To think a 40 minute commute isn't that long

[Thesunisonitsway]

Dp has applied for a job which is perfect for him. He however is concerned that the 40 minute drive is a big downside. I don't feel that's that long dp thinks it could take longer than hour if these traffic in the mornings or evenings.

I have a 56 mile commute (not everyday thank goodness) with all but 1 mile on the motorway but only average 30mph unless I leave before 6:30am

It could be too long if you have dc to pick up at a certain time. Are here options to beat the rush - starting early usually helps and then could get away earlier?

I walk to work as I don't have a car and it's a 40 minute walk. It doesn't feel that long to me although it might be different in a car.

For years I did 1.5hrs each way, so 40 mins to me would be a joy!

DH now commutes 4 hours each way 2 or 3 times a week. The remaining days are 2 hrs each way and one day working from home where possible. It's hideous, but we live in a beautiful place, so we're lucky in that respect. But 8 hours travelling a day on top of a full days' work is too much and he surely won't be able to sustain it for much longer.

It doesn't really matter if 95% of people have a longer or shorter commute, it's surely what he feels is too long that's important.
He clearly has every right to consider commute length as an important factor in choosing a job, and equally to decide what is or isn't too much. So I'd say you're BU if you judging him for that.

How long is his current commute?

As I work from home then any commute would be long for me. DHs commute is about 30 min which he is fine with but I don’t think he’d want anything much longer.

My commute used to be 1.5 to 2 hours each way when I worked in London and that wasn’t much fun

i do 45 mins each way and its fine. Can be longer in bad weather or if there has been a accident but not too bad on the whole other than fuel costs.

40 mins or an hour, driving? Every day. Gulp.

That's fine on public transport, but I would hate to have to drive 2 hours a day.

Seems as though that's quite normal for many people though. So, it probably is reasonable. I can see why he's baulking at it, though

A 40 min route on the AA route planner could be double that in rush hour. I have a 30 min drive to work and I personally wouldn't do longer than that. An hour a day commuting is my limit! However I'm lucky in that I have lots of work opportunities within that commuting time, not everyone has the choice.

@BessieBumptiousness
Jesus 8 hour commuting?!

Before I moved my commute was a 55min ferry then a 45min bus 😂
40mins is not unreasonable

40 minutes isn't long, no. But if that's only at quiet times I definitely wouldn't want to do over an hour in rush hour traffic twice a day.

And my own commute is 90 minutes (but a 20 min walk, 45 min train (usually with seat), 20 min walk). So much less effort and more relaxing than driving myself. IMO It's not about the time it takes, it's if you can actually enjoy the journey or not.

I can do my home to Leeds on a Sunday morning in 22 minutes. It’s fifteen miles. An average morning it takes 45 minutes. A crap morning with a breakdown it can take two hours.

An AA route journey of forty minutes I am guessing is around 35 miles?
Depends where from and to and the peak time congestion.

When DH travels this distance to Manchester he goes very early and leaves very late. It makes for a long day, but then he has always worked very long days. It depends on your preferred work life balance.

I've never had a commute less than 40min. My current commute is 2hrs each way.

40min average is probably an hour in traffic. Which is pretty standard for a commute TBH.

I have a commute of what Google maps says is supposed to be 1h40 each way, but in reality and rush hour traffic is never less than 2 and usually closer to 2h15, so he's right that rush hour could affect it quite dramatically. Having said that, even when I lived very close to work it took me 30 minutes so I don't think 40 is too bad, if it would actually take that most days.

It depends though - spending hours a week in traffic is soul destroying if you don't have a good podcast/playlist/audiobook and if you're on a route where accidents happen often or there's no way to divert round if one does happen, it can quickly get horrid. Part of the reason I've just handed my notice in is because the commute (only 3 days a week) was beginning to make me resent work!

If you're in the SE, I agree, it's a trade-off between time and space; you can have one or the other, but having both costs a lot. There is a reason that family properties in commuter towns with decent rail links cost so much. If the job is interesting and leads to promising new opportunities, and the idea attracts, consider it carefully. At a time, I commuted to London twice a week from Cornwall. I left home at about 3,15 am to drive to a breakfast meeting in west London. I don't work like that now I'm old (the stamina is gone).

40mins is not long at all.
I used to travel 40 mins on the Northern line, change at London Bridge to do another 40 mins on a different London underground line there and back every day.
Not counting frequent delays. And I had to be there at 08:20.

I love all the 'that's nothing I cycle 7 hours then hike 3 hours twice a day' comments. It's very subjective. Mine is 15 minutes, 25 max at rush hour, and that would be my maximum. I don't know anyone regularly commuting over an hour. Friends who have done it have packed it in after about 18 months.

Adding 3-4 hours to a work day seems absolute madness to me and I can only assume people doing it have quite a poor work-life balance assuming they're working 40 hour weeks. Some of my shifts are 11 hours. The last thing I want to do is add any more time to my work day. I do like to see my husband and children sometimes.

I think 40 minutes "easy" driving is different to a drive that could be 1.5 hours in motorway traffic.

I drive 40 minutes to work and I wouldn’t want it to be much longer. Luckily though mine is mostly through the countryside and I only encounter traffic in the last mile. I’d hate to be crawling for a lot of it and that would really make me hate it. Audio books and good playlists help.

What's his current commute?

40 mins commute perfectly normal.

I used to do that commute after I had first dd and went back to work when she was 4 months old...perfectly doable!

I’d hate to be crawling for a lot of it and that would really make me hate it

Yes, i think the type of driving you're doing matters just as much as the actual time spent in the car. I'd choose driving for an hour with no traffic over sitting bumper to bumper for 40 minutes

Mine is 40 minutes. But only if I leave 15 ins earlier than I have to be at work.

It’s an easy drive - more traffics going the other way. I get cross at the amount of fuel I use, both cost wise and environmentally.

However in my neck of the woods it’s a short short commute. Many have an hour or more by train and don’t get home until gone 7pm.or 8pm.

I'm sure I'm spoilt but it would be too long for me. I would only do it for an exceptional role