Contemplating 160 mile daily commute - crazy? Advice needed.

[mondeoman]

Craikeybaby said:

ColonelKurtz said:

Hi All.

I thought I would update you after c. 4 weeks commuting 148 miles daily from Berkshire to Warwickshire and back. Well, it isn't as bad as I was fearing! It's taking me c. 1hr 10mins to travel the distance, starting out between 0630-0700 each morning. I have 11 miles on fast A roads and 63 miles on the M40. Besides a 2 3/4 hour time to travel 2 miles yesterday due to an accident, I think this might just be doable. I am relieved.

Currently, I am driving more like an old man to keep the fuel cost down in the Evoque but, now with cheap fuel, I think the lead foot will return...

I have the Evoque since 21 Dec and an now just over 3k miles! As I have to change the car at 6k miles I will be choosing the next car. So, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Here's the choice; XE 2.0d R-Sport, XF 2.d R-Sport or an XE S with the 3.0d v6. Also, what colour do you think look best?

Looking forward to reading your views.

That is bloody good going! I'm guessing by the car choices you're at JLR? It usually takes me 45 minutes to get to Gaydon from Coventry when I'm there for meetings first thing.

I pretty much refuse to work out of Gaydon now, cant be doing with sitting on the M40 slip-road for an hour after driving for an hour to get there. Whitely is so much easier now they've got the parking entry sorted.

As an aside, what area are you in - I'm in Powertrain, APC.

[Craikeybaby]

I'm at an infotainment tier 1, so mainly deal with electrical. Getting to Gaydon is the main reason I haven't switched to the other side.

[GetCarter]

O/P

Yep. Crazy.

I did 200 mile round trip for 8 months and during that time wasted about 18 days of my life. Never again.

Unless you think spending that amount of time in your car is a making serious use of your short time on earth, I'd think again.

HTH

[ToothbrushMan]

there was a program on i think BBC2 last year that followed 2 car salesmen as they swapped roles for 1 week.
one guy was from the valeys in Wales and had a 5 minute commute by car so he saw his younger kids to bed every night and sat with the family to eat dinner. he swapped positions with a guy from Joe Macari's dealership who had to endure a 6 day a week 2 hour commute each way from somewhere outside the M25. 4 hours a day on good days sat behind the wheel.
when he went to the welsh car dealership and spent time with the family of the other guy he realised what the hell he was missing and that he might be earning big commissions but the trade off was the terribly long commute and not getting home until after 8pm every night. the weekly fuel bill alone was about £80-100 which he was paying for.
the welsh guy relished netting one big commission but having followed in the London guys footsteps for one week he was glad to return home to Wales and he valued his time and family more than earning the big bucks with less stress and expense.

ive been in a job that required an M5 - M42 - M40 trudge of only about 40 miles each way but like an earlier poster it was the hit and miss nature of the drive that got to me. some days you would get from A to B in 50 minutes doing a steady 65-75 other days you hit traffic near the M40-M42 junction and it would heap another 30 minutes onto the trip and youd be late.

[Slow]

Doesnt sound too bad, if I had a wife/kids to get back to it would suck I imagine. I do 25k miles a year with no commute at the moment. Spend alot of time in the car alone and dont mind it one bit.

[cat with a hat]

My commute is less than 250 meters.

I walk to work.

[daemon]

cat with a hat said:

My commute is less than 250 meters.

I walk to work.

Leaving the house? Nightmare commute.

I work from home.

Edited by daemon on Monday 18th January 12:23

[silent ninja]

Craikeybaby said:

I'm at an infotainment tier 1, so mainly deal with electrical. Getting to Gaydon is the main reason I haven't switched to the other side.

Throw in flexible working (non fixed times, ability to work offsite) and all the benefits in being at the best employer in the UK, not least the expansion and growth of the business, network opportunities and experience you can gain working with pretty talented people, there are many good reasons to work there.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-13/...

