To ask you about your hour long commute

[TravellingSpoon]

or if you had one and gave it up, how long did you do it for?

DH has done it previously and his current commute is 45 minutes, but he says that an hour is too long for a job that I want to take, despite my explaining that it would be really beneficial for my career (which I am just getting back on track, he is at the top of his because I spent 13 years being everything for everybody because he couldnt, but that is another thread!)

Should add that I wont be commuting at rush-hour times.

I live in London - hour commutes are the norm

I had an up to hour commute with traffic and I did it for 2.5 years.

If I'm honest, you just get used to it. I was driving though, so I used to just dance along to the radio. The majority of my drive was A roads/motorway, so it would be more frustrating if it was an hour of stop/start traffic.

An hour sat on a train or bus is very different from one in a car. I now do the tube one, about 25 years ago did one in a car. I expect if I had continued to do the one in the car for much longer than the year I did do it, I would have had health problems at some point. Whereas the tube one enables me to read and daydream.

Will it be a driving commute or public transport?

If it’s your dream job, I’d say go for it!

I commute around 1hr 10 door to door each way (in London - bus / train / walk)

Driving, its all motorways and A roads once I am out of the city.

I'm also in London and only commute 45 mins these days which is seen as a short commute!

I'd say an hour is no big deal if it's a job you really want. Even more so if it won't be during rush hour. Will it be by train or car?

An hour is nothing really, especially if it's on a train. I sleep.

I know people who do over two hours each way. Your DH sounds quite naive.

Go for that job - it's for you!!!

By what mode of transport?

Mine was 1hr 40 for 7 years of which 1hr 20 was by train. The morning journeys were ok - coffee, Kindle, radio. The journey home was never ending. I was lucky in that I never had to fight for a seat - got on the train early enough in to journey on the way in and developed ninja-like boarding skills on the way back. I could never have coped with standing.

Do you have dc? I thought an hour commute wouldn't bother me and that I would quite like the alone time in the car listening to the radio. In reality I hated it and it nearly broke me! I did it for 6 months and then got a new job. I have 3 dc though so it was hard juggling getting them to where they need to be each morning then setting off for my commute. I honestly would never take a job with more that a 40 minute commute again.

I do an hour each way and it is a pain and tiring - 10 minutes walking, two tubes, one train, another 10 minutes walking. I don’t like it but it is the norm in London. I want to reduce my commute, but at the same time

oops - if my next job pays more money, I would commute for even longer if I had to.

So far I have done it for a year.

Sounds normal to me. Mine's an hour each way by car and perfectly doable. Most people I know commute for longer.

I used to drive an hour and a half each way over 70 miles. I did it for two years.

I commuted an hour each way by car on A roads and motorways for 2 years. That was 2 years too long. I started looking for new jobs after 6 months and it took me 18 months to find anything half decent back in my home town.

Winters were worse - dark on the way there, dark on the way back.

But I was also commuting at rush hours as it was a job with long hours expected, had to be there by 8am and couldn't leave before 5pm, so no scope for staggering the day to avoid the traffic or drive in daylight at least one way.

Worst 2 years of my working life. Never commuted more than a few miles ever since.

I did 1hr 20 across South Wales for 14 years. As a teacher I loved that it allowed me to get my head ready in the morning on the way to work... running through my day and lessons and on the way home I would process everything that had happened before getting in to the house. It worked so well until 1 child went to two and then after school activities kicked in and then it just became a stress and I jacked it in! Oh and the fact the diesel costs were mental!

I've gone from a 3 mile commute to a 37 mile one to a city that has heavy traffic. It can take 40 minutes on a really good day or up to 1 hour 30 mins if traffic is really bad.
I thought I could hack it but I'm finding it exhausting even allowing for a day a week working from home. Goggle maps showed me that I spent over 37 hours in the car last month, that's another working week commuting. I'm older now though, when i was in my 30s I was okay with a longer commute.

I have a job that entails a commute of over an hour each way every day. The problem is the rush hour. If I didn't have DC and didn't need to get them to childcare I would probably go in super early and work late just to avoid the traffic but that isn't possible. I'm applying to work some of the week at home.

London - hour and 15 mins here each way - pretty normal. I say go for it; you’ll get used to it and not much more than him anyway!

Mine is 1 hr 15mins. It's fine,you get used to ut pretty quickly. I quite enjoy the down time, if it's sociable hours I will phone a friend or listen to the radio. It's tough after a night shift at times but that may not affect you.

I think it depends how much you want the job. I've done it (still do) and don't particularly enjoy it. 40 mins is much better than an hour, but an hour is doable.

I would say that if you're keen to get back into work, and this is a great opportunity, don't let an hour commute hold you back.

Thanks for posting this - I have a similar dilemma. My DH is also very anti the commute (I currently walk to work), but the job is a very good fit for me. Like you, I’m building my career post kids, and my DH is super successful, in part because of my sacrifice. The new employer is super flexible (on paper - loads of info about smart working) but I’ve asked to do 50% from home and it’s not gone down well. I suspect they will ultimately say no, but I also don’t think I could commute more than the 2 days/week I’ve offered...

So far I've been doing it a year part time. Its especially tough as because of limited parking I have to leave at 7am to get there and wait around for an hour. I'm really not a morning person. One day last week I got turned away from the carpark meaning a drive into town to look for a park, a bus to my place of work and then bus back at lunch to move my car as I could only get a short stay park...all in the torrential rain. The same day, I left work at 4.30 and didn't get home until after 7pm, again due to bad weather affecting the roads. Last year on a freezing winter's night I was stuck on the motorway for 7 hours when it closed due to a serious incident.

I couldn't do it full time. It's my dream job and only 37 miles from home but that commute is awful. I don't think I can stay in it beyond this year. It's really difficult.

I drive an hour each way to work every day, it's only 16 miles each way but very busy traffic. I make the most of it by listening to audiobooks and podcasts. It's just something that I've got used to, I can't afford to move and there are no jobs in my field nearer to home.

Should say there are no direct rail links between here and there and it would take me almost three hours each way providing the train wasnt cancelled!

I've done up to three hours each way, so an hour would be lovely. It's what I'd be comfortable with if I went for a perm job.

I think an hour is just long enough to unwind, to listen to music or a podcast.

I have looked at the commute on google maps now, which is closer to the time I would be travelling and it states 53 minutes