Anyone here drive or travel to work for 2 hours or more? Just wondering. I know some folks that do the commute because their position pays more in the region that is in rather than in the city that they live in. For me, I'm not sure if I could do that. Two hours to work and then two hours from work and let's not talk about traffic times. If I drive, it takes gas, if I take the train, then that's a fee as well. Which would be cheaper? I guess it would depend on if the job was worth it or not, if it would fulfill me and if I didn't mind getting home every evening around 7 or 8pm and waking up to leave at 4 or 5 in the morning every day.

Who here has a long commute to work and how does it work for you?

If I take the bus it takes 35 minutes. If I drive it takes 15 to 20 minutes.

I will not commute 2 hours to and from work, hell no.

luv4u said:

If I take the bus it takes 35 minutes. If I drive it takes 15 to 20 minutes.

I will not commute 2 hours to and from work, hell no.

Yeah for me currently, I only drive about 15 minutes to and from work. There's rarely any traffic unless it's raining and there's been accidents. Works for me right now, but was considering applying for a job doing basically what I do now for more money, however, the commute would be murder, if hypothetically I was called for an interview and actually got the position. I'm just weighing options is all.

I've never worked further than about 15km from my house.

Work from home now, which has as many disadvantages as advantages.

now it is 40 miles each way... by the end of the week it should be 25 each way!

I've known people who lived in Pennsylvania who commuted between 3-4 hours each way just to work in NYC. Also my former boss lived in Freehold, NJ and commuted to NYC everyday, about 2-3 hours each way.

HonestMan13 said:

I've known people who lived in Pennsylvania who commuted between 3-4 hours each way just to work in NYC. Also my former boss lived in Freehold, NJ and commuted to NYC everyday, about 2-3 hours each way.

Where do they find the stamina? That takes major commitment. Wow.

If I made $200K + a year, then I would deal with a 2-hour commute.

Currently my commute is about 15mins...before I moved out of my house it had been 30mins.

Before that I had a 45min commute, and it was terrible (half on the expressway and half on side streets).

I wouldn't go more than 1hr for my current salary.

PurpleJedi said:

If I made $200K + a year, then I would deal with a 2-hour commute.

Currently my commute is about 15mins...before I moved out of my house it had been 30mins.

Before that I had a 45min commute, and it was terrible (half on the expressway and half on side streets).

I wouldn't go more than 1hr for my current salary.

Well yeah, I think that goes without saying. I would think that people who have families would have to consider their schedules and etc. but as for me, I'm single with no kids, so I guess if I were to get the better position with the pay I feel it is worth, then a 2 hour commute, I would just have to endure...I don't think I would like it after a while, but hey, you can't have everything your way.

missfee said:

PurpleJedi said:

If I made $200K + a year, then I would deal with a 2-hour commute.

Currently my commute is about 15mins...before I moved out of my house it had been 30mins.

Before that I had a 45min commute, and it was terrible (half on the expressway and half on side streets).

I wouldn't go more than 1hr for my current salary.

Well yeah, I think that goes without saying. I would think that people who have families would have to consider their schedules and etc. but as for me, I'm single with no kids, so I guess if I were to get the better position with the pay I feel it is worth, then a 2 hour commute, I would just have to endure...I don't think I would like it after a while, but hey, you can't have everything your way.

The kids definitely make something like that a tough decision.

My commute is an hour and four-eight minutes each way: St Joseph Michigan to Chicago. We do have train serve that damn near pulls up to my door, but sometimes I need access to a car in the city and depending on the lateness of the hour. On occasions I use a driver, I'm dealing with it but I'm retiring soon so I can hang.

Depending on the type of work you do and/or contract you have with an employer or company, you could always ask if they would offer to pick up the tab if workers commute via public transportation. It's commonly done here in Chicago , especially for workers who have a long commutes and/or live in neighboring states; it gives them some environmental street cred for attempting to be "green".

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[Edited 10/15/12 19:20pm]

Depends how bad you want it. When I was 20 I even walked 45 minutes to an overnight job to avoid jail because I had to pay 2 grand in court bills. All because I slam shut a draw in the house then my brother decided to call the cops on me and steal all my money while I was in jail.

Talk about a loving family.

LayzieKiddZ said:

Depends how bad you want it. When I was 20 I even walked 45 minutes to an overnight job to avoid jail because I had to pay 2 grand in court bills. All because I slam shut a draw in the house then my brother decided to call the cops on me and steal all my money while I was in jail.

Talk about a loving family.

Damn.

TD3 said:

My commute is an hour and four-eight minutes each way: St Joseph Michigan to Chicago. We do have train serve that's damn near pulls up to my door, but sometimes I need access to a car in the city and depending on the lateness of the hour. On occasions I use a driver, I'm dealing with it but I'm retiring soon so I can hang.

Depending on the type of work you do and/or contract you have with an employer or company, you could always ask if the offer to pick up the tab if workers commute via public transportation. It's commonly done here in Chicago , especially for workers have a long commutes and/or live in neighboring states; it gives them some environmental street cred for attempting to be "green".

Thanks for the that info. That's definitely something to think about and keep in mind.

