Is a one hour commute too much?

[BernadetteAndHoward]

I am looking at taking a job with an hours commute which could see me being out of the house from 6.30 - 7.30 three days a week. I have a young baby but my partner will take care of childcare runs on these days. I can’t decide if the commute will wear thin very quickly, especially in the winter. I am however really excited about this job opportunity but I don’t want to make the wrong move. What sort of commutes do people do with young kids?

I have a 50 minute commute three days a week and find it very tiring. Not sure I would recommend it!

I choose to get the train usually which takes longer but it's so much more relaxing and I'm better company in the evenings.

Not sure if it is helpful but if you ever ask someone in London how long their commute is it is almost always “about an hour”. Mine is and although I don’t love it it is fine. Depends how you commute though I guess. I sit on a tube and listen to podcasts.

I do similar days with a similar commute twice a week with a pre-schooler and baby at home. It's ok. I work from home the rest of the week, which helps.

It's fine fir x3 days - I am starting a job with an hours commute for x3 days Soon

Use the time on train to do life admin / read a book etc

Thanks everyone. Should probably add it’s a driving commute as I’ll need the car for work during the day and my role is fairly physical too.

Not sure if it is helpful but if you ever ask someone in London how long their commute is it is almost always “about an hour”. Mine is and although I don’t love it it is fine. Depends how you commute though I guess. I sit on a tube and listen to podcasts.

Totally agree! I always allowed an hour whichever part of London I lived in. If it took less it was a bonus.

I had a similar commute by car - it is tiring, but I would put a good book on audible and it really distressed me after work, getting through almost a book a week.

Completely normal. I work in London and don’t work with anyone with under an hour door to door

But it entirely depends on the specific circumstances!

Ten minute drive to a nice train station, 45 minutes gentle journey with a seat, five minute walk through pleasant town - fine.

Three different unreliable busses, standing up, squashed - horrible.

Driving can be ok if you can relax and listen to music - but not if you’d rather be working during the journey.

Only you can say whether your journey would work for you.

I did it for a while though max 2 days and it wasn't ideal but it worked. I ended up taking child with me to a nursery near work and then more recently rushing back for school run near home so sounds much better if someone else can deal with drop offs and pick ups. I would check whether it is definitely an hour at the time you would want to go - mine took just under an hour at quiet times and nearer 90 mins at peak times with traffic. So I ended up leaving earlier than I should have needed to. Another issue was that I couldn't easily pop in on non work days for eg social events or to drop off a document. On the other hand once I stopped taking my child it was sort of nice having the journey time to myself only doing one thing as the rest of the time I tended to be running round multitasking. I recommend an audiobook subscription.

London based and an hour door to door is my rule of thumb. The other thing that's crucial is how many trains it takes (not relevant if you're driving, obvs). I ignored that rule in ex job and spent four years regretting it when I had a 90 minute commute each way that occasionally stretched to 2 hours (thank you and goodnight South Western railway).

I wouldn't. It may be "normal" but it's also unpleasant (as evidenced by the number of people who are now hugely happy to wfh).

If it's truly your dream job and nothing similar close to home I would maybe consider it, but otherwise it would be too much.

Is that an hour without traffic, are you driving in rush hour?.
My drive is only 9 miles but it can take me anything from 45mins - 1 hour due to traffic.
I dont think an hour is bad but it might be if that then becomes 1.5 hours with traffic.

Really depends how much you want the job!

My DH has been working in London for the last 9 years and his commute is 1h 20m door to door. WFH 1 day per week only.

It’s about 15 miles, should normally take 40 minutes but I reckon closer to an hour during the times I’ll be travelling

Being three days it's not so bad, especially if you use the time to listen to podcasts or audiobooks or music you enjoy. Also good that your DP will be responsible for childcare pick ups and drop offs on those days, so you can just concentrate on getting to work and back without having to rush around so much or leave work by a certain time to do the pick up.

If you're working 7.30 to 18.30 that could mean that the traffic won't be too awful, although you probably have to make sure you set off on time.

When I go into the office, if I'm gone by about 7.10 it takes around 30 minutes, but if I'm running late and don't set off until 7.20/7.25 the traffic suddenly appears and it will generally take 45/50 minutes.

Don't forget to add on time to de ice car on cold mornings (was my least favourite bit I think!)

I think up to an hours commute is manageable. Lots of people do this with young families.
However I think your issue is you have a long working day (11hrs?) on top of 2 hours commute every day.

Under those circumstances I wouldn't have done it with young children as you will have almost half the week you won't really see them. I always wanted to be home by 6pm

Young kids and mine is 1-5-2 hours each way. I do find it a little long, an hour sounds like a good amount of time. I have commuted 3.5 hours each way for a job previously so am used to longish commutes.

I have a 45 mile drive to work down the M6 and hate it - can take from 50 minutes on a good day to the unknown on a bad. I hate that I have to get up at 5.30am then drive and do a 13 hour day (nurse, do x3 long days), i also hate sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. Even though it is 'only' 3 days I find it very tiring. I have a job interview on Tuesday for a job close to home.

It depends on the roads.

If I drive from my city to a nearby one it can take an hour but should take 40 mins. This is fine. It’s mostly A roads or a bit of motorway.

If I drive in the other direction for an hour I can be 60 miles away. I hate it and go to that office once per month.

It sounds like you’ve got the first option so that is manageable, but a bit annoying. I wouldn’t recommend if it’s the second option.

90 mins - two buses with a 10-30 min wait in between. 4 days a week. Single parent, kids are teens and primary age. I’m exhausted. It’s only a 20 min drive; I’d planned to learn to drive this year but that’s gone down the drain now.

I had an hour's commute wherever I lived in London and wherever I worked (lots of different places) but I didn't have children and I never had to leave the house before 8am, usually 8.30am.

In your circumstances it sounds very testing.

I have a 70 min each-way commute by car (public transport takes well over 2½ h). It's not impossible but it gets very boring. I've been doing it for 12 years (much less frequently during Covid, of course). I worry sometimes because I can't remember part of the journey I've just done, which suggests I'm not really paying attention.