Is commuting to work a bad idea? (Portland, Bangor: home, employment)

[alittlenerdy]

What does everyone think about commuting?

Because... I like this little area of Maine that is sort of "out of the way", and if I were to be working in my profession at a hospital, it would take me a while to get to work everyday- like 1-2 hours each way.

[bignhfamily]

I know several professional type folks that travel 1-2 hours each way to work. Though, I would dread commuting like that everyday, same time, same place.
As a contractor, in this economy, I go where the money is and the jobs are. Sometimes, we travel several hours to a job site. Other times we a lucky and get to work in town.
I guess, if I knew I had a steady job and having that employment would allow me to live in Maine, I'd travel up to a couple hours a day.

[Mark S.]

I know people who commute 90 minutes each way in good weather. A good 3 hours in bad snow. It's no fun but folks do it.

[JC3]

Not many sane people want to commute 1-2hrs each way to work. But as the saying goes...you do what you gotta do.

[RHB]

I don't think I would travel that far...here's why...

Work 8 hours, drive 2 (1 hour each way)..that's a 10 hour day
Work 8 hours, drive 4 (2 hours each way)..thats a 12 hour day
Double that for snow storms,or road work..now you are talking about 12 and 16 hour days....

When would you have time to enjoy your little piece of heaven? Not to mention the cost of running the car all that time.

[shadowfax1997]

Long commute. It takes me 40 minutes to get to work - about 28 miles. about half of that is interstate. My wife commutes with me at same time, so we only need to use one vehicle. Gives us good time to chat and decompress on way home. But, there are many days that driving that long is annoying and exhausting. Plus as a teacher, there are roughly a dozen nights during the year I am expected to work late - until 9pm sometimes. Living so far away makes it silly to go home right after school and then return to work. We use one tank of gas in the car per week, but when gas was $4/gallon, it was getting expensive.

But, I live away from the city and the kids I work with. I have great privacy. When I ride my motorcycle, I am instantly on good roads instead of fighting traffic. Depends if the pluses out weigh the negatives.

[island mermaid]

It used to take me 45 minutes from Harpswell to Portland, I didn't mind it a bit. It allowed me time to plan my work day on the way in and to decompress on the way home. It was a breeze.

[starwalker]

I've done it elsewhere and hope I never have to again. I chose to work close to home (3.6 mile commute) at a low wage job and do not regret it one bit.

[reloop]

We were discussing this very issue where I work just the other night. I don't have a long commute to Bangor, but I work with many people who commute from E Millinocket, Millinocket, (60 + minutes) Newport, (60 min) Dover Foxcroft, (50 + min) Burnham, (90 +min) Pittsfield, (90 min) Ellsworth,(90 +) and Hartland (nearly 2 hours). I work directly with the ones from E. Millinocket, Burnham and Hartland. The one from Hartland commutes with her husband who works in Orono. She has to be in at 7 a.m., the shift ends at 4:30 and she has to hang out until her husband gets out at 6 p.m. They do what they have to, but I don't think I'd be very happy with that long a commute. Their children are grown, so that's not an issue, but I can't even imagine having to do that with kids to pick up etc...

[reloop]

Originally Posted by alittlenerdy

What does everyone think about commuting?

Because... I like this little area of Maine that is sort of "out of the way", and if I were to be working in my profession at a hospital, it would take me a while to get to work everyday- like 1-2 hours each way.

I guess it would depend on whether or not you're a clinical employee.

Many nurses, techs, etc... can work 3 12 hour shifts in a row and still be considered full-time.