Just wondering...what is the length of your commute to work? If it is on the longer side what are your reasons? Is it quality of life, living in the country, schools, or just because you love your current house and took a job that was further away?
(btw, I don't want to hear about you guys that work at home and your commute consists of going from the bedroom to the "office" in another room via the bathroom and kitchen to get a coffee )
I am asking because we are throwing in what was an approx 30min (for myself) and a 40 min (for my wife) commute to a an approx 50min (for both) commute for what we hope is a better quality of life/space/privacy/etc. in the country.
I left a commute from Rhode Island to Boston -- probably two hours each way all together -- for a job in Providence that takes me about 20 minutes during the summer. Once school resumes in the Fall it takes more like 30 minutes, but that's a lot better than two hours of driving & trains & walking!
I think I did that long travel time for maybe a year: oh, I got a lot of reading done on the train, but it was wasted hours when we were newlywed, and I don't mind admitting that I was glad to be done with it.
We moved out of metro Boston in order to afford a house, and I don't miss that atmosphere at all. Richard, you just have to measure the gains (better house, more rom, btter scenery, etc.) versus the costs (a little longer drive each day) and decide if you can be at peace with it *shrug* Your call, but it sounds to me like you made the right choice.
My commute is 10 minutes by car or by bike. I personally hate commuting, especially if it's in traffic (which it would be where I live). Why make the work day that much longer?
My commute is usually 40-45 minutes, mostly "easy country driving" I have found that I've gotten used to it. But, My family has all done it for years and I grew up that way.
I would say... don't worry about it. Maybe the first couple monthes you'll be thinking "omg what have I done" but before you know it you won't even notice anymore.
Some people live 15 Kms from work and it takes them almost as long as my 40 Kms to get there because they have to traverse through the city.
Richard, I commuted all my working life (37 years) for about 45 minutes each way in all four cities in which I worked over this time. In each case my wife and I did not want to live in the city so we opted for the "burbs". First was Montreal where I took the train from the Town of Mount Royal to downtown Montreal, second was Ottawa where I took the bus from the Baseline Road and Merrivale Road area to the downtown, third was Houston where I drove in the first instance from Missouri City to down town and in the second instance from The Woodlands to downtown, finally Toronto where I took the GO train from Oakville to Union Station. Now that I'm retired I am trying to convince my wife that we should move further out say to Guelph, as I find that Oakville has lost its smal town charm that attracted me in the first place. Truth be know I would really prefer to be in Nova Scotia in the Annapolis Royal area, but SWMBO won't have any part of it, so we might compromise by moving to the Ottawa-area. I don't like cities, but because of my line of work I had to be in one so I always chose to live far enough out to give me the feeling that I wasn't near the city, but not so far as to find the daily commute draining; in consequence I drew the line at one hour each way if public transit was viable and 45 minutes if I had to drive.
Richard, I commute 55 minutes each way (40 miles). Been doing this for over ten years. Can it get old, yes, but I use this time to do my daily thinking. It is my alone time to problem solve, pray, or veg out with music, depending on what my needs are that day. I also call my mom daily during my drive.
My drive is scenic, going east in the morning and west in the evening. I get to see the beautiful hills of Tennessee along with the sunrise and sunsets. Wouldn't trade it.
I commute from the eastern-most suburbs into downtown Ottawa along our fabulously picturesque east parkway. It takes about 30 minutes or so. I used to commute by bike in the nice weather and by bus during the October through May period. Now that my job requires that I am driving around during the day I no longer have that luxury and have to get my fill of biking before or after work.
I commute 2 minutes from the bedroom to the kitchen to my office. I work out of my home office. Otherwise my clients are 30 to 45 minutes away. I plan my meetings around rush hour if at all possible.
My current commute is 18 minutes door to door through residential/commercial traffic areas. It used to be 45 minutes of mainly highway driving (more in the winter). While I agree that longer commutes allow for downtime in the solitude of one's vehicle, there is a counter-argument that long commutes impacts negatively on personal health (you end up eating at least one meal and snack in your car and oftentimes too pooped to contemplate meaningful exercise after fighting traffic), social/community interactions, and family time.
If your total commute is an hour and a half each day, it means you are spending over 2 continuous weeks each year behind the wheel.
Having said all that, it does boil down to personal values and tolerance. Chacun son gout.
I've gotten to work in 14 minutes, from backing out of the driveway to sitting at my desk. Considering that getting from the parking lot to my desk is a five-minute walk under almost any circumstances, I was bookin' that morning. Usually it's more like 20-23 minutes, but some of that is my dawdling because I want to run the car a little more than just 15 minutes at a time.
For a while, I lived 33 miles away from work, across town. 45 minutes in the morning and closer to an hour in the evening, and it was hard to avoid rush "hour". And if it was raining or snowing, the trip could take three hours. As stainless mentioned, you do get used to it. But now when I trek across town to visit friends or such, I frequently wonder just what I was thinking. For me, it was largely-wasted time and it stressed me out, and I was quite happy to see it end.
“Time just seems to get quicker. You look in the mirror in the morning and you think, ‘I’m already shaving again!’” - Terry Jones of Monty Python's Flying Circus
45 minutes to an hour of hard freeway and residental traffic. Full road warrior mentality. I hate every minute of it. I am looking for either another job or to pick up and move completly to another city and look for work there. I figure with wear and tear, tolls and gas, I spend $9-$10 to get to and from work daily. Also the timing of my work keeps me from getting home till close to 8 every night. Very little time to unwind with the family.
My commute is 30 minutes on an express train, or 40 minutes on a local from the leafy suburbs of NYC to Grand Central. Then another 30 minutes of subway, bus and walking.
I spend $184 a month for train tickets, plus another $70 for subway fare. For all this I can sit in my backyard after work, and my kids walk to school, all within shooting distance to the Big Apple.
Austin wrote:I commute 2 minutes from the bedroom to the kitchen to my office. I work out of my home office. Otherwise my clients are 30 to 45 minutes away. I plan my meetings around rush hour if at all possible.
The home commute is the best. I actually work as much from home as I do from my office or a client site. Come November, when we move offices, we are going to a totally mobile environment with no offices at all to reduce real estate costs. IBM has a tendency to do that alot - i.e. create mobility centres to encourage more time at clients - it actually works.
My commute is, door to door, just about an hour: A 4 minute car drive to train station, 40 minute railroad ride, 12 minute subway ride, go upstairs and cross the street then an elevator ride to the 9th floor. The subway ride is the wild card as it usually OK but every now and then they throw a suprise delay at you when you least expect it.
nteeman wrote:My commute is, door to door, just about an hour: A 4 minute car drive to train station, 40 minute railroad ride, 12 minute subway ride, go upstairs and cross the street then an elevator ride to the 9th floor. The subway ride is the wild card as it usually OK but every now and then they throw a suprise delay at you when you least expect it.
That's the thing with public transit. In theory it sounds great, but often the efficiency of taking the train for example is killed by the wait times and traveling to and from the train. When my wife took the train to the city for her co-op term the train ride itself was quite short. The driving to the train station, finding a spot to park, walking to the platform, waiting for the train (often delayed) made an otherwise short and easy commute into an 1:15 affair. On the way home was worse as she had to wait 20min for the first train to leave. The advantage though is you can read a book or sleep on the train/bus.
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As stainless mentioned, you do get used to it. But now when I trek across town to visit friends or such, I frequently wonder just what I was thinking. For me, it was largely-wasted time and it stressed me out, and I was quite happy to see it end.
