Out of curiosity I have found a job that would be approximately 80% higher pay than I'm getting now, but it would be a 3 hour drive one way. Would that be insane to do or would family life suffer too much. Don't think I could live up there as we have too much family near us. Anyone got long commutes like this?
Furthest you would travel for a job
- Thread starter bakes0310
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Soldato
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- 20 Oct 2005
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Couldn't do a commute like that. 6 hrs driving would be a no go.
Don't mind driving during work but not to get to my office.
Surely you would have no family time with that drive.
Don't mind driving during work but not to get to my office.
Surely you would have no family time with that drive.
Soldato
I have a 3 hour commute (91 miles each way - including Dartford Tunnel).
Before I agreed to the job I negotiated with the company to mostly work from home. I travel in Monday morning, stay overnight in a cheap B&B and drive home Tuesday afternoon.
Couldn't do it every day though, it would be soul destroying.
Before I agreed to the job I negotiated with the company to mostly work from home. I travel in Monday morning, stay overnight in a cheap B&B and drive home Tuesday afternoon.
Couldn't do it every day though, it would be soul destroying.
Permabanned
To answer the title question... I moved to Switzerland for work and was quite happy with 
To answer real question... 6 hours a day commute would be too much for me... 3 hours a day can be very tiring over long periods.
My job is 3 hours a day on a good day and 4 on a bad day.
I get to work from home 2-3 days a week though and it breaks it up to make it more pallet-able.
6 hours a day... no... you'll get on fine for the first month or two and then you'll hate it and regret it, irregardless of the extra cash.
Also consider a surprising amount of that extra cash will be put towards fuel and car purchase / maintenance.
3 hours each way in traffic... I'm guessing that's around 125 miles each way... so 250 a day... 1250 a week... or average of 4500-5000/month when you take into account holidays etc.
Sooo... you're going to be wanting to change cars every 1-2 years (3 years max if you get something good an maintain it well)... have you factored that into your costs? Plus £6-8k on fuel alone at 50mpg.
To answer real question... 6 hours a day commute would be too much for me... 3 hours a day can be very tiring over long periods.
My job is 3 hours a day on a good day and 4 on a bad day.
I get to work from home 2-3 days a week though and it breaks it up to make it more pallet-able.
6 hours a day... no... you'll get on fine for the first month or two and then you'll hate it and regret it, irregardless of the extra cash.
Also consider a surprising amount of that extra cash will be put towards fuel and car purchase / maintenance.
3 hours each way in traffic... I'm guessing that's around 125 miles each way... so 250 a day... 1250 a week... or average of 4500-5000/month when you take into account holidays etc.
Sooo... you're going to be wanting to change cars every 1-2 years (3 years max if you get something good an maintain it well)... have you factored that into your costs? Plus £6-8k on fuel alone at 50mpg.
Associate
I used to commute to London that used to be 2.5 hours each way providing there was no delays was tiring the first month or so otherwise fell into a rhythm.
It’s just me and the misses so wasn’t too much of a sacrifice, however 10 years in I had enough and company now let me work from home full time. Just pop down for a couple of days every couple of months to have some social time with the team.
It’s just me and the misses so wasn’t too much of a sacrifice, however 10 years in I had enough and company now let me work from home full time. Just pop down for a couple of days every couple of months to have some social time with the team.
6 Hours of driving a day, unpaid?! Hell no I wouldn't do that 
Even if it was for double my salary!
I would probably drive a max of an 1hr each way - I've been very fortunate with the jobs I've had and how close they were to where I lived
Even if it was for double my salary!I would probably drive a max of an 1hr each way - I've been very fortunate with the jobs I've had and how close they were to where I lived
Permabanned
Commute into London is vile... train system is horrible, underground system is horrible, traffic is horrible.
No way to get into London comfortably, even down the M11 which is quieter than the western and southern roads :/
Would drive me insane... I've turned down higher paying jobs in central London just because I couldn't hack the commute.
No way to get into London comfortably, even down the M11 which is quieter than the western and southern roads :/
Would drive me insane... I've turned down higher paying jobs in central London just because I couldn't hack the commute.
