I read the original news item, which was mildly interesting, but the follow-up is much better.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25551393
I especially enjoyed the last story of the French woman who missed England so much that for 18 months she commuted from Boulogne-sur-mer to Maidstone, using two cars of her own (one in France, one in England) and shared someone else's car through the tunnel.
Last edited by: FocalPoint on Mon 13 Jan 14 at 14:57
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Not something I would even consider. Mine's about a pleasant 40 min drive through the countryside and that's plenty for me. Before that it was a 5 min walk. Those examples of 3 hour + drives each way are madness to me, I think they need their noggins felt, mind you some people thrive on being stressed to the eyeballs.
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Most ever I did was when I did a short course at Staffordshire University in the mid 00s. I travelled from Manchester to Stoke each day for about two months. The journey involved a bus into the city centre (30 minutes) , a 5 minute walk, a train to Stoke (40 minutes) and then another 5 minute walk to the campus. It would generally take around 90 minutes, but on the way back (just after lunch) I worked out it was quicker to get of at Stockport then get to the bus home from there, could get back in around 70 minutes. Not too bad really considering it was door to door. Would be interesting to see if the journey is any quicker now I get a tram (12 mins) into the city centre.
When I was at Salford University it was only 4 miles away but there was no direct way of getting there by public transport, so I had to get a bus into the city centre and out again, the journey easily took an hour!.
I applied for a few jobs in the Liverpool area but didn't get any but would have commuted.
Being self employed I have to commute all over now but don't tend go do any jobs further than ten miles. I did once have a big job in Warrington covering for another tech firm but I got well paid so it was worth travelling.
My office was just 4-5 miles away from home but it was the other side of the city in Ardwick and the journey would easily take 40 minutes in rush hour, was one of the reasons I got rid of that place.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 13 Jan 14 at 17:53
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>> When I was at Salford University it was only 4 miles away but there was
>> no direct way of getting there by public transport, so I had to get a
>> bus into the city centre and out again, the journey easily took an hour!.
About the same as walking I would have thought?
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Difficult to walk at 4mph average in a town. Two and half is good.
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Aye true enough. People and stuff getting in the way.
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Walking would have meant walking via Ordsall which at the time as a very rough area, these days all the BBC media types have moved in and it is a very different place but was very dodgy back then.
Some of the roads can take at least five minutes to cross as well, walking would not have been practicable. The bus journey wasn't too bad really just slow but it meant I could do studying on the way home etc.
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15 mins by bike surely Rattle? I spent 4 years in Manchester and cycled 7 or 8k in that time - pacing a bus from Didsbury to the Met uni was one particularly lung busting effort....!
I do 30 miles each way, cross country in central Scotland - takes about 45mins in the morning, and an hour in the evening. Depressing at this time of the year when it is dark (and mostly wet!). Hard not to keep going to the hills on clear bright days though!
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I did once briefly consider living in the outer reaches of Hampshire, Wiltshire or even Somerset and commuting up the M4 to London in a suitable vehicle. Fancied a Dyna Panhard for the job at the time. It could cruise at 80 and was fairly economical as well as being surprisingly roomy and nice inside. And its one-litre aluminium flat twin was a joy to behold. But it was only a dream and circumstances conspired to suppress it (no money and bone idle).
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A couple of commutes I have done.
Day trip from Heathrow to Johannesburg. Out one night, presentation during the day and back in the evening on the same aircraft in time for breakfast at Heathrow.
Prior to the M25 I commuted for several days to a 9-5 course at Gatwick by chopper each way.
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A long commute wouldn't phase me, except that the greater the mileage, the greater the chance of hold ups, and if that made the journey time too unpredictable, it would make it untenable.
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Commuted to London from Northampton daily from Feb 1990 until July 2012 (when I had a bike accident). The did five days in London interspersed with 2 or three day stints working at home until I took redundancy last November.
A five mile drive to the station, 65 miles on the train then foot/bus for last two miles until I bought my first Brompton in 1999.
New colleague's jaws tended to drop at idea and others seemed to hover between admiration of my stamina/fortitude and head shaking at my madness. Only a few other long distance commuters from places such as Huntingdon or Brighton understood.
Actually I mostly enjoyed it. The trains were usually fast and comfortable with seats rarely a problem. Occasional bad spots for sure eg twice while Euston Station had throat surgery and a mad month or two post Hatfield. Morning commute was paper reading and planning the day, evening again reading or dozing. The bike ride was always a joy. So nice not to be on a bus or the tube.
