Is 100 miles a day too far to commute?

Five_Star · 19 Sep 2010 at 00:16

After reading the How many miles do you do a week commuting thread its got me thinking about just how far is too far when looking for the next job?

I've been lucky in that I used to get the train to work, all of 15 minutes, then later in another job 20 minutes of walk / bus to work.

Now I'm looking at spending more than an hour each way and about 100 miles per day total in the car just to commute.

Having never experienced this before am I going to hate the job and resent the work because I'm forever travelling and stuck in traffic? The route is mainly A roads and some dual carriageway here in the North East but with some nice parts notorious for congestion.

So is it worth it?

Five_Star · 19 Sep 2010 at 00:48

This is my concern. The job I am looking at is the same money I was on before redundancy just the new position is now 54 miles away on the map.

I'll be sat at a desk for the 8 hours at work, not physically demanding but tough mentally sometimes.

Its interesting that the drive home could be relaxing, travelling by public transport is anything but.

Five_Star · 19 Sep 2010 at 01:19

Yes with the prospect of no job or 54 miles at the start and end of the day it isn't the end of the world I guess.

The Focus ST will have to be sidelined for a diesel, the short list is:

Mondeo
Volvo S60 or V70
BMW 320d

There may well be a further 'spec me' if I actually need to get something in the coming weeks

Five_Star · 19 Sep 2010 at 16:33

Some really good options here, I think it'll be easier for me to decide if the travel is worth it when I interview next week. One position is in Newcastle (the wrong side of the Tyne for me unfortunately) and the other just outside York so opposite directions from each other.

As suggested I'll be trying the routes at fairly standard times so leaving the house at 7am to see what the traffic is like.

I'm happy about the dual carriageway section of the A19 and the A1 (although it can get very busy) its certainly preferable to the single carriageway congestion around York.

Of course these are all irrelevant points if I don't get either job but glad to see its not impossible.

Five_Star · 23 Sep 2010 at 10:43

Now I've got a dilemma, I've been to two interviews, one north, one south and they both liked me! The drive was OK light traffic on the dual carriageways and more traffic around the city but it wasn't awful, both took about an hour fifteen. I even managed 34mpg in the ST!

Obviously if there is an accident or worse weather in winter its going to delay things but I'm still not sure I can see myself doing this five days a week.

Is it going to be easy to settle into a pattern for this? I can imagine you get used to it eventually. Its also pretty terrible that I'm complaining about being offered more than one job, I really am useless at some decisions.