to think a great job may not be worth a 50 min commute?

[Ondasp]

I started a new job in London a couple of months ago. The job is great, fantastic company, great office, awesome team, really good money (+60% compared to my last position), nice benefits. A dream job.

The only downside is that it takes me 50 mins to get there from where I live

The commute is: 5 mins walk - 30 mins on tube with one change - 15 mins walk (the office is faaaar from the closest tube station).

I work ft Mon to Fri 9-6, regular hours. I am in my late 20s, own my place with DH (so I can't move) and I don't have DC yet.

I really dislike this commute. I love the job but I am starting to think it may not be worth it.

AIBU to doubt whether a great job is worth a 50 mins commute?

Tfl says a 52 minute cycle, you could go along the river most of the way, would you cycle?

7 mile cycle ride, mostly along a river, in a city that is mostly flat and usually has decent weather (I know it has been crap over the last few days but London weather usually isn't bad). I would love that commute.

Honestly, you could cycle that in 20-30 minutes without breaking a sweat. Does your great job have showers and bike storage facilities? Cycle to work scheme for a discount bike?

Maybe just spend some time considering the alternatives and you may find the commute doesn't seem so bad! What does the new salary enable you to do?

Do you go straight home from work every night or do you meet up with friends/do stuff?

The commute is the price of living the other side of London.

Cross post Gu although there seems to be some dispute with the distance/time but I can cycle a very hilly 9 miles in less than an hour and I'm quite unfit, which is why I thought a flat 7 miles would take much less.

But if I could cycle mostly along a river in the same time as walk/tube I'd jump at the chance.

I had a similar commute when I lived in London and I absolutely hated it, especially the Jubilee Line. I don't think you're being unreasonable to dislike it. Perhaps think of it as the price you pay at this point so that later on in your career you can dictate the terms of where you work and what hours a bit more. (That's how it's gone for me - I now commute to my desk downstairs in my house.)

Check the weather forecast before you leave, OP? If rain, don't wear suede shoes.

I've worked in London for 15 years and just to add to the chorus of voices saying a 50 min commute is really very good for London. And only one tube change is pretty good too.

Can you do 8-4? This makes a massive difference to my daily working life as I always get a seat on the train and the tubes are loads less crowded. Actually I get in 7.45am (I get up 6.10am) and leave 4pm if I'm lucky - even leaving 4.30pm is better than leaving 5pm or after.

20-30 minutes for 7 miles in London? Dream on. The quickest DH has done is 4 mile cycle is 16 minutes flat out, normally he'd leave around 25 minutes, and that's just for the ride, not parking up and changing etc. And he's pretty fit and has cycled every day for years.

My niece used to have a similar commute! She survived fine, they did move to closer to Chelsea and let out their flat. BUT she worked a lot of lates/evenings so it was better for her to have a shorter commute and her DH a longer one.

That is a really good commute though - it's normal to have an hour commute, and for a good job when you don't have children 1 1/2 isn't too much. And some people do more for a better house etc.
I'd agree podcasts, reading a book etc. all help.

How do you read a book when your nose is in someone else's armpit for 30 minutes? Come on, people, there's 50 minutes when you have a seat and there's 50 minutes of hateful overcrowding and a walk in the pissing rain. I'm a Londoner born and bred, working for 20+ years and I think that sounds pretty shit. Wherever I've lived I've either managed to get a seat (far enough out or billions of trains) or I've cycled.

I would seriously think of moving.

If you aren't from London I can understand why you hate it. When I lived there I did a spell of 1 hr 45mins each way, Northern Line and Victoria Line. Hell on earth. I would definitely look at alternatives - starting earlier/cycling/river to make it more bearable.

OP I think you've had a bit if a harsh time on here. It depends what you're used to. I grew up with a 15 min journey to school & my parents only had to travel for a few more minutes to get to their work & would often moan about the traffic, how long it took etc. When I started work in London, I had a 30 min commute door to door and complained bitterly. Despite being Victoria to the City, it never occurred to me to run or cycle it! I then moved to Putney & a few months later my job relocated to Canary Wharf and I was in the over an hour commute lifestyle so had to make some adjustments to make it enjoyable. In some ways you are lucky as, with technology, there are so many things you can do whilst commuting these days. My life has now changed further and I have DC and a 80 minute commute.
Loads of people have said it is "normal" or "good" but you still have to decide if, for you, the benefits are worth it. My DBro & SIL are child free and one works 10 mins walk from where they live & the other a 15 mins walk. They fit so much more into their days than I do! Likewise, people local to where we live now often work in the same town we live in which means their family lifestyle is totally different to ours. No before school care needed, after school care is needed but not the extended after school care that we have to use, the family eats together every evening, one parent does clear up whilst the other does bath time etc. It is very different to ours.

I'd kill for your commute. Sometimes. Mine is 2 hours 15 minutes each way.

Beats being unemployed. Stick with it OP, you'll get used to it. Think of the money, if you're feeling tired.

Yes to running, walking or cycling, for part of it at least.

I get the train to London Bridge & work near Piccadilly Circus. While Jubilee to Green Park is the fastest way, I normally walk the South Bank up to Hungerford Bridge. It does make for a longer commute but it's so much nicer.

This is what I meant. Jubilee line at 8:15am this morning

And that's normal OP.

That's completely standard, maybe you should move somewhere more rural.

It's not pleasant but you're only on each train for 10 minutes, 15 tops. Honestly it is NOT worth leaving your job over. By all means search for another one in the meantime but don't go unemployed.

Can you change your working hours at all? Or are there shower and kitchen facilities at work so you can leave home 90 minutes earier then shower and breakfast at work?

You need a kindle or a copy of the Metro and trainers.

Thats very short commute op. Very doable in london! Outside london now but i had a 15 mins walk to train station, 40 mins train journary but had to change trains so this meant i had to waste 10-40 mins on train station, then 15 mins walk other side. The walking i consider fun so just a 30 min tube ride. Wow. When working in london i had over an hour, and two tubes. Again walk to and fro from tube station around 15 mins each way. Very doAble and enjoyable in the morning as you be ready for work once there. If the job is good, go for it!

50 minutes is nothing. many moons ago when I worked in London I had a 2 hour commute. My cousin is there at uni now and it's two trains and over an hour for her.

Even now being back home it can still take me forty-50 minutes to drive the 7 miles into the city at rush hour

Is 20 minutes on a crowded train so dreadful that it's worth sacrificing the dream job and rather a lot of money for?

And if you don't like the train, have you investigated cycling and buses?

50 minutes is easily doable and well worth it for a good job. My commute can be up to an hour, admittedly by car but it is before/after a 12 hour plus shift.
When I was in my 20s I did a commute into London which was over an hour on a good day, it being the good old IRA days, bomb scares etc could easily make that 3-4 hours.