Opinions on a long commute to work?

Libs

Libs

Libs

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10 Aug 2005
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I have recently started to look for a new job. My current company is not financially secure at the moment and after a recent sales meeting we were told by the owner that if sales do not improve our jobs are for the chop.

I have just bought a property and obviously can not wait around for this to happen as I have a mortgage to pay. I have also had two years experience with my employer after graduating 3 years ago. I am ready for my next move and have started to look for a new job.

I am a nutritionist and work in the food industry so the jobs I am looking for are fairly specialist. I have an interview next Tuesday with a very good company but its at least 1.30hr drive round the M25 from Essex to Middlesex. At the moment I want to keep my options open especially bearing in mind I may be set to lose my job. I havent been offered the job but supposing I did, I am trying to weigh up whether or not this commute will be too much.

I know ultimately only I can decide but part of me thinks that I should do what ever it takes. The job desciption is what I am looking for and the money is good. But part of me thinks the M25 every morning and night will be hell. If anyone has any opinions on what they would do it might just help me decide if I were to get offered this role. Thanks! :p
 
Difficult situation. I do know that, unless you love driving passionately, then you will hate the commute. 3hrs a day stuck in a car on M25 is not pleasent and the novelty will wear off very quickly.

Will your potential new employer offer you a relocation? If you are made redundant, then will you get redundancy pay? Make sure you have redundancy cover on your mortgage too to buy you some time!
 
I have an unwritten rule that if it is more than 1hrs journey (give or take 10mins) then it's too far. It also depends on whether the traffic is stationary or flowing, by that I mean one of the offices I work at is 9 miles journey, but due to traffic takes an hour at best, but another is 35miles yet takes 40mins at best.

Sitting still, having an extra pair of blindspots etched into your retina by the brake lights infront of you is boring, and difficult (and dangerous) as it will zombify you and make you tired.

A friend of mine recently commuted from Staines (West London) to Bath everyday, he said it was an average of 2 hours each way. (!!) He was happy to do it.

It's all about your tolerances I guess.
 
I'd say that's too much of a commute. The M25 is a nightmare at the best of times and it'll probably drive you insane ;) I myself, could probably put up with a 30-45 drive, but that's about it.
 
I used to have a 10 minute drive to work every morning.
This was increased to around 20 when me and the fiancee moved into our flat together.
When we came to look for a house to buy we couldn't afford to stay as close to where I was working.
So my commute is now approx. 30-40 minutes in each direction.
Personally I consider 45 minutes as about my acceptable limit - any more and I'd seriously have to consider changing jobs or seeing if we could now move a little closer to work.
Just personal opinion of course - I have friends who are happy to spend a couple of hours going to and then coming from work each day.
 
I wouldn't call an an hour and a half that long a commute, mine is 2 hours, and I've managed a 3 and a half hour each way commute before.

It depends on renumeration as well of course.
 
I'd take the job if thats all that you can get, afterall you do have a mortage to pay. Theres nothing stopping you looking for other jobs while you work at the new place.

I used to commute from Sheffield to Nottingham for my old job, Junction 34-26, and on friday evenings it could take up to three hours to get home if there were traffic problems. So I feel your pain regarding your possible commute, but in all honesty I would take the job if thats all thats going at the moment
 
I commute 1.5 hours from work from Essex to London every day on the train (although yesterday it took 3 hours !). It's hard enough on the train, I can't imagine it would be possible driving for that long on the M25. Not to mention that the 1.5 hours would probably be more likely 2 hours+ at rush hour.
 
Personally I don't think 1h 30mins is too much for a very good job opportunity, could be the difference between a job you really enjoy that pays excellently and a job you moderately enjoy which pays averagely but was more convenient being only half an hour a way.

With a decent car stereo and your favorite music commuting isn't so bad :)

I don't mean to impede but is there any chance you could look over my weekly shopping list and tell me if it's healthy enough please? :D
 
Go for it mate. I drive from Luton to London City Airport each day which can take anything from 50mins to 2 hours. I've got 4 different routes I can take although as I work shifts it does mean I miss the worst of the traffic.

