Long commute to kickstart career - good idea?

If its 1 hour each way then its not too bad but journeys of that length on a motorway are highly variable on time, without knowing which section you are talking about sometimes a motorway trip can double in time if something goes wrong (and it often does) so your girlfriend needs a backup plan to get home.

I've been doing 45-60 minutes each way for 8 years now and its OK but I'd be happy to shorten my journey back to the 15 I used to have and will do as soon as possible. 2 hours in a car every day is a lot of your life and time that you can use in so many better ways, what amounts to a 12 hour day door to door leaves little time for better things in life.
 
peige said:
If its 1 hour each way then its not too bad but journeys of that length on a motorway are highly variable on time, without knowing which section you are talking about sometimes a motorway trip can double in time if something goes wrong (and it often does) so your girlfriend needs a backup plan to get home.

I've been doing 45-60 minutes each way for 8 years now and its OK but I'd be happy to shorten my journey back to the 15 I used to have and will do as soon as possible. 2 hours in a car every day is a lot of your life and time that you can use in so many better ways, what amounts to a 12 hour day door to door leaves little time for better things in life.
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This. My normal commute is ~20 mins, but if something goes wrong on the motorway, the longest I've had is 3 hours. Luckily there are a couple of reasonable alternative routes through country roads, which take 5-10 mins longer than normal, but still significantly quicker than sitting in traffic for hours.

I took a pay cut to leave my last job (minimum of 45 mins each way) so I could be closer, as several people have posted, it's soul destroying - the last thing you want after a long hard day at work is to get in your car knowing you've got 2 hours until you get home, only then to hit the motorway and realise it's going to be more like 4-5 hours.

If there's a definite "end goal" in place e.g. you know it's only going to be for a year, and it will put you in a significantly better position at the end of it, then it might be worth considering, but otherwise I wouldn't.
 
A lot of comments here from people in different positions and forgetting what it is to be early in career.

When I first started I did circa 1 hour (30 miles) each way on country roads to my first job for 4 years. The time driving really wasn't an issue and in fact I found it quite relaxing, time to switch off on the way home.

The fact is, I wouldn't be where I am today without. If it's an enabler, you don't have other commitments right now that conflict, you can afford it - then I don't really see any negatives to help it get where you want it to go.
 
tlrBeta said:
A lot of comments here from people in different positions and forgetting what it is to be early in career.

When I first started I did circa 1 hour (30 miles) each way on country roads to my first job for 4 years. The time driving really wasn't an issue and in fact I found it quite relaxing, time to switch off on the way home.

The fact is, I wouldn't be where I am today without. If it's an enabler, you don't have other commitments right now that conflict, you can afford it - then I don't really see any negatives to help it get where you want it to go.
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An hour on country roads is very different to an hour or 2 using motorways or busy A roads though where an hour or 2 easily becomes 2 or 3 hours as soon as something goes wrong which happens quite often in my experience, at which point you're spending most of your life at "work" and both your personal and professional life will begin to suffer.
 
Siliconslave said:
I'd go against the grain slightly here
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Me too; I think this can only be answered by you really as you know your current situation and limitations you have faced. If your current job has no prospects and is holding you back, and you have not got any better options closer to home, the move, although far from ideal in the long-term, could yield a step up the ladder for you. Risks are obviously that the increase in commute puts a strain on your personal life, the progression doesn't materialise and you don't see the benefit that you thought you would.
Risks of staying where you are; you don't progress at all, you are limited in what you can do and don't like it.

At the end of the day only you know what your options are and if you think you could suck this up for a period to get you to that next step. It'll be much more palatable to do now than when you have kids etc. which would increase the strain on personal life. Whilst not something most would recommend, of all the times to do it, this is probably your one.

Obviously I'd explore options closer to home as well, but if this is something you truly believe will get you to that next step, I'd consider the move. If it's **** you can suck it up a bit and then look somewhere else.
 
tom_e said:
An hour on country roads is very different to an hour or 2 using motorways or busy A roads though where an hour or 2 easily becomes 2 or 3 hours as soon as something goes wrong which happens quite often in my experience, at which point you're spending most of your life at "work" and both your personal and professional life will begin to suffer.
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We need them to confirm what exactly they meant :) I agree - 2 hours each way, a little too much and I do appreciate "issues", been there done that also :)
 
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Siliconslave said:
I'd go against the grain slightly here, if it is really a good opportunity you couldn't get locally and you think it'll have a positive effect on your career then seriously consider it. A lot of jobs are beginning to allow a good percentage of home working, although its likely not the case initially if you do well and progress you may get the option. A few years committing will be horrible (tip: audio books), but it could seriously pay off later down the line.
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I agree with this. If it's a worthwhile investment into the future then it could be worth it (OP needs to weigh up all the pros and cons relevant to their own situation of course). It might be a bit of a grind, but much better to do that for a year or so to create better opportunities for progression than to wake up in 20 years' time in the same role as now, wishing that you'd taken the opportunity to improve your prospects when it presented itself.
 
tlrBeta said:
A lot of comments here from people in different positions and forgetting what it is to be early in career.

