Commuting for work - how far is too far?

[ducksfan]

My experience is consistant with what you've read so far:

A) It depends on the person. Some won't mind the drive (or actually enjoy it); others will consider it a waste of their life.

and B) It depends on the drive. I did an hour commute years ago that was half heavy traffic and half bumper to bumper. I hated it. Later in life, I had a 45 minute to hour commute that was wide open driving. I loved it.

[bill110]

Hey guys, Bill has golf balls for sale. Cheap!!!

I havent had to buy any in quite awhile.

[GSKR]

Hello my fellow geeks!

Like many of us on the forum I work in a different profession by day and let out my inner detailer at night and on the weekends.

That being said, where I am now is a place where I do not see much growth anymore. In fact, I get bored at work and spend the majority of my days browsing the Internet and studying new technologies (I'm a network engineer).

I received an offer for a new job that is absolutely my DREAM job, but it will take my commute from 30 to 60 minutes. They are flexible on work times, and will even allow me to telecommute 1 day out of the week, but I'm just nervous about the longer commute eating into time with my wife and daughter.

So... that being said, does anyone currently have a ~1 hour commute? If so, how do you pass the time so you don't go crazy? I was thinking audiobooks and podcasts would be a good start, but I'm just not sure if the commute will beat me down enough to the point that I regret my decision.

Anyway, thanks for any advice or input you all can offer!

-Nate

you will get use to it.The downside is the.extreme mileage on your car in a year.I had a 13 charger that I purchased new for 34k.After.2 years of.commuting the car was.only worth 10k with 80k.If you can swing it buy a Toyota or Honda used and drive it to death without a note on it.

[GSKR]

Please excuse the extra periods on my i phone fingers to big.

[damaged442]

My commute is 45-60 min each way. In the morning, I leave between 0500-0530, and there really isn't much traffic. I have to look out for wildlife though!

In the afternoon going home, there is some traffic, but it normally isn't too bad.

Strange thing is, I have actually gotten used to it over the last 8 years. I get in the car and just drive. It helps having a car I actually enjoy driving though! I have an Acura TSX with a 6 speed manual. Makes it a little more fun, at least! Just rolled 177K on her this week!

I guess I see the drive as therapeutic. I think about what I need to do for the day, my goals for myself, kid's schedules, etc. So when I get to work, I am ready to go. When I get home, I am ready to cook dinner, get the kids to practice, whatever.

Do I wish my commute was closer? Yes. Do I regret having a job where I have to commute that long? No.

[DetailKitty]

1. At one point in my life I commuted 2 hours one way to a job I didn't even like.

2. My husband is in IT and he'd say don't stay in a stale job that will make your skills out-dated.

[natewood70]

I know exactly where Royal Palm Beach is. You are just a few miles west of me. I'm in West Palm Beach. My sister lives in Royal Palm behind Costco.

I work for a company which does construction material testing and inspections and we have offices in Riviera Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Miami. I'm also an Engineer, Civil though.

I've traveled quite a bit throughout the South Florida area and I've had to make the trip to the Weston area many times from West Palm Beach, actually from our office in Riviera Beach.

The Turnpike and the Sawgrass Expy is your best bet.

If you can manage to start work early and leave early you can avoid the rush hour traffic and it's not that bad of a drive. The Turnpike is less stressful than I-95.

I have a co-worker who commutes from West Palm Beach to our Fort Lauderdale office everday, not as far as Weston, but he gets there early and leaves early before the rush hour hits.

Weston is a nice area...who knows, you may find a nice place live there.

Wow... what a small world! I actually live behind the Costco as well in Seminole Lakes! (for now)

The weekend before this new job starts my wife and I are actually moving to a new house that we just bought, but still in Royal Palm off of Okeechobee.

[natewood70]

My husband is in IT and he'd say don't stay in a stale job that will make your skills out-dated.

This is 100% true. In this career (like many others), the day you stop learning is the day you kill your career. Where I'm at now has begun to bore me to death because I'm doing things that I learned about when I first broke into this field 5 years ago.

I sincerely appreciate everyone's responses. So many of them that it would be difficult to respond to each one individually!

I think this is 100% a go for me. It's a fantastic company from what I read (Been in the top 25 of Fortune's best places to work for close to a decade), and I'll have room to continue my growth within my field with some EXCELLENT engineers I can bounce ideas off of and learn from. To compare it to the detailing world, I will be working with Mike Phillips like experts in the Network Engineering world... Time to be a sponge and soak up all that knowledge!

Seriously... this is what makes this forum so great. A lot of different opinions that range from encouragement to maybe taking a look at things from a different perspective. I can't say enough of how thankful I am for the responses!

[Don M]

I drive +/- 93 miles round trip to & from work, 45 minutes to an hour + depending on traffic and weather conditions. There is practically no detailing work near where I am, so it's not uncommon for me to drive an hour or so to do a detail.

As for the new job, what can I say that hasn't already been said?

1) You have the full support of your wife
2) It's your dream job
3) it's ONLY a few minutes more travel time

My car has a CD player, so I listen to my favorites on the way to & from. Sometimes I turn off the radio and amuse myself by listening to the car & engine - traffic noises etc. I wouldn't do anything that takes too much of your concentration off the road though. Distracted driving is not a good thing.

Good luck with your decision.

[Pats300zx]

I have been commuting 30-60 mins a day for past 25 years. Once you get accustomed to it there is no real big deal. If it's your dream job I say...
GO FOR IT !!!