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The distance from where I live to LIC is only 55 miles, but it took more than two hours--drive to the train station, train to NY Penn, the 1 subway to the 7 subway and walk ten minutes after that. People who live in places where you merrily hop into your car and zip along because there are no people and no traffic would only need an hour or less to cover the same distance.
That's not bad!
My old commute was 35 miles. I'd leave home about 6:40, bike to the station 5-10 minutes away, sit on a train that leaves at 6:57, get to the Boston station at 8:20, walk 10 minutes to my office. 1:50 door to door, for 35 miles.
My wife commutes to northern Rhode Island. 35 miles. 40 minute expressway drive, no traffic except at the beginning and end.
[Snip.] that commute, hundreds of thousands of people go through commutes like that; sometimes 3 hours each way.
I wouldn't do it. Life is simply too short to spend so long commuting you might as well sleep on a folding camper cot thing at work.
Unless you're making oodles of money or have deep local ties, I wouldn't put up with it. My furthest commute was fifty miles one way through the mountains in rural Virginia at night. It could generally be done in 45 minutes.
[Snip.] that commute, hundreds of thousands of people go through commutes like that; sometimes 3 hours each way.
I wouldn't do it. Life is simply too short to spend so long commuting you might as well sleep on a folding camper cot thing at work.
[Mod cut: Orphaned comment.]
Nah, what happens is that you sleep less at night and learn to live like that. Since retirement, I've discovered that my natural need for sleep is about 7 to 7.5 hours a night, but during the working years, I got maybe 6, and during some of the longest days near the end of my career, it could often be less. You learn to catch naps on the train, or read. I did a lot of reading during the commuting years.
There wasn't really a choice for me except in the beginning when I was young and took the job thinking that it was exciting to work in New York City. Back then, the commute was just an hour. As the area where I lived became more heavily developed and marketed as a commuter area, it began to take longer, plus promotions at my job took me to a different part of the city. I ended up in a good management position that I'd worked my way into from being a secretary, but I would never have been able to find a comparable position anywhere else because of my lack of a college degree, and by then I had so many years in the pension system that it just made sense to stay where I was.
There were other advantages to working in the city that make it easier than working in a suburban corporate park, too, and are a trade-off to commuting time. You can get a lot done right there in the city that other people have to do with the time they've saved by not commuting. Food is right there within walking distance, a wider variety of it, too. You shop the farmer's markets in the city that you can walk to and take home fresh produce trucked in by the farmers rather than having to drive somewhere to find similar produce on your off-hours. Same with buying clothes and things for your kids--you walk to the store at lunchtime rather than waiting until you're home and then driving somewhere else, and that's also a huge advantage at Christmas. No sitting in traffic, no jockeying for a parking space at an overcrowded mall.
I was always jealous of my parents commutes, one town over from the house, lol.
I also realized I was making a lot more money than them … ya gotta go where the money is, so I just suck up my commute … catch up on social media or some TV shows on my phone.
Hi curious on how many miles you drive in a day and a week?
Right now I drive 34 miles one way 5 times a week. Thinking of amping that up to 80 miles round trip but hoping to bump my days at work down to 4 days. So I save about 8 miles.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Currently 23 miles each way, the last 10 years. Before that, I drove 12 miles each way, for 16 years. Before that, my commute was 14 miles each way for 17 years. Before that was my worst commute, graduate school, I drove 102 miles each way, but managed to keep it to 2-3 days a week. The thing is, distance is not the only concern. My current commute takes 25 minutes at 5am, but if I stayed until 5:00 it could be an hour or more coming home. I would gladly take a longer commute by freeway at the speed limit than a shorted one that’s always gridlocked.
I know it's not "Mightyqueen801" but, whichever moderator keeps cutting out any reference to Jesus Christ (when used in the non-political and non-religious context of exasperation, exxageration, or exclamation);
Quit that crap!
...by the many well-muscled arms of Vishnu..
...oy vey...
...oh my Science...
...by the Hammer of Grepthar (sp?) you will be avenged...
...by Mohammed (may peace, and a decent commute, be unto him)...
My current (new) job is just 3.2 miles. Takes a little under 10 minutes on residential streets (speed limit of 35 mph) to get there. Best commute ever! I live in the Washington DC/Baltimore corridor. Going just 10 miles on the highways during rush hour can take up to an hour in this region.
As I've gotten older, my jobs have been located closer and closer to where I live. I just didn't want to spend most of my time sitting in the car in traffic. However, I had to give up a few of the benefits of working in the city (mostly higher salary and working for large corporations with more advancement opportunities).
My current commute is about 25 minutes: about 10 minutes to the El from my apartment in West Philly, approximately 8 minutes spent riding the El to 15th Street, and about 2-3 minutes to the office. I'll occasionally bike it to the office as well, which also takes about 20 minutes. For those of you who know Philly well, I work in Two Liberty Place, which is super convenient to get to from West Philly!
I graduated from college last May, and this is my second job since graduation--my first lasted from May 2018 to November 2018. I had to commute nearly two hours (on a good day) each way to arrive at my office out in suburban hell. Now that my position is pretty stable and I'm starting to accumulate experience as a finance professional, I absolutely REFUSE to work out in the suburbs! I never want to live in the suburbs, and I certainly don't want to work there either. Nothing is more depressing than a bland suburban office park, surrounded by a huge island of surface parking and a lack of non-chain lunch options. If and when the time ever comes that I start searching for a new job, my sole focus will be a position either within Philadelphia or NYC, assuming that the employer will pay for my Amtrak expenses if I were to choose the latter.
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For those that drive to work: How many miles?
