Who's lived 90+ minutes away from work?

[Venturist]

Note: I'm NOT talking about commuting 90+ every day. I'm talking about lodging somewhere near work during the week and going home at weekends.

Occasionally I make the mistake of looking at the "real estate porn" thread over in the Homes & Gardens area and it highlights just how much more you can get for your money by looking a little further afield. The same budget buys either an OK sized 3 bed house 12 minutes drive from my desk, or a flipping huge 5 bed, brilliant looking place 1.5-2 hours drive away. Same place here would cost double.

Now I actually quite like a long drive once or twice a week, but I wouldn't want to drive that every day because I'm not a masochist and the fuel and miles on the car would be financially stupid, so I would find digs somewhere near work say 3-4 nights a week. Some of the guys I work with drive 90 minutes each way daily but that sounds like misery to me, and means you'd want to buy a car specially for the commute, some cheap scrotty diesel and leave the fun car at home. I'd rather not, I'll just keep the fun car and accept the cost of the extra 200-odd miles a week it'd put on.

I'm wife-free and I like company anyway, so it would make sense to rent out two or maybe even three of the giant rooms in my house, which would fully cover its costs and keep the place busy and used rather than sat empty while I'm away.


So who does something like this? Do you grow to hate the twice-weekly long drive? Do you hate feeling like you're never at home, paying the mortgage on a place and not being there 50% of the time? Does it feel like you're never fully settled and neither place is really "home"? Or does it make it feel more special when you are at home, like having one car for the commute and something special in the garage? I've always enjoyed business trips, feels like a little adventure and keeps me busy, maybe it'd feel like a business trip every week?

Hmm, hmm...

Edited by Venturist on Sunday 12th February 14:41

[Yipper]

Someone posted a similar thread on this topic, the other day. General consensus was that it is fun for a short while, soul-destroying if you do it long-term.

[DonkeyApple]

It's a very good question. Especially as London prices have finally tipped to the point that there really is some serious thought needed. Oxford and other places just an hour by train from London have all risen strongly in recent years due to this effect.

If all goes to plan I am in the middle of swapping 1500sq ft in central London for about 5000 about 90 mins away from London but I am only doing this because modern comms mean I only need to be in Town once a week.

[alorotom]

Worked in Leeds, Wakefield and Colchester (plus a handful of others) over the passed 6yrs ... I live in Newcastle so anywhere from 2-6hrs in rush hour driving each way

You get used to it, plus we get considerably more for our money up norf lol

[MitchT]

My OH's had a job that was 90 minutes away from where we live. At 19 miles it shouldn't have been that bad but getting through the outskirts of Bradford and then doing J26 to J28 of the M62, a stretch where on a daily basis it would appear 95% of the UK's bad drivers go to have their accidents, made it a total nightmare. After a couple of years she lost the will to live and found another job. Work/life balance was terrible so unless it's your dream job, such that you really don't need any personal time, or they're paying you an astronomical amount of money, such that you'll only have to tolerate it for a few years to be an an extraordinarily financial position, I wouldn't bother. I was contacted by a recruiter about a role in a similar location. Having seen the frustration it caused my OH I said no thanks.

[NDA]

Venturist said:

So who does something like this? Do you grow to hate the twice-weekly long drive? Do you hate feeling like you're never at home, paying the mortgage on a place and not being there 50% of the time? Does it feel like you're never fully settled and neither place is really "home"? Or does it make it feel more special when you are at home, like having one car for the commute and something special in the garage? I've always enjoyed business trips, feels like a little adventure and keeps me busy, maybe it'd feel like a business trip every week?

Hmm, hmm...

I am 90 minutes away - that's the total door to door.

I lived in London for a few years, but much prefer the countryside. I don't mind the commute (it's rail and tube/bus) as I read and I buy a 1st Class ticket which eases the pain very slightly. When it goes wrong (once a fortnight probably) it's horrid - particularly in the summer when you're desperate to enjoy the last rays of sun in the garden. It depends what you want really - I don't like having neighbours or seeing another house. If you want acres of land then it's the only thing you can do. I've never understood long commutes to live in a road with other houses.

[Mr Snrub]

Family friend lives over 2 hours from his job, and since the commute involves the M25 it's often a lot longer. I can't understand it myself, that's 20+ hours a week just driving which is a massive cut on the time you can spend with your family, hobbies or just relaxing. Short term I could do it for the right job, but he's been there many years.

[Hoofy]

DonkeyApple said:

It's a very good question. Especially as London prices have finally tipped to the point that there really is some serious thought needed. Oxford and other places just an hour by train from London have all risen strongly in recent years due to this effect.

If all goes to plan I am in the middle of swapping 1500sq ft in central London for about 5000 about 90 mins away from London but I am only doing this because modern comms mean I only need to be in Town once a week.

