months, jobs away mon-fri, jobs with 2 hour commutes. They were all horrible in their own way.
Even if you can do it on public transport, remember to factor in the first and last mile. An Estate agent would say I'm well located for a commute into London by train. In reality it's a 2 hours door to door to central / city because you have to get to the train station and then tube / Boris bike at the other end.
The worst commute I had, 40min by car. Because it's not 40min, it's an hour with all the other idiots doing the same thing. It's soul destroying. On a good day, you're 20min early and can waste time having breakfast. On a bad day you're late and have to make time up. Same on the way home, you can't make any plans starting ~90min from finishing work because you'll potentially miss them. I'm considering another commute, but heading the opposite direction against the prevailing traffic. And I'd probably use the motorbike on days I didn't cycle. The key thing is knowing how long it'll take, not having to constantly build in margins.
I did a just over 90 minute (assuming there were no delays) commute bike/train/bike every weekday for 18 months. I always got a seat and could read or write songs on the train. It was still v tiring and I was young with no kids etc. It amazes me how many people will handle long commutes for years, especially driving (my subsequent job was as an area sales manager and I hated when I had to travel in rush hour), but maybe I've just been lucky? Current commute is about 15 minutes by bike!
Watching with interest, looking for a new job but most are miles away from me and I'd rather not have to get another car.
Makes me appreciate my job - something I enjoy, office once a month
Also interested in how you get such a job
I only have to do that usually 3 days a week though thankfully and can work from home the other 2.
If you can work from home two days a week, is there a compelling reason why you can't also do so for the other three?
think what a lot of people don't take into account is the sheer cost of commuting, or of commuting and staying over.
All public transport where I live is 25p per journey 😂
So at the weekend you'd get up at 0400, half hour rush to get ready, leave at 0430. Work 0630 till 1830, returning home 2030. Dinner, shower, in bed by 2200. Six hours kip and then repeat. IMHO you'd end up falling asleep at the wheel and crashing......................
Not really a recommendation for OP but moving closer to work seems to be the last thing people suggest, it certainly used to be more common (essential even) before our lives became car centric with the expectation we can live and work in totally unconnected locations. When you think of the benefits of moving closer - afford a more expensive house and more at home time - surely worth the one off disruption. We made a modest move that saved me 30 minutes each day, but that really adds up, about 10 days a year saved!
think what a lot of people don't take into account is the sheer cost of commuting, or of commuting and staying over.
It's a good one to point out to people how widespread car ownership is a problem for everyone too. Because you end up paying for car ownership whether you have or can afford to have one or not.
Live in town near employment - you're paying a premium to not need a car, and also paying for the street parking because ultimately that is factored into the house prices as it means there's no premium for one with the extra land for private parking. Curtail the free on-street parking and you get the benefit of making housing affordable for people who can't afford a car (or a house at the moment).
Live further out - cheaper housing, but you need a car.
I do a 45 mile each way commute. For 5 years it was 5 days per week 8am-4pm with the ability to start earlier/finish earlier when possible. It sucked doing it full time and I was close to leaving (enjoy the job and it pays well). Covid came along and we were already set up to work remotely so no issue. Been working a hybrid 3 days on site, 2 days at home which has made it palatable for the past 5 years. Unfortunately, the Executive office has decided to mandate a 5 days per week in the office. We get opportunity to WFH if there's a one off reason at the discretion of your manager but that's it. It's not come in to effect yet but I'm 10 years older than when I took the job and the thought of 3 hours per day travelling is not something I'm looking forward to.
Unfortunately my previous company (same industry) was on the door step but had a horrible toxic culture so that's definitely not an option!
In conclusion, long commutes suck. I need to make a change.
40 mins for me, 4 shifts in 8. Had 6 months commuting 2hrs each way but stayed over for a couple of days at a time and shared driving. No chance I'd do that every day!
Now the decision is do i use the job offer as leverage to try and improve my position here.... moral compass time 😀
If you think you are undervalued then that's a conversation to have irrespective of whether you have an offer available?
Longest commute I'd allow is 1 hour, door to door. Anything longer just stretches out the working day too much unless you can mix it up with social activities. Having said that I spent a few years where I would work something like 2 weeks travelling with work and 2 weeks home doing whatever I wanted - albeit chunks of that turned into bits of admin and programming as it was fun to do at the time. And there were the few months where I commuted 200miles each way at the start and end of the 5-day week. Still, for 'regular' jobs my longest commute was up to 1 hour. Since 2019 there's been no commuting for me due to WFH 100% of the working day.
Longest I've done was one hour each way door to door - 10 minute walk; 40 minutes on the train; 10 minute walk. Did this for about five years, five days a week. My current commute is a 15 minute walk, my resulting quality of life is improved immeasurably and I'd never go back to the 1 hour commute, much less two hours (and driving as well).