As Saberu said, with a bit of your fav music it's not so bad.
 
I commute to uni for an hour each way on the train. I actually quite enjoy it! It's a drag having to get a train at 8.11 when my lecture isn't until 10am (stupid timetables) but I quite like having some time on my own to read the papers, watch some TV shows on my PSP or catch up on some work. Also, travelling through Devon there are beautiful views the whole way.

Driving for 90 minutes on the M25 is a whole different ball game though. Twice I had to drive from Eastbourne to Tunbridge Wells for work which isn't a long journey but absolutely hated it. I couldn't imagine doing it every day.
 
I do a 1 hour commute each day from Essex to London and its bearable but my situation is complicated by an infrequent rail service which mean trains only run once an hour.

Depends what the pay is like, prospects etc etc. I don't think you can afford to say no at this stage, it might be a case of trying it and see how you get on. Problems come when you have to work late yet still face a long commute home. I have been in this position trying to get work done in time to get home at a reasonable time and you can just end up rushing work and making mistakes.

There are people with much longer commutes than you. Some people commute from the midlands to London everyday. Advantage of a train is you can listen to music, read, sleep, do work - something you couldn't do when driving.
 
M25 is a bit of a mare, I personally would say that is too much but then it's all about your circumstances. Obviously you don't want to loose your house so it may be that you have to lump it until you find something else more suitable?

I would say if my work was 30 mins away on the M25 or more then I wouldn't take the job because you know that 30 mins will be 45-60 in rush hour let alone when there's problems. What about trains, is this an option?
 
Wow, well thank you very much for all your comments. Its good to hear from peoples experience with commuting. At the moment I am very spoilt in that I have a 15 min drive to work, lovely :p

There isnt much else around at the moment. I think I could get a job closer to home if I waited a few months but its not knowing exactly how secure the job is. It is with a good company and over £7,000 more than I currently earn, which should cover travel costs and a little bit more.

The drive is 160 miles round trip, so I dont know exactly what this would cost in terms of a years petrol for that distance. I am going to do the drive Sunday to find out where it is and go to the interview in rush hour to see how bad that is. I may not even get the job, but worth considering this dilemma.
 
I'd go for it, you need a new job by the sounds of it, and it could be a lot better than your old one. Listen to music or something to keep you entertained when your driving.
 
Like a lot of peeps have said so far it's a very personal thing.
For the last 4 years I've my commute to work has been 50miles each way and takes between an 60-90 mins.

Am moving soon which will mean a journey of 80miles from Essex to Sussex (via Dartford :( ), this will be 90mins on a good day and has been as bad as 5hrs :eek:

I don't mind the journey, listen to the radio/cd's or think about stuff, but it's definitely a personal thing.
Friends think I'm bonkers at the moment, never mind when the distance goes up.

Yes a commute of 5mins would be nice, but I like my job and I don't want to move house.
 
160miles each way is a heck of a lot, and will take longer than 1.5hrs if in rush hour - especially on M25 (or any where in London, in fact.)
 
Sorry its 80 miles each way 160 miles round trip. I am not able to relocate at the mo as I have just bought a lovely new property. Although going to the interview in rush hour is not good news I will have to do it each day if I was sucessful. I will just get up at the crack of dawn to ensure I am not late and time the journey Sunday so I know roughly how long it should take.

Ill get myself stocked up on all my fave CD's :p
 
I personally moan enough about my commute and it's no where near as far as other people's. Should take 25 minutes off peak. During peak times though it can take up to an hour. Normally 45 minutes average. I just see it as a waist of my life sitting in a car getting bored. Its frustrating and tiring and costly on the petrol to have a large commute.
My commute is one of the reasons I bought a motorbike and can now ALWAYS do the journey in under 30 minutes.

I agree with the above, I don't think I could ever commute more than an hour train/car/bus.
 
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