Man of Honour
If I'm on my own then potentially if the money really is that good, with family absolutely no chance. Even with the increased salary it'd be difficult to do for an extended period of time. Mon-Fri that's 30 hours a week commuting, you could work a 2nd job closer to home if it's purely for the money.
I think maximum I'd go is maybe 1.5 hours on a direct train (and i enjoy commuting!), anything more and it's not worth the lack of time to yourself.
I think maximum I'd go is maybe 1.5 hours on a direct train (and i enjoy commuting!), anything more and it's not worth the lack of time to yourself.
Man of Honour
3 hours driving each way every day would raise safety concerns for me. After a 3hr drive to a full day of work do you really want to be getting in the car to do another 3hr drive? Do that 3-5 times a week and you are guaranteed to be suffer fatigue from the cumulative effect. Apart from being soul destroying, that’s dangerous.
Over time your performance at work will degrade too. You’ll be a **** employee.
Over time your performance at work will degrade too. You’ll be a **** employee.
Soldato
5 miles? haha
Soldato
That's an insane commute. It's a serious pay increase though, consider moving. Rather than travelling 6 hours each and every day for work - just do it when you want to visit family 
I commute about 4.5-5hrs a day 4 days a week. As with Shoeyuk a 'standard' day is generally OK, I don't mind the art of commuting in general as I can get a couple of hours work done, watch catchup tv etc on the train. However when there are delays or can't get a seat it is pretty annoying. It's also at the stage now where I need to spend more hours in the office so it can be a long day if you leave before 7am and get home after 9pm, by the time I've had an evening meal it is nearly time for bed.
depends on the train line, my regular train is pretty naff but I've used the Chiltern Line from my parents house before and it was fine in the morning, nice big seat, two seats each side of the aisle rather than the 3+2 set up on most commuter trains + decent size tables + power points for working on the train
I could do that regularly from say High Wycombe or Beaconsfield if the office was walking distance from Marylebone
Caporegime
Probably hour and half, I've done similar for naff pay before....no way over two hours, I hate driving at the best of times tbh.
When I worked in central London stations my commute was about 45 min - 1 hour max and that was long enough.
Now I work a lot closer to home and my journey ranges from 8 minutes on my bike up to those 8 minutes cycling and another 10 mins on tube depending what station.
I am SO much happier being able to get to work and home so fast, it really makes a BIG difference.
Am looking to go back to central London but in my new role it would be a £10k increase in salary so I would handle it
People that commute 2-3 hrs etc I think are just crazy. So much of your life just being wasted.
Now I work a lot closer to home and my journey ranges from 8 minutes on my bike up to those 8 minutes cycling and another 10 mins on tube depending what station.
I am SO much happier being able to get to work and home so fast, it really makes a BIG difference.
Am looking to go back to central London but in my new role it would be a £10k increase in salary so I would handle it
People that commute 2-3 hrs etc I think are just crazy. So much of your life just being wasted.
Would need to be hefty pay to get me commuting more than an hour each way even then I wouldn't do much more than that - only way I'd do that kind of commute is if it was a short term contract like 6 months or something that paid really really well.
One of the factors that decided me to move out of London was that on a bad day a few miles commute could turn into 3-4 hours instead of 40 minutes and probably have been quicker to walk :s its no fun at all.
One of the factors that decided me to move out of London was that on a bad day a few miles commute could turn into 3-4 hours instead of 40 minutes and probably have been quicker to walk :s its no fun at all.
Do you have kids? Would you work weekends? How demanding is your wife in terms of attention and whatnot? How much does this position mean to you, not only now but in the long run? Is this a stepping stone to a much better career / quality of life / big step in your current career, or is it close to the top of the tree and likely to come along closer to home in the near future? How happy / comfortable are you in your current job?
Ultimately these are all things you'd need to consider before committing to something like this. If it's a golden opportunity and unlikely to come up again any time soon, I'd have no trouble commuting for many hours just to get the experience and title on my CV.
Ultimately these are all things you'd need to consider before committing to something like this. If it's a golden opportunity and unlikely to come up again any time soon, I'd have no trouble commuting for many hours just to get the experience and title on my CV.