How far is too far?

I'm talking cross-country here. I have been eyeing different academic jobs across the UK, but have also promised my family we won't leave our current location.

So, does anyone on here make a regular big journey to their place of work? Say, Carlisle to Birmingham, or Nottingham to London, or some other silly combination? If so, how do you manage?

I'm thinking that if I could find a room to rent in the city where I am thinking of working, I could commute at weekends on the train.

Is this just insane?

i got cheesed off if the commute in either direction pushed past the hour.

I used to drive about 1h20m to work, then drive for my work, then the commute home was about 1h40m ( busier time ) and i just resented the loss of time.

now its about 30 mins by car or an hour by bike and much much more enjoyable and put-up-able with.

Also depends who's paying, and/or what your earning.

Happily commute +1 hour if either someone else is paying or its good money.

Motorbikes help here, as they usually serious reduce urban commute times.

yes its insane. unless youre happy to never see your family except for at weekend inbetween doing all the jobs that you would normally do in the week but cant, cause youre not there. i recon if it usually takes more than hour, its too far.

did Cheltenham to Birmingham for 3 years 52 miles each way, well over an hour in ruch hour traffic. Certainly knocks a big chunk of time out
of your day.

An hour each way used to be my limit. Now I can't even be bothered doing that.

But that will be because at the moment, once a week I have to drive to Newcastle, stay overnight and then drive home, a round trip of 320 miles. Sod that, ever again.

Oh, I did Wigan to Leeds every workday for two years once. That's 60 miles each way. Crazy.

on the M62 as well i assume? – how the devil did you cope with that!!?? that stretch of motorway is soul destroying!

Skipton to Liverpool a year
to manchester 18 months.
Newcastle 1 year.
Birmingham 9 months.
Coventry 6 months.
Not to mention working abroad and using planes

I totted up what my average speed through life was 35,000 miles for work and about 25,000 for pleasure and flights came out at 10 MPH including biking.

STOP dont do it it is not worth it

I got up *very* early, and work were flexible. Otherwise it would have been unbearable. TYpically (I was training for triathlons at the time), I would be up at 4, go for an hour run or bike ride, home, shower, leave house around 6, *just* beat the traffic into Leeds, get there about 7. (I worked right in the town centre above Boots).
Go down the 'international' swimming pool and do a couple of k at dinner time, leave work about 3:30, home by about 5. Go out for another ride/run.

Those were crazy days.

If you had a convenient, near door-to-door train journey *and* you could work productively and happily on the way…then maybe. But otherwise, don't open yourself up to a world of hell, you're just stealing your own life from yourself.

Working "onsite" 2-3 days a week might be different.

(OK, that's an exaggeration – maybe different if the alternative was unemployment etc).

Southampton – Heathrow – Zurich – Bern on Monday morning
Bern – Zurich – Heathrow – Southampton on Friday evening

About 8 hours each trip. I have done this for a year and am not renewing my contract at the end of the year. I knew it would be sh1t be was preferable to £67.20 job seekers allowance.

I guess I will spend July looking for something in the UK

I did Birmingham to Dublin to about 18 months fly out Monday morning get back Friday night…..to be honest it was crap, the money was great but if you enjoy your family life do not do this its not worth it. However I know lots of people who live in Scotland and travel to London for the week no problem. A quick scenario for you – its your kids birthday on a Tuesday you will not be able to get home so you will miss it or bonfire night is on a Thursday so you will miss it with the kids. Think about these things before making your decision.

I presume the OP is talking about working away from home. I do it on a temporary basis now (although it's going to run over a year) and it has its benefits and drawbacks. I make great money, for which the whole family is grateful, and there is something to be said for sitting around in a hotel/flat on your own.. you can just watch telly/films/play playstation to your self-indulgent hearts content, which is quite relaxing and theraputic I find.. but you miss your family a lot.

Doing it as a permanent thing though woudl be somewhat depressing I think. Talk to your family, as you all need to be happy.

BTW an awful lot of people do do this….

8 yards

My father spent several of my teenage years working in Croydon. Home was in Banbury (north Oxfordshire). He would leave early Monday morning, and return late Thursday night.

Now, he lives near Cardigan, and works in central London. He gets in the car at 4am on Monday and arrives home at 11pm on Friday. He is 62 years old.

My mother and he, though remaining married, have entirely separate lives.

My dad did Darlington to Newcastle by car every day for 20-odd years. That's 40 miles each way, with the Tyne Tunnel to go through each time.

When he started using the train and metro instead, he said it was much more bearable and he wished he'd done it years earlier.

When he moved to a local job, he said it was like working part-time.

know a couple of guys who do 2 hour each way journeys.

i wouldn't do it for all the money in the world. honestly i'd rather be in tescos shelf stacking.

I did Perth to Edinburgh for 2 months and that took between 1.25 and 1.75 hours each way.

It became tedious very quickly and this was in August/September. Must be hellish in mid-winter, shudder!

I have only worked within 1 hour of my house in the last 20 years.

When he moved to a local job, he said it was like working part-time.

Excellent..!

I work farther from home than I used to, but spend les time at work (and enjoy my hour each way on the bike), and so it also feels like being part time.

Live local, shop local, work local.

My current (and for the last 8 years) commute is about 11 minutes by bike.

My current (and for the last 8 years) commute is about 11 minutes by bike.

And you have a greenhouse shaped like a starship..! 😀

I used to work for a company doing contract stuff at Airbus. I was supposed to be training over there & then coming back to the UK after a yr. But, that was Stansted – Hamburg-Luebeck Monday & back on a Friday. Had to be up at ~2:30am Mon morning and got home about 10pm Friday. Managed it for 4 months, but work was cak as well as the lifestyle so jacked it in.

Now doing a 120mile/day round trip – takes about 1hr 15mins on a normal day and is pretty cak. Makes a real difference to what you can get done in the evenings and the cost of running a car becomes very noticeable.

My commute is currently from the north side of Bradford to Sheffield, 100 miles each day 3 hours of my life waisted just sat in a car.

Basically its soul destroying and you have no life during the week. At first I found some where to rent during the week, which meant I was less tired, but going home on a night to some where you don't want to be is awful, so the lesser of the 2 evils is to drive, but then you end up tired as you are out of the house for so long each day.

Realistically I now say about 45mins would be my ideal limit and its what I am looking for whilst currently looking for another job (or no point moving) I am also considering a pay cut just to get nearer to home.

yer used to do Guildford to East Grinstead – 80miles a day.. v. boring

I usually do 45 min on a motorbike, I've hurt my hand and this week I've been going in on public transport, which ups the time to 1:15-1:30… The difference is huge, I've hardly seen the kids this week! (On the plus side I've been reading loads more, and it's definitely cheaper.)

An hour's commute would be my limit.

If your partner doesn't work, then you are crazy, but I'm assuming you're wanting to move, but your partner has a job where you currently live.

If you have kids, you'll be basically an absent parent.

Having said that, if it's academia, it obviously depends on the lecturing vs research balance, but I'd find out how much working from home you can do – we have researchers here who work probably 2 days in the office a week, and live 2 hours away – 8 hours total commute per week isn't bad.

Joe