Commuting - is this doable?

[Itwasgoodwhileitlasted]

My husband is applying for a job that is a 1.5 hour drive away. 3 hours of driving! Plus a full days work!

Is he mad?

What is your driving commute like? Is this doable?

It's deemed pretty much the norm these days.

Does he have option if flexi working or WFM a day or two a week to break it up?

If it's for the right job, it's completely doable. I live 3 hours door to door from my office. I take the train though. It's not possible to live closer and we wouldn't want to. We have a lovely house and lifestyle where we live. In normal times, I go in 3 days a week, back home every evening, make train time working time, so I'm home by 7-8pm even with 6 hours spent on the train. I personally wouldn't want to drive because it would mean I couldn't get in the extra working hours. But it's certainly not an unusual commute.

I had a 1.5h commute for a few years but it was mostly by train so I could read etc.
I didn’t mind it at the time but, with hindsight, it was s terrible waste of time.

How many days a week would he commute? Is this job particularly well-paid or great for his career?

That’s pretty normal these days, but have you checked the timings, by actually doing a run in rush hour? My one hour commute takes 2.5 hrs at peak times.

That would be too far for me...How many days a week would he commute (I.e. Monday - Friday, Tuesday - Thursday etc)?
My work is a 40-50 minute drive but due to COVID, I'm working from home 3 days a week and in the office 2 days a week (my own choice as I'm lucky to have that flexibility).

Anything over an hour would be too far IMO. If it's that long in public transport it might be good but still a bit of hassle.

I drive ~1hr 10 mins each way, with at least a 10 hour day at work. So even on a "normal" day, I leave the house at 6am and don't get home before 6:30pm. On long days I get back at 9:30 and just have time to gulp down some dinner before going to bed ready for the next one. I don't like it, but it's manageable because I only work 3 days a week. If I was FT I'd seriously want to move.

One of my brothers does 90 minutes each way... on a good day. When the traffic's bad he can easily spend over four hours in the car in a single day.

He does it, and has done for about six years now, but it's taken its toll. He almost never sees his kids during the week. He has back, neck and knee problems from being in the car all that time (although switching to a larger, more comfortable automatic car has helped). He's always exhausted. And his friends have mostly drifted away because he never sees them.

They're looking to reduce his commute. Probably by moving back closer to where he works. The impact on family life, as well as his health and wellbeing, has been too great.

For them it's been the negative flipside of moving out of the city for the usual; bigger house, schools, more greenery, closer to (SIL's) family etc.

I commute 1.5 - 2 hours every day.

I can't drive.

It's awful, but doable.

Is he mad?
No if it is a job that helps build his career and there is some flexibility in start/finish times. Lots of people do it but generally for one to two years.

What is your driving commute like?
Don't have one at the moment. The last one I did was 50-60 minutes but I choose my times to avoid rush hour.

Is this doable?
Yes I've had commutes like this before. I tend to take the train if possible if my commute is over an hour. However, depending on the train company you need to factor in that there will be train delays a few times a week.

I commute that time 4 days week but by train/on foot. It has many drawbacks.

I think that commute by car would have high risk of being detrimental to health/wellbeing.

BIL (in his 30s, with three small DC and a SAHM,m) did this duration pf commute 3/4 days a week by car. For a v v well paid contractor role. He had a number of ‘near miss’ incidents he put down to exhaustion. He enjoys driving but found it v stressful.

I have an 80 mile round trip each day, 1.5 hour drive each way via rural roads, with a ten hour working day, hard, physical work, outdoors in all weathers. The driving is exhausting, on top of each working day, particularly in winter when the drive is in darkness at both ends of the day and driving home, cold, wet and muddy is miserable. I also spend 20% of my net income on fuel alone - job pays very little above National Living Wage. Detest the commute with a passion - it is 15 hours a week of wasted, unproductive time, but nothing, absolutely nothing in my sector nearer home.

To add insult to injury, the music system in my poor, aged old car has given up the ghost, so don't even have that as a distraction or company!

I would say that it is not worth it except for a very well paying job or one which offers significant career enhancement. But it takes its toll on one's physical and mental health, there is no doubt.

I don’t think a 1.5 hour commute by car is ‘the norm’ in the UK. Would be interested in stats but would guess that it’s a small minority of people.