Commuting to work

[auntiehill]

I've had commutes that were 45 minutes to an hour and a half each way.

I work from home now. My commute is walking from my bedroom to my office.

 

[thestrangequark]

I'm working from home today. I love commuting from my bed three feet to my desk! Why, sometimes when I work from home, my commute involves reaching to the other side of the bed and pulling my computer onto my lap!

 

[Nyotarules]

I work from home one day a week, three times a week I take a 90 minute one way jouney to work ...sigh

 

[John Clark]

Yeah, I think audiobooks (or lots of music) is the way to go for a commute of that time. Reckon you're going to get through a lot of fuel too and the prices seem to be on the rise again

Mine tends to be about 30 minutes (Driving), but because the location is not the best served by public transport, that's about a third to a quarter of the time it would take using various forms of public transport. Cycling can also be a little hairy on some of the roads I'd need to use

Some of my colleagues do two to three hour commutes (and mostly music).

 

[JoeZhang]

My commute is 1 minute to train, 4 minute train ride, 5 minutes walk.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I would LOVE to live in a city where there was decent mass transit. If I did, I'd sell my car. I wouldn't even care how long my commute might last if I did that. I just don't particularly enjoy driving....I mean, I don't hate to drive, but I don't really like it either. To me, driving is a chore - I just do it because I have to. I'd love to not have to!

Then again, I am a huge geek as far as mass transit (subways, light rail, streetcars, buses, etc.) goes, so that probably influences my decision.

 

[jaz'a]

My commute at the moment is 1hr 20 each way. Thankfully it is via train. I sleep on the way to work and I watch netflix on the way home.

I don't recommend either option for your commute. My only suggestion would be to look into if there was any way you could do it via public transport. I could drive my commute and it would be 10 - 15 minutes shorter but the extra effort of driving tires me out too much to make it worth it on a regular basis.

 

[retroenzo]

I currently have about a 40 minute commute each way (which is my longest commute ever, thankfully) and I either listen to audio books or podcasts, although sometimes I just load up my USB stick which has got loads of my favourite music on it.

I used to have a slightly longer commute which involved part driving, part train ride, part walk, and I'd go audiobook, ebook, radio.

I don't suppose there's any way you could telecommute?

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

Did about 5 weeks of a 250-300 mile round trip.

The best bit was, I was on nights, so no traffic, mileage was paid at a silly high rate, and I was doing most of my commuting on the clock

I've worked all over the UK since 2004, not so much the last couple of years, but it's generally been go somewhere, stay there for the week, then come home.

My "commute", technically, for taxation purposes, is a 45 second walk round the corner to my office, it's after that that the mileage clocks up!

 

[John Clark]

Oh yeah, mileage rates can be nice (though I can't claim for going to my home(Local - not literally my own house) office - HMRC say it's a no-no ) but if I have to go anywhere else, it covers that easily.

I went through a stint of having to go to one of our other locations every so often (say an hour each way and got the funds for that) and fortunately, the traffic for those trips was usually heavier going the opposite way to the way I was going.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

My commute at the moment is 1hr 20 each way. Thankfully it is via train. I sleep on the way to work and I watch netflix on the way home.

I don't recommend either option for your commute. My only suggestion would be to look into if there was any way you could do it via public transport. I could drive my commute and it would be 10 - 15 minutes shorter but the extra effort of driving tires me out too much to make it worth it on a regular basis.

I would go by train if it was a little longer than the 45 minutes in/1 hour out I'm driving now.

The problem is, I would have to drive 15 minutes to the closest train station, leave my Jeep there, ride the train for an hour plus to it's end in Chicago, then walk 12 blocks to another station where the southbound Metra begins, take that however many miles south, then walk several blocks to work.

So, easily 2 hours plus the walking twice a day. Some walking isn't a problem, but winters coming, and city blocks aren't huge distances, but the early morning walking on the south side has the potential for trouble.

 

[Nyotarules]

I used to drive to work but gave up to due back ache. I prefer to read or snooze on the train

 

[Captain Shaw]

Mine is a 40 minute walk each way. which is not too bad, but when you have been on your feet all day and its raining cats and dogs it can seem like a very long walk.

 

[retroenzo]

Well my commute took a little longer today. Set off at 1pm, eventually arrived at 4pm. I did break down on the way though so it did give me chance to listen to some podcasts while waiting for the RAC.

 

[John Clark]

Today was fine, but yesterday was a little wierd. There's this one tiny stretch that normally takes a minute to drive - and took twenty yesterday for what appeared to be absolutely no reason

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Here in Omaha, I'm convinced that all this road construction that I keep running into, has itself become sentient and springs up without the need for workers to construct it. I really think these lanes are deciding to block themselves.

 

[Bagofmostlywatr]

Oh yeah, mileage rates can be nice (though I can't claim for going to my home(Local - not literally my own house) office - HMRC say it's a no-no ) but if I have to go anywhere else, it covers that easily.

I went through a stint of having to go to one of our other locations every so often (say an hour each way and got the funds for that) and fortunately, the traffic for those trips was usually heavier going the opposite way to the way I was going.

That's the benefit, if you've got an established usual place of work, then yeah, miles beyond that are claimable. I go via the office morning and night to print/pickup paperwork and materials, and to send orders out, so there's no arguement that my mileage is all for work, as my commute is done (even if it is a 300 yard walk).

 

[rhubarbodendron]

about 15 minutes by bicycle, one way. It'd be a bit less if I took the straight route but I like to take a little detour along the creek. There's always something to cheer me up there. At the moment the ivy is in full bloom - the scent is awesome =) And the clematis fruit look very pretty, particularly at sunset when the light shines through them from behind.

 

[DBR]

Where I live, my industry is fairly concentrated downtown, and mass transit is pretty much designed to get people into the core.

Colleagues I work with/have worked with have commuted up to an hour+ each way by car (and don't forget parking, which is outrageous here) and to me that's just crazy. I live on the transit lines, and that was intentional. eight min walk to the train station > five minute train ride > two min walk to my office. It's a quality of life thing, and at this stage of my life I wouldn't choose to move to the burbs ever if I had to tack on 1:20 of commuting every day.

 

[Leviathan]

if you love driving, that sort of commute is awesome. I used to drive rather than fly whent he option presented itself...

My tricks were:

-Buy an awesome grand-touring car...something fun to drive with a nice comfortable interior.... A used high-end luxury car was my pick.
-Good music is is worth it.
-Find a good coffee/food place to stop off.
-Drive when ther traffic is minimal