Is it silly to avoid commuting?

[Ivyleaguestoner]

I'm a confident driver, driven all over the country, in central London etc. Yet I have managed to avoid ever having a job with a long commute. I always move jobs so I can walk to work or get the bus. I just cannot stand being stuck in traffic. The rare times where I have to drive in peak traffic, e.g. to get DC's to holiday camps or to pick up relatives, I have become very aware that I would do anything to avoid waiting in traffic with my engine running. It feels like such a waste of time and bad for the planet.

I've taken a job which is necessary for my career progression and excellent in all other ways but is an hours drive away, travelling in peak times.
I'm wondering about driving up early on Monday morning, when dp can take the DC's to school and leaving my car there (I will need a car to do the job) and then getting the train back home. Then I have to cycle half an hour (flat, easy route, no roads) and then get the train daily. I will then drive back on Friday.
People think I'm crazy as I drive and have a car but I'm really worried that it will be harder to start the new job stressed from a horrid commute in a sweaty car (it will be summer) and then start a new job.
Thoughts?

Any flexibility in working hours ? I've done 10.00 to 18.30 to avoid the worst of the rush hour, & built up time for a flex day off.

Ugh, commutes drive me batty. It's what has kept me in my current job for donkeys years - well, that and the salary!

Not unreasonable at all. I've never had a job that wasn't in walking distance, bike, nice car journey for 20 minutes. I just refuse to consider it. Always find loads of suitable jobs near to home.

I can work flexible hours (in a 9 to 5 job) and will leave for work at 06.30 to avoid the traffic. Work is about 6 miles away.

I hate traffic.

Each to their own- I drive between 30mins and 1 hour to/from work depending on start and finish times and I love it. Audio book or music on, cup of tea, nice and comfy, no one else there. I see it as me time! I did a 5 month secondment where I had to commute by train and it was horrible. I hated every second on the meat wagon!! I do have excellent air con in my car though, so no sweaty factor.

Also- is going by train not gonna be way more expensive?

It's up to you, but I'd find relying on the train more stressful (plus not having the car in case I felt ill/didn't feel up to cycling/it was mega windy or too hot or snowing etc etc etc).

I guess you can mix and match as you go to suit you!

I actually miss my 1 hour, 50 mile commute now I've moved - that hour in my car listening to a podcast was often my favourite bit of the days I worked from the office. Time to ease into the day on the way to work, time to decompress before I got home, listened to stuff I liked, called my parents to catch up talked out loud to myself. It was down a not-very-busy bit of motorway, though, so I very rarely got stuck in traffic.

Relying on public transport and/or nice cycling weather is madness compared to an easy door to door drive, listening to improving podcasts or music allowing you to arrive at work unruffled and not potentially having had your head in someone else’s armpit. Seriously your plan is batshit, will cost you so much more money and likely to fall down at the first train strike or winter storm. Just get in your car and make it a positive experience

People think I'm crazy as I drive and have a car but I'm really worried that it will be harder to start the new job stressed from a horrid commute in a sweaty car (it will be summer) and then start a new job.

I don't really understand your logic here. You'll get much more sweaty on a crowded train and cycling than you ever would sitting in a nice, air-conditioned car.

Commuting is hell on earth however you do it, it finished me off if I hadn’t have gone on medical grounds I was wishing I could put my head through a window to stop it.

Cycle and train is way more stressful than driving. Trains are so unreliable and car drivers try to kill you.

I cycle to work, because it's 2 miles, but would drive in your shoes.

Also, will you leave your bike at the station all weekend? Risk of being stolen surely.
Otherwise I guess drop it off at the station on your way in on Monday and pick it up on a Friday. Sounds like a whole lot of faff to me.

Where will you leave your bike each day, and at the weekend? Sorry if I misunderstood that part. Worth remembering that some train companies don’t allow you to bring a full-size, non-folding bike onto peak-time trains, if that factors into the plan. I’d be wary of leaving it for extended periods at, for example, a station bike rack.

My bike is worth about ten pence

Might have to draw a diagram of what the problem is. Essentially I live on the outskirts of a huge city. The job is on the other side of the city and in the countryside. No matter which direction I go I will hit traffic which is going into the city. The only way around it will be a ten mile detour which will also be congested with people trying to get onto the motorway. The cycle path goes past my kids school and leads beautifully to the train station. The train station at the other end is opposite my place of work. If I get a taxi or bus to the train station I will get stuck in all the traffic going into the city

Ah. So for example you live in the Croydon suburbs and the job is in an Essex or Herts village?

Ok. In that case unless you start work at 6am ive changed my mind and would get the train. Fuck the stop start city driving.

This is the problem.
The crossed parts are really heavy traffic.

Do you need the car during your working day? I wouldn't even bother driving on the Mondays and Fridays, just cycle and train every day surely.