Long commutes - update and a job!

littlethoughts

So as you know I'm on the job hunt. I had an interview for a position in Cardiff today that I think went pretty well. Given that the Mrs has a job in Bristol I was thinking of commuting. It's about 50 minutes on the train, plus 45 minutes or so total walking. It's a little quicker to get national express coach (but only just, since it is a little slower but I can get to the bus station much quicker). I could also drive but given the bridge toll, parking and petrol it works out a fair bit more pricey. Really I'm looking at about 90 minutes each way, door to door. Does anyone else commute for this long on a regular basis? Cost wise it's not too bad since I will be earning (after tax) about double what I was earning as a PhD student. In the long run a move wouldn't be a bad idea but it is only a 1 year contract in the first instance so I'm not desperate to move.

EDIT:

Just an update for everyone. I got offered a job here in Bristol with a three year contract. They were both very tempting and the same salary but in the end 3 years > 1 year and 20 minutes total walk each day < 3 hours commuting. I start at the beginning of January

Sambostar

To put it in perspective, it takes me an hour and a half just to do 18 miles to work some days in a Transit tipper that does around 27mpg with no sound insulation.  I think 90 minutes is fairly acceptable.  Driving 80 odd miles to London everyday I would say is pushing it and will take it's toll, unless you drive at 3am at night in a £70k saloon, but plenty of people around here do it 6 days a week and it beats the train.  I think 30-45 minutes is ideal, but most 12 mile journeys these days take 70 minutes in rush hour.

Can you not take a bike on the train? Or store it in the luggage hold of the coach?  Are the hours flexible, or you gotta start at 8:30/9:00am?

Alnico

I used to live in Cardiff in the late 90's and drive to Bristol regularly.

I have since spent many, many days and nights driving both ways in a lorry.

Do not trust the M4, or the Severn crossing. It's a **** of a road and has never, EVER got better. On the *Wrong* night, you just try getting to or from J32 - i'll take your 90 minute drive and raise you another 4 hours.

If you've got to do this, get the train.

Yes i know trains can fuck up too but seriously, do not trust the M4.

Hootsmon

richardhomer

I'm old and tired - there for, I wouldn't countenance the idea.

You'll be fine....

holnrew

Why not get the bus from the train in Cardiff?

Phil_aka_Pip

I wouldn't. That's 3 hours out of your day that you're not getting paid for. I've tried a "long commute" and gave it up fairly rapidly. tbh I'd rather be lower paid and work closer to where I live, but then I am a lot closer to retirement than to my graduation day, and I do own my own house outright: your priorities may be different but suffice it to say that when I gave up the long commute I was renting a council flat and had no thoughts of property ownership. The only way I'd contemplate a long commute is the prospect of making a BIG FAST buck out of it before I tired of it. 

robinbowes

I did small village outside York to Newark for about 3 months. On the plus side, I got 45 mins each way on a train where I could do email, etc. But it was practically 4 hours a day out of my life. Glad to get out of it.

So, avoid, unless it's temporary, or a stop-gap, or will lead to something much better.

R.

TTony

littlethoughts said:

Does anyone else commute for this long on a regular basis?

Door to door, 2 hours, each way.  As long as the trains run to schedule of course.

It means that I effectively have no life outside work & travel Mon-Fri.  Up c0530, on a train 0630, back on a train 1730, home 1930, eat, shower, waste the next hour before bed by 2200 so I can get 7 hours sleep ahead of the next day.

tou get used to it, which is probably not a good thing.

On the upside, I can work 6 months of the year, and I'll probably retire next year, and we live in a beautiful part of the country.  About 2 hours commute from where the money comes from.

Phil_aka_Pip

TTony said:

we live in a beautiful part of the country.  

You most certainly do!

VimFuego

VimFuego

littlethoughts

Thanks for the replies guys. It looks like the votes are for train or not commuting! It gives me a bit more confidence about the journey. A few friends who work in London have a commute of well over an hour and that would be what I would be looking that if I moved there - and I have to move somewhere for work.

Further info: I'm allowed to arrive when I like provided I get the work done. I said "would it be okay to arrive after 10" and he said that would be fine. Apparently he had a similar commute in the past. I think my plan would be to see how it goes and if it's too painful, move closer or look for a different job.

TTony

Phil_aka_Pip said:

TTony said:

we live in a beautiful part of the country.  

You most certainly do!

No pubs, decent, half decent or indecent, within walking distance though

littlethoughts said:

Thanks for the replies guys. It looks like the votes are for train or not commuting!

Be clear about *why* you're doing it.

I do it for a combination of (a) more money and (b) more interesting work than I could get locally.  We (it was a joint decision) decided that we'd find a good place to live which would be *home*, and that I'd travel for work, rather than moving *house* every time I needed to change jobs.  We also decided that I could probably do it for 10 years and then retire, so there's a clear purpose and end-date.

That makes it survivable.

Grunfeld

littlethoughts said:

Does anyone else commute for this long on a regular basis?