Get in early and leave early was the key. My kids got a much better childhood and education than they would in London. We're two minutes from country walks and have most of England and a chunk of Wales in a three hour isochrone for the car.
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I suppose a train and flexible hours would change some people's tipping point as to whether it's doable. I would imagine a train would be quite relaxing assuming it's not very busy and having to stand. Personally neither flexible working nor commuting by train is an option for me now nor in the foreseeable future. I wouldn't say no if it ever became an option.
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I worked in London for 18 months travelling by train taking 2.5 hours each way from north hearts to Camden.
Horrible journey, no seats available and buried in some blokes armpit for the duration wasn't what I call fun.
Now I just hop onto the A1m and go north then the a505 to melbourn (not Australia).
So little stress whilst everyone is gridlocked trying to go south, I'm travelling north.
18 mile commute each way so a proper run out for the Rio
A far cry from that woman in France
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For almost a year I commuted weekly between my house in Foster City, CA and my apartment in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Not to be recommended. I used to arrive home just before lunch on Saturday and leave again about 3pm Sunday.
Mind you, my parents flew all over the world on my airmiles.
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I fairly regularly ( as in at least twice a week ) do a 380 mile round trip in a day punctuated by a days work. About once a month I need to do a 550 mile one too. Can't claim to enjoy it in winter but there's something quite nice about being up and out early in the summer months.
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Edit above - having said that, I'd loath having to commute to the same place every single day no matter how short or long the journey.
If I'm at the same workplace for more than two consecutive days I go stir crazy. I did have a job like that years ago and hated it. Never, ever again.
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>Foster City, CA
Someone I know working at LLNL lives in Foster City. Nice area.
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Really nice. I liked it very much. Nice, friendly people as well.
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The ole woman used to compute from Hastings to Canon Street from 87 'til 92 = 4hours total.
(inc. walk to/from station)
She met many peeps doing the same journey day-in-day-out, many of whom she is still in contact with.
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I do bed to bog to coffee machine. Nightmare.
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The guy commuting from Porthcawl to Watford, doing a 12hr day and then driving back, strikes me as madness in the extreme. And he's been astonishingly lucky if thelongest it's ever taken is 4hrs.
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I do the same commute as Z now.......usually at about 0845.....unless the office rings at 0800.
I did 60 miles a day for 4 years, South Manchester to Huddersfield and back. It was ok, a twelve hour day starting at 0700 meant no traffic to speak of either way and I had the option of a few routes. Favourite was Stalybridge, Wessenden Head and Meltham. Great run over the moors !
Work days were 4on/4/off. ( You could take 8 days of your holiday entitlement and get 20 days off on the trot ) Took about 1.1/4 hours, no M60 South link then. Night shift every couple of months but one of the two of us could kip down after midnight on the company futon. Getting home off nights meant mixing it with the rush hour traffic going into Manchester...not good.
Used a series of £50 bangers without problem.
HO
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>>
>> I do the same commute as Z now.......usually at about 0845.....unless the office rings at
>> 0800.
>>
Me too. Have the radio alarm set for 7.59 so I can listen to the 8 o'clock news. But frequently I wake up again with a start as the radio turns itself off at 8.59!
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>> bed to bog to coffee machine. Nightmare.
Me too nowadays. Anyone would think we were soulmates.
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>> Me too nowadays.
But not at 8.45 like Ted, good God! At 11, and I go to bed after 3. Suits my 'work patterns' but nothing else... these aren't good hours especially at this time of year, you miss half the day if it isn't just dark all the time. Old habits die hard, but that doesn't mean they're all right.
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Some of those make my commute seem sane. Hampshire to Coventry, most days.
Up at 5am, arrive at work about 8:45. I'm lucky that I can leave at 4:10 or 5:10, home 7pm or 8pm.
I do a mix of commuting by car (sometimes staying over in a cheap hotel), and daily commuting by train. The train allows me to work or sleep, so keeps me sane. The journey is slightly quicker by car.
Beginning to think I need to get a better work/life balance!
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Reading to Maidstone was my worst. Did it for 2/3 years, but was on shift work so I often narrowly missed the worst traffic on the M25. Hour and a half usually, hour and a quarter on early starts and two hours on the worst days. Stared doing it in 1998 in a 1983 Volvo 360, then a Volvo 480, then a Mondeo Mk2 1.8LX estate. Used to quite enjoy it but the occasional near-falling-asleep incident eventually gave me the willies and I jacked it in.
Wouldn't do it now, I'm too old for that schtick and it seems to me the traffic has gotten heavier since I left that job (2001).
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Extreme commuting - sooty123
