I drive 63 miles one way for my commute, but I only work every 3rd day. It's a beating sometimes, but you get used to it. Of course I don't do this round trip each day as my shift is 24 hours. The biggest issue is being so far if you have an emergency at home or conversely having to preplan work issues as best you can. I faced the daily decision when the department was considering adding a M-F 8-5 training chief spot. Had I taken the position, I would've tried for 4 day work week as Lexvan says. It is more common than you might think.

Living in a metroplex, an old chief once told me - build your house and live where you and your family want. Don't worry about living close to your work as your work location may change, live where you and your family are most happy!

Good luck, it's not an easy decision.

 

Good to see another P1 on the forum. Stay hard.

 

If you think driving a long commute is challenging, wait till you see the "cost" of a child's poor education.

Are you due a performance review soon? Merit increase? Bonus? Negotiate working from home a day or two, in lieu of comp.

 

50 miles on the freeway for two hours!? Forget it. If it were interesting roads it would be a resounding yes, but stop and go on a freeway, no way!

 

Get a helicopter??

 

5 miles without a doubt. Then go and drive your car for leisure, not rushing to get to work or home. It's an hour and a half extra you can be with family each work day. If you figure you only have a few hours at home each evening to begin with, spending an extra 20 or 30 percent is huge.

 

Thanks for all of your opinions.

I guess I should include a key fact that may influence the decision... I will be making this commute for only 30 weeks a year. I can work from home for the remaining weeks.

 

i commute 40 miles a day from SF to Palo Alto, half the time I take the train and half the time I drive my beater commuter car which is drumroll please: a 1999 toyota camry

commuting is awful, i can't image doing it if the return trip was 90-120m

 

Not every place in the world will have this as a feasible option, but if you have reliable enough public transport splitting the journey between car and train bit might do the job. Has been my mode of transport for years. I've been traveling from home to The Hague (~60 miles) via two train station stops for a couple of years now. Being able to work or zone out in the train makes the commute ok. The odd good/quirky conversation with fellow passengers and the B-road blast from the train home make it even better. Oh and train delays more than cancel out versus traffic jams over here in NL.

 

I used to do a very similar commute: 50 mins in the morning, 90-120 mins in the evening. I bought myself a lovely Porsche to make it as enjoyable as possible. I loved the first few weeks, but it didn't last: very quickly I started to tire of the long hours spent on the road, and I began to associate motorway drudgery with my Porsche instead of being thrilled every time I sat in it. I quit my job after a year, in significant part due to the commute. There are a lot of studies that point to a short commute being a key ingredient for happiness.

 

IMO that's a very tough question. We're in NJ like some others who have replied and we chose to live in an area 25 miles from manhattan with good schools a nice neighborhood (but with a postage stamp of a yard sadly) and a commute of 50 minutes... IF I do it at 5:45 in the morning and at 8 at night. If I do it during normal commuting times it is 120 minutes - just awful. I tried to do the train thing (and the bus thing) but it tests your sanity and puts you in the wrong frame of mind when you get home to your family or perform when you get to the office. Some days when I fly to client sites are actually easier than when I commute!

There is no doubt you should do what is best for your family, but just know that you'll eventually look at the 50 miles as being something that is a barrier to getting home in time for a soccer/baseball/you name it event.

 

Well, what are your thoughts on everyone's advice? Give everyone some feedback. 30 weeks commute? Pretty easy choice isn't it?

You'll be getting advice until you retire here otherwise

 

He's going for the pdk and standard PASM. Sensible commuter..

 

14 or 18 ways? Bose or Burmester?

 

Not too far off...

Actually, I went with a 2013 C2S with PDK, 14 way seats, sport exhaust, sport design steering wheel, Bose, and sport suspension. But most importantly.... The 100k mile CPO warranty !

I still have not decided, but the more I think about it, the more I want to give commuting a try. I just started this job, and so far I love it. So getting a new job isn't even on the radar right now. But I'm sure I will be thinking about it when I'm in the middle of that stop n go traffic...