Is this a 'normal' commute for most people?

[Celia24]

Im struggling with current commute and can't tell if it's mainly because I got so used to work from home and need perspective!

I joined a company during lockdown and worked from home for over a year. When I joined they said I might need to come in twice a week later on (not as much as other people as I live further away as do two other colleagues). They have only just made office working mandatory a year and a half in, initially trying for more days, but there was a bit of an uproar.

So now I'm travelling in twice a week 1 hour 50-2 hours door to door and I'm already struggling. Am I being ridiculous? In my old job it was 25 mins but I loathed the job!

That’s quite long. Mine is 90 mins each way and I wouldn’t want to do much longer. I think around 30
mins to an hour is normal.

That’s a horrible commute and I can’t imagine it being sustainable for very long. Would you have applied for the job if there was no option to work from home?

That's a fucker of a commute.

Mine is 40 mins each way twice a week and quite enough!

I’d say that’s fairly long. Not unheard of but I certainly wouldn’t want to do it. I’d look for a new job personally.

Yeah that’s long. I did a four hour round trip previously 5 days a week and I was a bit of a wreck. I do 75 min each way now which is much better.

If it’s only twice a week though I’d suck it up for a good job.

No, that’s not normal, it’s one hell of a long commute.

On the other hand, it’s only two days a week. Would it make sense for you to have the two days in the office adjacent to one-another, and to stay over instead of going home?

Thing is my salary is just under 30k which contributes. I think could be on a better salary fairly easily - when I started to say that the commuting cost was a lot my manager said I'd be getting a bonus soon.

I really enjoy the work itself but I'm not convinced that I wouldn't find something similar more locally. I feel guilty about looking around less than 2 years in but the commute is tough.

Train or car? Whereabouts? If train that's a fairly average time.

@QuietQuietBang I've been staying over once a month, twice very occasionally (a standard one night here is about £100). But I really can't do that every week. On a higher salary maybe.

I think that is really long.
30-60 minutes normal.
the 60 minutes tending to be for people who are heading in to bigger cities, eg into London from suburbs

That's 8 hours a week, for two days in the office. It sounds horrendous to me, one of the things that changed my life for the better was moving nearer to my work, moving from a 45-60 min commute either way to about 10 minutes either way. This was pre-Covid and now I work from home most days and much prefer it, with the odd day in the office. I would look around.

Mine is a 25 minute drive each way five days a week. It's basically one road all the way

My previous job was eight minutes each way and an earlier start/finish time. I'm not planning on being in my current job long term

This is my limit, my next job will be closer

Two hours each way must be awful esp as we're now going in to Winter. Leave for work, it's dark, finish work it's dark. Not looking forward to this again

@unsync commute looks like:

3 min walk to bus stop
10 min short bus ride to train station
1 hr 15 train
10 min walk to office

Actually the journey in isn't so bad but the train back is longer.

I couldn’t do that commute. I’ve a 45 minute walk or 15 minute cycle and still complain!

Yeah that's pretty rough. DH did 1.5hours each way (admittedly 5 days a week at that time) for about 3 years and it half killed him. We've now cut it down to an hour and it's made a huge difference. The cost of fuel is huge too at that kind of distance!
2 times a week isn't the end of the world, but it isn't something I'd want to do forever.

I’d be looking for something more local!

Basically I leave at 7am and return by 7pm if I leave work a bit early.

That's way too long for me.

I currently drive just over an hour and I hate it. Wouldn't mind so much if it was on a train/bus but I'm totally wrecked by the time I get home. I finish this job in January though, so it's not for much longer - the commute is about the only thing I'll not miss!

That's a long commute for a not great salary. Dh does 2.5 hours each way but he stays over one night, goes down and back twice a week. So 5 hours on Monday then 2.5 hours on Wednesday 2.5 hours on Thursday.

Up to an hour normal. 90min regular for London. Your commute is on the long side.

I do 40mins each way once a week plus ad hoc longer 3.5 hour journeys to London rarely.

That's too long. Ask again for wfh and if you can't then look for something locally and better paid. It's a job at the end of the day!

Oh just seen you aren't driving - I think that's a different situation. It's annoying because it's such a big chunk of your day, but i wouldn't class it as challenging in the same way unless you're standing for most of it because it's busy.

It is a long commute, but it’s only 2 days a week. Presumably you took the job knowing where the office was and that it wasn’t a fully remote contract?

Twice a week, presumably using some of your travel time to complete work tasks, so enabling you to leave earlier or feel on top of everything, then it’s not bad at all. I did 1.5hours (not distance away, just the transport connections and general getting there on foot end of transport) each way 5 days a week, but I loved the job and had a social life before travelling home so it never felt like a bad commute. Totally unsustainable after mat leave, obviously and I wouldn’t do anything like that now, but if you’re enjoying the job and it’s going to remain at only two days a week, then it’s worth staying isn’t it?

I did, yes. But at the time I was in a toxic job & starry eyed about making the new one work. In reality I do enjoy the work but the commute is hard and the salary isn't great. I think I could justify it better if my salary was better than it is.