Who's got a long commute to work?

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I am contemplating on moving a little ways out and it looks like my commute would be around 1 hour and 20 minutes(about 70 miles).

Any of you guys have similar commutes and how did you deal with it?
 
Back in 1985-1987 I worked as a assembly supervisor in a plant. I worked second shift and I, too, had a 70 mile trip one way. I left my home at 1:30 pm to get there by 2:45 and I could not leave the plant until my reports were done, which was around 1:00 am. I got home around 2:30 am. To make a long story short, I did not have much of a life. I was either at work, commuting, or asleep. I took a pay cut and a entirely different job just so that I could start living again. There is more to life than money.
 
It all depends on traffic patterns. 1.5 hours can be fine, and 45 minutes can be terrible, depending on where youre going.

For a time, my father was doing 55 mile each-way commutes. He was always going against the flow of traffic, so even though it took time, he really didnt mind it.

I drive 40 miles, and sit through 2-3 traffic jams each way. The drive isnt too bad when there is no trafic, but with my work schedule, Im guaranteed to hit traffic bad in at least one direction. I totally dont enjoy it.

When I was in grad school, the commute was about 37 miles. It was on roads with light traffic, and through some farmland in southern NJ. I loved the ride, and it wasnt an issue.

I know some people that work with me (in Philadelphia), who used to work in Annapolis, but whose jobs were moved up here when they closed the Navy yard. Some of them are up and out at 345 am, and get here at 530 am. They leave at 330 pm to miss traffic. That must be crazy. Though they miss most all traffic, etc., the sheer time consumption must make them go crazy.

JMH
 
I have a 37 mile commute to and from work. It takes about an hour which isn't that bad but I would love to cut that in half. if you think of all the time you would save over the span of a year or longer it adds up fast!
 
quote:

I am contemplating on moving a little ways out and it looks like my commute would be around 1 hour and 20 minutes(about 70 miles).

Any of you guys have similar commutes and how did you deal with it

My commute over the last 4 years has been insane.

At one time it was 64 miles one way.

Now it's 40 miles one way.

Tack on the trips I was taking to see my wife up in NY, I would avg 1,100 a week. I couldn't deal with it in the end. Without travelling up there though, it was tolerable.
 
The 70 miles is one way
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Currently my commute is 18 miles so this is a major change.I am sure I could handle it at first but I am afraid it'll drive me nuts after while!
 
My job gets parked in the driveway so my commute is about 30ft...lol! I've had jobs before which required driving an hour each way and I'd never do it again. Cars/gas/maintenance are too expensive and my time too precious.
 
I agree with some of the other posters. Its all about quality more than quantity. If is was a leisurely 70 mile drive across a pastoral landscape on a pristine highway to your dream job, it would be no big deal.

I have a reverse commute. I live downtown and 3 years ago my job moved to the godforsaken suburbs. Despite the fact that I am going against the routine flow of traffic, it is a nightmare, because Environazis successfully killed any chance of adding road capacity to Toronto 30 years ago. There is really only one road in and out of the city.

I only have to go 20 miles (5 miles city, 15 miles hwy) but it usually takes close to an hour. Best case scenario is about 35 minutes. Worst routine case (excluding a natural disaster!) is about 90 minutes.

I either have to leave home before 6:45 AM or after 9:00 AM to avoid constant bumper to bumper. On the return trip, leaving work anywhere between 3:30 PM and 7:00 PM nets the same.

Its about 1.5 to 2 hours out of my life everyday that I am not getting back.
 
I drive 40 miles one way opposite of traffic. It really does stink in the long run because it takes so much of your day, but sadly my commute time is about average for our area. If it was 40 miles with traffic I could never do it.

-T
 
Mine isn't long in terms of distance (25 miles) but it can be long in terms of time. On a good day it takes me 40min, but a lot of nights it takes me 50-60min. When there have been bad snowstorms it has taken me as long as 3 hours!
 
I drive 53 miles each way, and I have been for 5 years this summer. It takes me about 57 minutes driving usually no faster than 70, so you can see my average speed is relatively high. I carpool about 60% of the time, so my annual mileage is somewhat reduced. My wife drives herself to work 100% of the time 37 miles each way. My wife and I drive about 55k miles a year combined.

We have spent a lot of time and money commuting over the last several years, time and money we will never get back. If my wife and I can both find jobs near a place we would like to live (small town), we will be moving. I realize that finding good jobs near a nice small town may never happen. I can keep this commuting up for a long time if need be, but I think my quality of life would be better if I spent that 500 hours a year doing something contructive.

The one cool aspect is that I have really honed my automotive maintenance and repair skills. I am 10 times the mechanic I was five years ago.

Driving this much also makes for a good lubricant and additive test environment. Many a BITOGers dream I bet.
 
I used to work at Food Lion's DC in Clinton, TN and Lived near Corbin, KY. It's almost exactly 70 miles one way. I absolutely hated my commute, up and over Jellico Mtn at 4:30 AM. the job started at 6am and finished when all the orders were out, usually between 4 and 6pm. I had no life what so ever, I had to be in bed by 8:30pm to get up the next morning. My current commute is 25 miles and will drop to 7 miles in the next week ( I work construction) much much better
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-Bret
 
I commute 50 miles each way to school every day, but it's totaly against traffic, and it's 80 mph + on interstate highway. I actually kind of enjoy it, cause I love listening to talk radio, and Denver has the best talk radio station in the country. I do hit traffic jams on occasion, depending on the time of day. The road rage around these parts is getting out of hand; that gets annoying after a while
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After this summer, it'll be a whole new ballgame though. They're doing a 500 million dollar + widening of the interstate through CO Spgs. Man, if people are ****** at traffic now...............
 
quote:

I commute 50 miles each way to school every day, but it's totaly against traffic, and it's 80 mph + on interstate highway. I actually kind of enjoy it, cause I love listening to talk radio, and Denver has the best talk radio station in the country. I do hit traffic jams on occasion, depending on the time of day. The road rage around these parts is getting out of hand; that gets annoying after a while

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What is going on out in Colorado? It's becomming the "wacko" state. Columbine, this professor etc....seems like it's getting nuts out their. Drew, don't take it personel.
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quote:

Originally posted by Drew99GT:
I love listening to talk radio, and Denver has the best talk radio station in the country.

I dont know. 710 WOR out of north NJ/NYC is pretty darn good...

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JMH
 
quote:

Originally posted by Chris142:
It's 6.5 miles from my front door to my shop. Takes 40 mins to drive!

I couldn't do that. Even if I had a hybrid car that shut itself off and had regenerative braking (so the drive wasnt a TOTAL waste), I still dont think that I could sit in a car so long, doing stop and go.

JMH
 
I spend 10 minutes going to work each day normally. In the winter it can be exciting alittle. If have the duty phone and it snows so where I need to be to work at 4 A.M. to plow, I have to drive on the road to work that I get to plow and sand before the school buses make their rounds, so life can get a little hairy driving down Snake Hill to work at 4 a.m..
 
I work from home most of the time, so my commute is about 30 seconds and I can do it in my underwear!

Wayne
 
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