Higher pay would not entice me to spend that long in a car or public transportation every single day. I could maybe do it 2 days a week with the expectation of working from home the other days. The money isn't worth it to me. What might be worth it to me is finidng a job that's inspiring in some way. I've never loved any job. Maybe if I did I'd be willing to give up more free time for it. As it is now, no way.

My current commute is about 20ish minutes on a bus or a bike when the weather's nice.

CarrieMpls said:

Higher pay would not entice me to spend that long in a car or public transportation every single day. I could maybe do it 2 days a week with the expectation of working from home the other days. The money isn't worth it to me. What might be worth it to me is finidng a job that's inspiring in some way. I've never loved any job. Maybe if I did I'd be willing to give up more free time for it. As it is now, no way.

My current commute is about 20ish minutes on a bus or a bike when the weather's nice.

I think that people who actually LOVE their job are few & far between.

I don't "love" my job, but I certainly don't HATE it either.

When you start waking up in the morning and feel stressed/anxious/depressed about going to work...then you know it's time to move on.

People who say they "wouldn't commute 2 hours" make me laugh. Does that mean if your company moved to another location and you had to spend 2 hours or more a day travelling to and from work that you would quit?? Please? You must have loads of money in the bank to pay your mortgage and all your other bills to just fluff off a job because of the location. If you have skills that are in demand I can see looking elsewhere for a job that's closer to home.

I live in Toronto and I commute a total of 2 hrs, 30 minutes per day. I do it because I need my job. I'm paid very well and work for a good, solid company. In order to have a good job that pays my bills and allows me to live a good life, I'm willing to sacrifice some of my time each day.

Empress said:

People who say they "wouldn't commute 2 hours" make me laugh. Does that mean if your company moved to another location and you had to spend 2 hours or more a day travelling to and from work that you would quit?? Please? You must have loads of money in the bank to pay your mortgage and all your other bills to just fluff off a job because of the location. If you have skills that are in demand I can see looking elsewhere for a job that's closer to home.

I live in Toronto and I commute a total of 2 hrs, 30 minutes per day. I do it because I need my job. I'm paid very well and work for a good, solid company. In order to have a good job that pays my bills and allows me to live a good life, I'm willing to sacrifice some of my time each day.

The entire technology department for my company (which I currently work in) is moving to the suburbs in 2014 where they're building new facilities. The commute will be much longer for me and I don't want to work in the middle of nowhere. I am considering my options to find work in other parts of the company that will still be downtown or to find another job.

So yes, location is important to me. We all have our priorities.

PurpleJedi said:

CarrieMpls said:

Higher pay would not entice me to spend that long in a car or public transportation every single day. I could maybe do it 2 days a week with the expectation of working from home the other days. The money isn't worth it to me. What might be worth it to me is finidng a job that's inspiring in some way. I've never loved any job. Maybe if I did I'd be willing to give up more free time for it. As it is now, no way.

My current commute is about 20ish minutes on a bus or a bike when the weather's nice.

I think that people who actually LOVE their job are few & far between.

I don't "love" my job, but I certainly don't HATE it either.

When you start waking up in the morning and feel stressed/anxious/depressed about going to work...then you know it's time to move on.

You definitely speak the truth here. I don't love what I currently do, but I'm most certainly good at it and it gives me the flexibility that my personality can stand. I can't do the every day, same report due at the same time of every day of the week, routine. I get bored quickly by routine schedules. I do reports now, but they are only due on a monthly basis but at no set time...it's just understood that they should be done before the end of the month. Then there is all the work that needs to be done in between. Every day, something new comes up and you have the ability to learn from it. The downside to that of course is that the rules change almost constantly which makes room for error. While most jobs would like to ideally think you would do your job perfect every time, at my job they are understanding as long as you correct your own errors ASAP and that you can show that you are making an honest effort to keep it from happening over and over again. I can deal with that. With that being said, the only low is that I feel that I could be paid a bit more for what I do. And given the area I'm in (I've done the research), my educational achievements, qualifications and contributions I've already made in my position, I should be paid more.

[Edited 10/15/12 7:30am]

15 minutes.

One of the main reasons I moved to the big city. I've always tried to work in the hood that I live in. The furtherest was a 10 minute walk the closest was 2 blocks.

We had a lady work here for 2 years who had a 2 hour ride (each way) to get here each morning all on public transportation... Hearing about her commute made me so thankful for my 30 minute metro ride!

Empress said:

People who say they "wouldn't commute 2 hours" make me laugh. Does that mean if your company moved to another location and you had to spend 2 hours or more a day travelling to and from work that you would quit?? Please? You must have loads of money in the bank to pay your mortgage and all your other bills to just fluff off a job because of the location. If you have skills that are in demand I can see looking elsewhere for a job that's closer to home.

I live in Toronto and I commute a total of 2 hrs, 30 minutes per day. I do it because I need my job. I'm paid very well and work for a good, solid company. In order to have a good job that pays my bills and allows me to live a good life, I'm willing to sacrifice some of my time each day.

I left a job once because the company moved office and I wouldn't be able to walk to work any more (I didn't have a car) Granted I wasn't in a position where I had kids and a mortgage yet, but I still needed another job first before I left to pay my rent and bills, which I got. Then I did buy a house and looked for jobs within a 5km radius and it wasn't the best paying job ever, but it was 5 minutes by car