Gaydon will also have the expanded dual carriageway soon, although I'm not sure whether that will solve the traffic problem. We'll find out in Spring when it opens

[scruggs]

I travel 140 miles per day at peak times along the A2/M2/M20 depending on which one is clearest on the radio reports. Part of the game is not to get involved in carving through the traffic 'pushing on'. You get stressed and tired that way and in the end only realistically save a few minutes. If the roads are busy I roll it along at 70 not worrying if I have to slow down occasionally for lorries. If the roads are quieter then its 80 on cruise control. Time taken varies from 1hr 15min on a good run to an average of 1hr 25min. Get caught in a jam and anything is possible! BUT......

I spent the previous 30 years of my life living within 10 miles of work and after a while it seemed like I never got away from it all. I worked, lived and socialised all in a small geographical area in which you can go 'stir crazy'.

Nowadays I live near the coast and have a domestic life that is completely separated from work life.

Yes it costs money on fuel and car wear and tear. But you have to buy wisely in the trade off between the extremes of ultimate economy and comfort. Bouncing along in an eco-box over those distances will be tiring so you need some comfort.

[ColonelKurtz]

crazy about cars said:

1 hours 10 mins for your 160 miles commute? That's good!

I commute 18 miles each way and that can take from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes each way if traffic is really bad. My average is around 50 minutes of commuting each way.

Just re-read my post and realised it was misleading. it is c. 1hr 10min each way (74-odd miles). Still, based on previous experience driving from Maidenhead to SLough when it could take up to 50 mins to drive c. 10 miles door-to-door, 1h 10m for 74 miles ain't bad. Your commute sounds similar.

The only slight concern is that the commute will never be much quicker but could get a lot longer over time. not yet succumbed to the boredom of driving the same long route. I am hoping the constantly changing cars will keep the interest up.

[ColonelKurtz]

Craikeybaby said:

That is bloody good going! I'm guessing by the car choices you're at JLR? It usually takes me 45 minutes to get to Gaydon from Coventry when I'm there for meetings first thing.

I don't envy you heading to Gaydon. I see the line of backed-up traffic heading to the J12 M4 exit as I head north to J15 & Wellesbourne. The traffic to the site looks crazy. If I was based there I expect my commute would almost double.

[ColonelKurtz]

silent ninja said:

Time is more of a factor than distance. I go through a congested part if the country so the 60 mile commute one way takes 1hr45...if there are incidents like this Monday - it took 2hr40 there then 2hrs bsck- then it can get pretty frustrating.

Impact on personal life is great. Sometimes I feel like a taxi/hgv driver. There's no time for gym after work and no quality time with family - can't even find time to help kids with homework on weekdays.

I'm now doing 1 day from home and commute either super early (5.30am set off) or late (8.30am) because I've found traffic in the middle just too heavy. If I leave late its a mere 1hr10 journey which is not hard at all.

I say if the experience and role is worth it's value, aim to do it 6-12 months. Long drives really wear you down...

You're right there; time is more of a factor than distance. I was getting caught up in the "it's 74 miles away!?!" but the average commute time is better than some friends who are much closer ditance-wise to their offices (much like some of the other posters). Once I got the distance from home out of my head, things settled down. ALthough, if the M40 ever closes.....well I might just bring a tent in the car as a precaution.

[Hackney]

GetCarter said:

O/P

Yep. Crazy.

I did 200 mile round trip for 8 months and during that time wasted about 18 days of my life. Never again.

Unless you think spending that amount of time in your car is a making serious use of your short time on earth, I'd think again.

HTH

It feels like a better use of time than my commute, 21 miles / 1 hour 20
Is feels more rewarding to go further in that time, but essentially the distance doesn't matter it's the time.

Put another way, I'd rather an 80 mile commute in an hour 15, than a 20 mile commute in the same time.

[GetCarter]

Hackney said:

GetCarter said:

O/P

Yep. Crazy.

I did 200 mile round trip for 8 months and during that time wasted about 18 days of my life. Never again.

Unless you think spending that amount of time in your car is a making serious use of your short time on earth, I'd think again.

HTH

It feels like a better use of time than my commute, 21 miles / 1 hour 20
Is feels more rewarding to go further in that time, but essentially the distance doesn't matter it's the time.

Put another way, I'd rather an 80 mile commute in an hour 15, than a 20 mile commute in the same time.

I agree with that fully.

I now work from home, so (apart from a twice yearly flight to London) have a 20 yard commute. It's the way t'go people!