Nope.  Because it's time.  And you don't get time back. 

Every 5 minutes extra getting to work equates to a week's holiday.

5 mins there and back = 10 mins daily
5 days a week = 50 mins
48 weeks a year = 40 hours... a working week, even a bit more than a working week for many.

Communing is to be avoided if possible.

VimFuego

Grunfeld said:

  .

Communing is to be avoided if possible.

oh I dunno, if it's done right it can be quite fun.

littlethoughts

Grunfeld;420751" said:

littlethoughts said:

Does anyone else commute for this long on a regular basis?





Nope.  Because it's time.  And you don't get time back. 



Every 5 minutes extra getting to work equates to a week's holiday.



5 mins there and back = 10 mins daily

5 days a week = 50 mins

48 weeks a year = 40 hours... a working week, even a bit more than a working week for many.



Communing is to be avoided if possible.

That... Is an incredibly compelling argument

Emp_Fab

Alnico said:

Do not trust the M4, or the Severn crossing. It's a **** of a road and has never, EVER got better. On the *Wrong* night, you just try getting to or from J32 - i'll take your 90 minute drive and raise you another 4 hours.

If you've got to do this, get the train.

Yes i know trains can fuck up too but seriously, do not trust the M4.

Tell me about it.  I left North Bristol today at 4pm.... and got home at 7:30pm.  3h30 to do a journey of roughly 80 miles.  My sat nav advised me to detour round the bottom of Newport to avoid all the congestion between Magor and Tredegar Park, but the traffic on that road was solid too.  Driving rain, bright headlights in your face and near continual bumper-to-bumper traffic for the entire journey.  It's getting ridiculous - none moreso than on Fridays.  Sometimes I've detoured up the A449 to Raglan and Abergavenny to get away from it, and even though that means an additional 20-odd miles, I'll still likely get home sooner.

In extreme cases I've even detoured right up the M5 to Gloucester and gone cross-country - which is a hell of a diversion, but again - sometimes worth it to avoid the bloody M4.

xSkarloey

TTony said:

littlethoughts said:

Does anyone else commute for this long on a regular basis?

Door to door, 2 hours, each way.  As long as the trains run to schedule of course.

It means that I effectively have no life outside work & travel Mon-Fri.  Up c0530, on a train 0630, back on a train 1730, home 1930, eat, shower, waste the next hour before bed by 2200 so I can get 7 hours sleep ahead of the next day.

tou get used to it, which is probably not a good thing.

On the upside, I can work 6 months of the year, and I'll probably retire next year, and we live in a beautiful part of the country.  About 2 hours commute from where the money comes from.

This. 

I used to have a commute that was anything between an hour and an hour and a half each way by train, depending on if they were playing up or not. 

I know an hour's not too bad, but it was quite a long way, and I had a connection at Clapham to make and that could horrible/ stressful if there was ever a delay.  

I did get used to it, but found my time was so measured out that during the week I wasn't able to do much else but focus on work. 

At that time I didn't have kids. No way would I do anything like that now. Only if the travel was a paid and active part of the job. 

I think if it's only a year it makes it worth considering for you. 

 

edit: just seeing what Sambostar said about taking a bike, I used a Brompton folder to get me to from the station at each end. That did shave quite a bit of time off for me and meant that at the end of stressful days or if the weather was too nice to let pass by, I'd get off a station or two earlier on the way home and cycle the rest of the way. That was always nice.  

EricTheWeary

When I worked in Birmingham City centre our senior manager lived in South Wales. He would drive in Monday morning ( unlike me he got a parking space) and drive home Friday afternoon. Four nights in a hotel ( last minute Internet deals) inbetween. I suspect this was harder on his wife ( they had kids) than it was for him but the rooms cost less than a commute ( or the cost of moving) and he was earning £100k per annum. But, his commute 80% of the time was a 5 minute walk.

chillidoggy

Emp_Fab said:

Alnico said:

Do not trust the M4, or the Severn crossing. It's a **** of a road and has never, EVER got better. On the *Wrong* night, you just try getting to or from J32 - i'll take your 90 minute drive and raise you another 4 hours.

If you've got to do this, get the train.

Yes i know trains can fuck up too but seriously, do not trust the M4.

Tell me about it.  I left North Bristol today at 4pm.... and got home at 7:30pm.  3h30 to do a journey of roughly 80 miles.  My sat nav advised me to detour round the bottom of Newport to avoid all the congestion between Magor and Tredegar Park, but the traffic on that road was solid too.  Driving rain, bright headlights in your face and near continual bumper-to-bumper traffic for the entire journey.  It's getting ridiculous - none moreso than on Fridays.  Sometimes I've detoured up the A449 to Raglan and Abergavenny to get away from it, and even though that means an additional 20-odd miles, I'll still likely get home sooner.

In extreme cases I've even detoured right up the M5 to Gloucester and gone cross-country - which is a hell of a diversion, but again - sometimes worth it to avoid the bloody M4.

It's enough to give you a coronary.