Do you guys commute long distance to work? (1-2hrs)

Is it worth the money buying home far away from work place?

The price of homes in Canada has risen dramatically over several years that many people buy homes in small towns. They commute to work in big cities. Most commuters have to drive 1-1.5hrs to work everyday. It would be exhausting to commute long distance to work. I wouldn't be able to do it for many years. The chances of accidents increase every year.

I live and work in the far NW suburbs of Chicago. It takes me 45-60 minutes to drive from my home to work in the morning. Picture a box and I'm driving from the NW corner to the west side of the box. The time would be cut in half if there wasn't so much traffic - like on a Sunday morning.

I'd LOVE to live closer to work. I hate drive time. The problem is that my emloyers seem to always put office buildings in the middle of really high-cost propery areas. Oh yeah, and it doesn't help that we have horses and need enough room for them.

Ken K.

I had a contract for a year (living in Canada working in Indiana), an it was a 3 hour commute one way. After a month or so, I gave up and made a deal with the client. I work there 4 days during the week working 12+ hours a day and I'll stay in a hotel. Then I got a 3 day weekend every week.

Not a bad gig and was working out well. But stuff happened (i.e. 9/11, USD dollar loosing strength, etc) which made it not an ideal situation any more.

I liked it much better then working in Detroit (across the river from where I was living). Downtown Detroit never bothered me (in terms of safety), but it was the fact you couldn't have a have decent vehicle. The pot holes caused so much damage to my car!!!!!

But for the most part of my career, i've averaged 1-1.5 hours for a commute one way.

Now, I can get to work in the time of playing two 80's big hair rock songs. Also helps to leave before 7am (in island time thats early).

Kris

I currently commute from Marin County down to near San Jose, about 70 miles, or 1.2-1.5 hours, each way. I take side roads to a major congested freeway, cross the Golden Gate bridge, drive through surface streets of San Francisco (there's no highway going through the city), then take two highways down the peninsula to my destination.

It's far more draining than I ever would have imagined - takes a lot of energy and focus and I have to be on the ball the full time. Not sure how long I want to continue this - but I like my job and I like where I live right now, a lot.

I have emergency gear in the car - a BOB, an "overnight BOB", blankets, a stove and some food and water, and so on. The overnight BOB has come in handy often.

Not sure about buying or renting a place down by work - but the longer I stay with the job, the more sense that makes. Hard to balance that with being home with family, pets, etc.

I listen to podcasts on the way if I'm not on the phone (BBC, PBS, Australian National Radio, Scientific American, NPR, and many others - it's amazing what's out there). That makes up for some of the lost time and drudgery (but not all).

One of the real nice things about the rural south is short commutes. I lived in Houston a number of years ago and had to ride about an hour each way.
Presently I commute about 25 to 30 min each way.
Think it could be biked in around 45 min.
A number of studies have found average commutes in the US to be around 20 to 30 min.
The coast and big cities the ride expands to around an hour.
Blue skys

how did you obtain work visa in the US? I want to work contract in US but I don't know the rules.

Can you explain it to me?

Hi Picard

I have to travel about 2 miles to work, which takes about 7 minutes on my bicycle or about a 20 minute walk.

74.4 Miles.
Each way.

2.5 Hours One Way, 5 Hours a day. 3 Days a Week. Yes, that's 15 hours of commuting a week. Most of it is on the bus, though, not a lot of driving.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSApqNJP46o

12 Years now, with one two-year break 2002-2003.

I make - literally - 5 times as much, doing the same thing, in New York City, as I can ANYWHERE else.

The vast majority of my work involves research and writing, so of my work week, I spend 10 on the bus working (the other 5 are getting to and from the bus), 18 in the New York office, and 16 in the home office.

The laptop broadband cards are a wonderful, wonderful invention for the extreme commuter.

If you are a "knowledge worker" and you do most of your work with your head and a keyboard, extreme commuting via mass transit can be some of the most productive time of your day.

I've noticed that a long (1-1 1/2 hours one way) is not so bad when you are single and in your 20's, or even 30's. It is a lot worse when you are older and the family is waiting for you. 2-3 hours a day of lost family time adds up to a lot. More than just the added up time.

I'm lucky now that my commute is 7 miles, and 20 minutes on a bad day. I would never go back to a long commute. I'd trade off income or where I live. You can't replace family.

Commuting by car is an American pastime which I would love to give up. But I've hardly ever worked in an industry that had a lot of players so I've had to go where the work is. I think my shortest commute has been about 5 miles one way, the longest daily commute was 55 miles one way (did that one for almost 7 years).

Right now my office is 35 miles one way and the trip can take from 50 to 90 minutes. Why you ask? Part of it is the 28 traffic signals between here and there. The other part is a highway that goes from 3 lanes to two for no good reason.

I also make weekly trips from PA to Northern Va. That trip is 135 miles. The first 100 miles takes about 2 hours, the last 35 takes an hour (and sometimes 2). Folks who live in and near DC are nodding sagely and sadly.

My wife, 3 miles a day, total.

I'm spending more time working from home, saves gas and keeps the road rage manageable.

One does have to balance the quantity and quality of time one spends in the car vs. the time at home. I like where I live, my wife's family is close and if you're smart the time in the car can be used wisely (listening to Public Radio, the BBC, books on CD, etc.)

But have after 30+ years of spending, on average, 2 hours a day in my car, I'm about ready to call it quits...