I don't see why companies haven't spread further out. As you say, we have technology so why does every major company have to be based in the square mile? Sure, you might need to meet a client or whatever but unless you do it everyday, your employees don't need to be based in the centre of London. If you just have an external meeting once a week, your business could be in, say, Bracknell or Oxted.

[48k]

Yipper said:

General consensus was that it is fun for a short while, soul-destroying if you do it long-term.

This.
I did Northampton-Canary Wharf commute by train/tube for 3 years. It was 2 hours each way if (big if) I made the connections on time and there were no delays. I was surprised how quickly I got used to it and it became habit. What I failed to notice was just how crap a life it was. Also looking back at my accounts, I'm surprised how much I spent on taxis and hotels in that period, when I either could not be bothered to use the tube or even travel home at all.
I'd never consider driving that journey - at least on the train part I had an hour to sleep/read/answer emails/have breakfast outbound or a glass of wine on the way home.

[Venturist]

Thanks for the opinions everyone but I'm not talking about commuting long distances daily. I'd lodge locally 3-4 nights a week. I'm asking more about what it's like staying away from home 50% of the week.

[moorx]

Yipper said:

Someone posted a similar thread on this topic, the other day. General consensus was that it is fun for a short while, soul-destroying if you do it long-term.

This. I moved 125 miles/2.5-3 hours away from work. I wasn't intending to carry on working so far away from home for long but ended up doing it for 4 years. My OH was at home so it wasn't empty during the week; I was staying with my parents, which was 'interesting' (but cheap). I worked compressed hours, so I had a three day weekend - I don't think I could have coped with only two days at home.

Last year I finally got a job near home which allows me to live here. It is nice coming home after work (especially when the evenings get lighter and we can go out with the dogs, etc) but there were actually some advantages to the previous arrangement. OH probably thinks so too!

[alorotom]

I think its different if you're expensed or not ... I am for all hotels and mileage plus all sorted of other elements at a generous rate and no hotel cap so there is no real downside for me, plus my travelling time comes off my working week and I get to spend the time catching up on calls and voicemails etc... normally I do Monday-Thursday on site with fridays at home.

Overall the income it provides greatly offsets the negatives of being away from home ... plus we ensure that I get the maximum time with our daughter when I am home so she actually gets more and better time with me than friends who work locally and see their kids daily (but take that time for granted)

[IanUAE]

Home and main office is in Dubai. Over the last 12 years I would be lucky if I spend 1 week per month in the office as depending on the project I could be in Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, New York, Seychelles or Lesotho.

Oman and Qatar I went home every weekend, but the others it is between 2-3 weeks between visits home. Wherever possible I stay in apartments as they feel more like a home than staying in hotels.

[Yipper]

Venturist said:

Thanks for the opinions everyone but I'm not talking about commuting long distances daily. I'd lodge locally 3-4 nights a week. I'm asking more about what it's like staying away from home 50% of the week.

You end up with a right arm like Popeye.

[myvision]

I do it work in London and travel to north Lincolnshire for the weekends also worked all around the country.
It's great at the start you'll soon get pissed off with it though. I'm lucky enough to rent a full flat now but over the 20 odd years I've been doing it I've stayed in some pure stholes and with some very strange characters.

I'd rather be home every night but there's no call for what I do at home.

[Venturist]

Yipper said:

You end up with a right arm like Popeye.

I'm not married, makes no difference whether I'm at home or away

[alorotom]

Venturist said:

Thanks for the opinions everyone but I'm not talking about commuting long distances daily. I'd lodge locally 3-4 nights a week. I'm asking more about what it's like staying away from home 50% of the week.

I've never begrudged the mortgage at home, as hotel living (or b&q or airb&b or whatever) becomes irksome and tiresome and it's always nice to have a real base as home

I do have friends and colleagues who have a luxurious motorhome instead of a house and use this everywhere they're working so essentially live on a year-round caravan site wherever and live it, and not paying council tax, utilities etc... it's a pain on the neck for correspondence though

[loafer123]

DonkeyApple said:

If all goes to plan I am in the middle of swapping 1500sq ft in central London for about 5000 about 90 mins away from London but I am only doing this because modern comms mean I only need to be in Town once a week.

I have already done the same and, if I do have to go to town, it involves the "Gentlemen's Express" at 9:30 with cheaper tickets and loads of free seats.

[fatboy b]

I've done lodging all week. Can't say it was enjoyable. Current job involves working away sometimes, though the current customer I'm at is and hour away, so commutable. I personally wouldn't choose a job where I was living away all week.

[creampuff]

I live in London. I have a job in Scotland (was the best thing going at the time). Company coughs for the airfares, hire cars and hotels. Nevertheless, I would not recommend it without a very good reason.