How far / long do you commute?

My fiancee and I considering relocating about 45 minutes south of where we live now. This will allow her to start her private practice in the same area she went to school and she already has a ton of contacts in the area for referrals, etc. That is the upside.

The major downside is that we currently live about 5 minutes from my office. Part of my plan involves staying at my firm for the next couple of years (possibly longer if I'm offered partnership). If we move, I'd be commuting 45-60 minutes each way everyday. I will probably be able to work from home 1 day a week, but I'll still be logging a lot of miles.

I thought this was a huge inconvenience, but after talking to some friends, it appears many people drive 45 minutes each way to work. That was surprising.

How far do you commute each day?

I commute one hour each way per day to the city i grew up in. The drive gets
very rough and I use up a lot of gas and miles.

I took the job one year ago with the inclination that I'd be able to work
from home 1-2 days per week which would make it bearable.

I took it b/c I was having a tough time finding good jobs in our city
to feed my family while I worked on my dreams/goals.

If it's short term and your situation turns out better than I think it
wouldn't be so bad, but for us we aren't making enough to make
it worth while.

That's a tough one to answer. I wished everyday that I hadn't taken the job,
but the drive isn't the worst part of it either.

I've commuted a lot growing up between these two towns with school
and living places.

Joe

I work out of my home 100%, so my only driving each day is to take & pick up the kids to/from school about 5 blocks down. I don't know how you guys commute these days with gas prices the way they are. Aren't more companies looking at allowing folks to work from home, atleast 1-2 days a week?

- Hakrjak

Yeah gas kills me esp since it's not tax advantageous as an employee so I get screwed.

I live in Dayton Ohio which is one of the top 10 dying cities according to forbes
and companies are seriously tightening their belts around here and that's according
to many folks I know.

I was told in interviews that working from home was a viable option
but they quickly nixed that for the entire group I'm in except the folks
who've been there 20+ years. Corporatet politics suck.

I'm working on building my stuff part time so that takes time as well.

We are contemplating a move down south as we speak but that has
its own challenges.

Joe

Get the book, "The 4 hour work week" -- As it has lots of strategies to use for getting your boss to let you work from home.

The best one I suggest is for you to get the program "Gotomypc" and start using it to work from home in your spare time... Then call in sick a couple days and use the program to work from home while you are "sick"... Let your boss see that you are already working from home and doing it well, and that way when you ask him to go to a 4 day work week or let you start working from home 1 day a week, it won't be such a stretch.

Cheers,

- Hakrjak

I currently commute 33 miles each way, or about 50 minutes. It is rough and definitely sucks (especially after a long day in the office, when you get in your car and realize you are still a looooong way from your couch, haha). It also dosent help that I commute on the same highway almost EVERYONE in North jersey takes everyday, 80 East in the mornings and 80 West in the afternoons, so the drive is WITH heavy traffic both ways as everyone fights to get into NYC.

However, I did read recently that the "Average" commute time for someone in NJ is one hour each way, so I guess Im not the minority, lol.

What I wouldnt give to work from home or have a 5-minute commute....Ahhhhhhhhhh

I never measured it. From the bedroom to the living room ~50 feet.

1 more nice thing about working from home -- No extra clothing costs, and no need to shower / get dressed 1st thing in the morning. You can wait until you have a break or whatever. Lets you have more time to sleep in!

- Hakrjak

Yeah, the traffic can be a problem in the morning when everyone is trying to get ready at the same time in the bathrooms and hall. The solution is to stay in bed until everyone is going.

15 minutes. I need a working space, I´m still in our family house and 'work from home' didn´t work for me.

I've tried personally to get footing on working from home. They're basic
response is to find a new job.

I guess I'm not offering enough value to keep.

Anyhow, that is that. I don't want the job anyhow so I use
the commute time to do productive things like think, listen
to tapes, etc...

I also have worked it out at least to work a straight 8 hour day
going in at 7 and leaving at 3 thereby nto running into traffic
and not wasting an hour for lunch.

But that's 10+ hours a day I'm working or doing anything for work.

Working on making changes, but if I was paid say 6 figures a year
it would at least make things a bit easier, but what trade offs would
I have to give.

Joe

6-7 feet, depending on how i'm sleeping.

12 miles one way. Although, I can work from home 2-3 days/week, I usually only work from home about 2-3 times/month for personal reasons. I also am "lucky" in the sense that my work environment is flexible, meaning I can come and go as I please without too much hassle and avoid the rush hour traffic.

hakrjak - I think we are in the same line of work, judging by some posts you made in the past.

Could be man -- My company has a huge datacenter out by RoundRock, TX that I was visiting last year. Do you happen to work there?

- Hakrjak

Live there, but work in Austin.

Hmmmmm .... Can only think of one such company in Round Rock.

My daily commute has been to my dream (nightmare) rehab home project which is about 15 minutes.

For the past 9 months, I've been commuting about 35 miles (50 minutes) to my client across town. Fortunately, over the summer, they've started letting us all work from home (for the past 3 months) so that's been VERY nice.

New gig starts next week, however, which means I'll be flying to Houston and back every week. So 300 miles? Better than the contract in Seattle (1700 as the crow flies).

Most Days: From Bed to Garden Outside
About once a week: 4 miles to a property
About once a month: 400 miles - give or take to a different property
Occasionally.... All over the vast state of MT in search of deals.

Like ATW, it depends.

30 sec Most days (bedroom to office).

2-3 min Some days, (office to B&B across the street).

1-2 min Each day, once or twice, walking across propty to check on contractors/answer site questions.

Occasionally we drive 1-2 hrs to pick up or look at something. But we try to do most via internet ordering and drop shipping.

-Russ H.

15min each way on a two-lane highway through the Teton valley. My commute is truly relaxing.