When I first started I did circa 1 hour (30 miles) each way on country roads to my first job for 4 years. The time driving really wasn't an issue and in fact I found it quite relaxing, time to switch off on the way home.

The fact is, I wouldn't be where I am today without. If it's an enabler, you don't have other commitments right now that conflict, you can afford it - then I don't really see any negatives to help it get where you want it to go.
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An hour each way on nice country roads, is not even in the same league as two hours each way on the M3.

I did a six-week stint doing that sort of mileage when I was consulting and I didn't want to stay overnight in the dump that is Enfield. It was bloody awful.

Early in your career you should be enjoying life and not burning yourself out in a commute from hell...
 
mid_gen said:
An hour each way on nice country roads, is not even in the same league as two hours each way on the M3.

I did a six-week stint doing that sort of mileage when I was consulting and I didn't want to stay overnight in the dump that is Enfield. It was bloody awful.

Early in your career you should be enjoying life and not burning yourself out in a commute from hell...
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Need them to confirm 2 hours each way - if so, yes a little ott.
 
tom_e said:
2 hours round trip I'd say go for it, 2 hours each way absolutely not.

When I'm in the office and the world isn't on it's head my commute ranges from 1-1.5 each way, possibly stretching to 2 hours in the evening if the traffic is bad or a road is closed and it definitely sucks the life out of you.
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2hrs when the traffic is bad feels like hell... doing that every day would be bad enough without the possibility of it being 3-4hrs at holidays/traffic accidents :eek:

I did a 1hr - 1.5hr commute for 4 years (to get in to an industry) and it was soul destroying.
 
tlrBeta said:
A lot of comments here from people in different positions and forgetting what it is to be early in career.

When I first started I did circa 1 hour (30 miles) each way on country roads to my first job for 4 years. The time driving really wasn't an issue and in fact I found it quite relaxing, time to switch off on the way home.

The fact is, I wouldn't be where I am today without. If it's an enabler, you don't have other commitments right now that conflict, you can afford it - then I don't really see any negatives to help it get where you want it to go.
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1 hour each way is more than acceptable though. Even people who rely on public transport such as a bus could easily have a 1 hour door-to-door commute to travel 4-5 miles.

2 hours each way for 5 days a week will really grind you down after a couple of months. If you're able to take advantage of WFH for even 1 or 2 days a week, that'll make a massive difference to your mental wellbeing of not doing a 10 hour week commute.

There's also travel consistency, UK motorways have regular crashes from people not paying attention, or sudden bad weather etc, or even breakdowns in roadworks is always the nightmare. And suddenly that 2 hours is actually occasionally 3 hours.

I used to once a week do a 160 mile commute to my partners. If i did that commute on a Sunday evening, i could drive it in 2.5 hours easily. On a Thursday/Friday evening leaving at anywhere between 4pm and 5pm the journey actually averaged 3.5 hours, and in worst cases (lane closures/junction closures/diversions) could be, and has been 4.5-5 hours.
 
Nope.
My commutes have been 5min walk, 30 min drive, 40 min drive, 1hr 15mins train/tube. I reached my limit at my current one and am only able to continue putting myself through it because I'm able to wfh once a week or more. Going forward it will likely be only 2 days a week in the office due to COVID and the way our company was going anyway. When everything runs to time and there are no dramas it's acceptable.

2 hour each way would be horrible. I mean that's bad enough on a train but at least you can watch a movie. Driving it would get long after just a week of it.

Imagine being at work with a headache or feeling sick. One of those days where you just about get to the end of it. It's raining and already dark. You have a 2 hour drive home minimum but there's been an accident on the M3...
 
Takes me back to the days of commuting through West Wickham and Croydon - what was nominally an 11 mile, 30 minute journey could turn into hours if traffic was bad :| the odd day I could have travelled down to my parents house 110 miles away quicker.
 
For reference when I said go for it, I used to drive 1.5hrs to 2hrs each was to work (A3, M25, M3) for about 3 years in my second job, was a significant jump up career wise and set me up nicely for a much better career.

It also meant i could eventually move out of the south and avoid a much bigger house in a nice area - admittedly its now a 4hr each way commute to my office but as i'm on a home based contract I go into London and stay for a few days, all expenses paid, to do a series of meetings before heading home.
 
Done it for 20 years, even more each way most of the time, some have an easy life for work sitting at desks or working local, unfortunately thats the way it is for my job so just get on with it. :)
 
It depends, I did a couple of months in Crewe (2hrs each way on the train) and it wasn't too bad as I could sit and read a book but if it was 2 hours each way driving no chance, last job I had I travelled to Newbury and back over 2 days and it was soul destroying, getting to the hotel about 8.30 in the evening and then getting back home next day around the same time hence I am no longer in that role.
 
Just No, in the summer it's just about OK but then when winter hits it will feel like hell. Factor in transport either car or train and those 4hr journey could well be 5.

The only positive is can learn a new language with some audio tapes.
 
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