This is not sustainable, is it?

[Namechangefail123]

I have a client facing job. I don't have that many meetings but when I do, I have to commute 6+ hours, and sometimes the only way to do it is driving. We can afford the commuting coats, however I don't think my company will be happy for me to waste two days to get to see a client, when most of my colleagues would only use 3-4 hrs tops.

Can some of the meetings be remote via Zoom/Teams?

In today's significant talent shortage and salary inflation, if you're the right person for the job then really your employer won't care where you're based as long as you're delivering and bringing in revenue.

Your past experience of being made redundant based on location is colouring your ability to see that.

Also in 2022 there's no reason why you can't do work whilst on a train, don't drive (!), get a train and hotspot your phone.

Make yourself valuable and irreplaceable rather than fretting and making no sense.

We're not tiny, but there are no policies (apart of what can be expensed).Mobile data reception is patchy at the best of times, so not easy to work on the train (at least from Bristol/Exeter). Yes there's a flight from that Teeside airport but it doesn't run daily so completely useless in my case.

@Namechangefail123 i hate to add to the chorus of others on this thread, but your communication of the issue on this thread is really difficult to follow. Really difficult.

I think however you are also firmly with your head in the (lovely Cornwall) sand.

If your job necessitates travelling 6+ hours (12 round trip) then this is your job. This is how it is.

You can either do one of four things:

• Move more centrally so you cut down travel time to the likely city hubs you travel to - Cornwall is notoriously bad for this and always involves long, long trips if your job involves being in Brum, Toon, Manny etc

• Accept the travel time is the cost to having your cake and eating it (living where you want to, but keeping this job) and stop worrying about it all.

• Move to Exeter or within striking distance of your current area

• Move jobs . Seriously. If this is worrying you so much and you hate the travel time… move jobs. You have to consider it but I presume any other job in your sector may involve travel time to clients who likely aren’t on the Cornish end or whatever

I fear however you want to have your cake and eat it -

• live in an area of the country that isn’t renowned for travel times
• keep a client facing job
• worry about losing that job

if you want that, then this thread and its suggestions will not help you.

You not explained this well op it's vvv confusing. Cornwall is not quick to get out of. I used to live there and know how old it is. Wait till you get snow. Is this a new job and you expected to move?

Please read my latest post above - you are lamenting the difficulties of your job, citing all the many difficulties, while insisting on living where you are.

What do you expect will give?

Are you waiting for your company to say “sorry this is too expensive” so you can have the decision (this is too much commute time) made for you?

I'd move tomorrow in a heartbeat (I don't even like living here), but unfortunately that's not an option (the northest my DH is happy to compromise is Exeter). I think EVENTUALLY I'll have no choice but to move. Maybe not for this job, but certainly any other in my line of work. Travel is normally expected IME. We're planning to move once the middle one ends her school years, but that's at the VERY least 6 year from today. I'm the main bread winner so I objectively know my career can't suffer, or we won't be able to afford to live..

If you’re the main breadwinner then your DH has a hard choice to make about whether he values his wife and family security over location.

As I understand it, the TL:DR is:

I live in Cornwall but work remotely most of the time. When I do have to travel to client meetings (encouraged by my employer) it can take 6+ hours, wiping out a day’s work and being very expensive. There’s no good option as train/drive/fly are all the same due to location. I’m concerned I’ll be first in line for redundancy- it’s happened before. My DH refuses to move and I’m the main earner.

Absolutely not.
A little concerning as OP says of themselves
“I am the strategic one.” 🙃

It's his older DC, he says that living 4+ hours away and rarely seeing them is not being a father.

Can you arrange meetings in that area for the days when the flight is available?

What I don’t know is what do you want from this thread? Suggestions on securing your position with the company? Ways to persuade your DH to move? Sympathy and a safe place to worry out loud?

Having lived both in the north east and the west country (though not quite as far down as Cornwall), and had to do those 7.5 hour drives one way ( though never on the same day, that's just asking for an accident to happen) wouldn't you be better off flying from either Newquay or Exeter or even Bristol? And why do the meetings have to be face to face anyway, in 2022?

(Although to be fair we've recently moved back to the north and in terms of tech and attitudes to it, it's like being back in the early 80s...)

The meeting normally happen within a team of at least 4 (sometimes 5) so all of our agendas have to align. Believe it or not the trend is for people to meet offline when possible.

Hahaha, that's exactly what I was thinking. It was so hard to understand and the travel times didnt add up as well

I know it’s probably not what you want to hear OP, but you either get up early and do 5-6 hours work before you set off, or you get up early and travel and then work from the hotel when you get there.
Which option you chose is dependent on when you need to be in communication with colleagues to work, and when.

You can also take into account that you might be able to join some calls from the car, or the train via WiFi (subject to confidentiality of calls).

Last week I had to miss at least 3 meetings because the WiFi on the train wasn't good enough. It's fairly normal for us to answer calls while driving (internal ones). Nobody has raised as a problem (so far) but it's only now that the client meetings have picked up considerably.

Just quit, so we don't have to try to decipher what the fuck you're trying to type. Poor etiquette to write so unclearly.

Whoever assigned you this job and failed to do an achingly basic thing like 'is there a flight route for this near her?' is so incompetent it reflects badly on the company and everyone who went along with it.

So you need to speak to the team about planning meetings properly