How far is acceptable to drive to work?

[archcommus]

I'm trying to decide if a 26-mile one-way commute (about 40 min) is too far to drive to work. On one hand I think nah, I'm sure lots of people do more. On the other I think, that's 13.5k miles/year just for work alone. That probably puts me way over the average.

Thoughts? It's for a very good, career-building job.

 

[Engineer]

Originally posted by: archcommus
I'm trying to decide if a 26-mile one-way commute (about 40 min) is too far to drive to work. On one hand I think nah, I'm sure lots of people do more. On the other I think, that's 13.5k miles/year just for work alone. That probably puts me way over the average.

Thoughts? It's for a very good, career-building job.

There are people who commute 80 miles "each way" to work at my plant and have been doing so for 40 years! :Q

 

[TecHNooB]

I knew a highschool teacher who drove 2 hours each way to school.

 

[ggnl]

That's not too bad. What kind of vehicle will you be driving?

 

[tasmanian]

My commute is 18ish I think. Takes about an hour.

 

[bobross419]

I drove 45 miles each way (90 a day) too and from work for a year. If you think of it as an investment in your future (good, career-building job) then it isn't too bad. I'm assuming you're a younger person (Early 20's?) so it shouldn't be thank big of a deal in the long run. If you've got kids and stuff it might not be that great. My current drive to work is ~30 minutes, but it is only about 10 miles, lots of city driving and sitting at lights. 40 minutes isn't that bad at all.

 

[acheron]

Different people can do different things. My wife's commute is well over an hour one way most days (due to traffic, not distance -- no traffic it'd be maybe 30 minutes) and sometimes 2+. I am a complete commuting wimp though and probably wouldn't be able to handle 40 minutes. (Maybe if it wasn't driving... walk 10 minutes to the subway and take a half hour train ride I could probably handle. Just not 40 minutes of driving.)

 

[leftyman]

how much roof and food and electricity is acceptable to you?

 

[HannibalX]

I used to drive about 40 miles a day commuting. My drive was 90% Interstate so it was tolerable but I wouldn't want to do it again. Now days I have a commute of less than a mile each way.

 

[freegeeks]

Originally posted by: Engineer

Originally posted by: archcommus
I'm trying to decide if a 26-mile one-way commute (about 40 min) is too far to drive to work. On one hand I think nah, I'm sure lots of people do more. On the other I think, that's 13.5k miles/year just for work alone. That probably puts me way over the average.

Thoughts? It's for a very good, career-building job.

There are people who commute 80 miles "each way" to work at my plant and have been doing so for 40 years! :Q

there was a guy in the news here with a 250 km commute each way

 

[rh71]

25mi each way is just about my limit. But I haven't done more than 2mi. a day in years... just driving my wife to the station and coming back to work from home. She sits on the train for 45 minutes each way. That's just a lot of wasted time each day, IMO... wake up extra early, wasted commute time each way... too much.

 

[bobdole369]

I've driven over 30 miles one way to a job. I currently drive 20 miles one way. I'd say this is about it.....

 

[MoPHo]

If you don't mind the extra time to leave in the morning and getting home later than usual, go for it. Also, see if your company would be willing to give you some compensation for gas. While it's "low" now, it's on the rise again. My sister had to commute 30mi one way for a year. When gas was 3.50+ it really started to hurt her going through a tank every few days.

 

[Queasy]

Yeah a 26 mile 40 minute commute isn't bad. My current commute is 15 miles and about 35 minutes. Before I moved, the commute was 26 miles and an hour to an hour and a half.

 

[finite automaton]

25mi each way... any more than that and it's time to move.

Edit: 26mi is fine too.

 

[meltdown75]

my commute is about the same. rock it

 

[Juddog]

I've worked with people that drove from another city (80 miles, about an hour an 15 minutes) to get to work, and they really didn't seem to mind it that much. The way that they put it, it was their "alone time" to listen to music, think about what they were going to do at work that day, and on the way home gave them time to think about what happened at work that day to plan around it. Basically it gave them a lot of time to think about this and that, plus listen to music that was comforting.

 

[K1052]

Originally posted by: Juddog
I've worked with people that drove from another city (80 miles, about an hour an 15 minutes) to get to work, and they really didn't seem to mind it that much. The way that they put it, it was their "alone time" to listen to music, think about what they were going to do at work that day, and on the way home gave them time to think about what happened at work that day to plan around it. Basically it gave them a lot of time to think about this and that, plus listen to music that was comforting.

I've heard this view before.

Personally I'd rather be actually living my life than just thinking about living my life. I think it's just a way to rationalize loosing what could possibly be years of your life just shuttling back and forth to work.

 

[DrawninwarD]

I walk to work.

A little less than 10 mins if I walk briskly.

I also walk home for lunch.

 

[MustISO]

Mileage and time are what matter to me. I think 15 - 20 miles or 30 - 40 mins is the most I could handle everyday.

 

[funkymatt]

my dad commutes 90 miles each way every day- he's been doing it for a little over a year. luckily i have a 16 mile round trip!

 

[drum]

Originally posted by: K1052

Originally posted by: Juddog
I've worked with people that drove from another city (80 miles, about an hour an 15 minutes) to get to work, and they really didn't seem to mind it that much. The way that they put it, it was their "alone time" to listen to music, think about what they were going to do at work that day, and on the way home gave them time to think about what happened at work that day to plan around it. Basically it gave them a lot of time to think about this and that, plus listen to music that was comforting.

I've heard this view before.

Personally I'd rather be actually living my life than just thinking about living my life. I think it's just a way to rationalize loosing what could possibly be years of your life just shuttling back and forth to work.

I agree, my drive in 45 mi each way

 

[nageov3t]

I did 45-60 minutes each way for about 6 months and it kinda sucked. 5 days a week, though.

right now, I'm only 2 miles away from my office... I'm thinking about moving 45 minutes away again, but once I start my new job, I'll only be coming into the office 2 days a week or so (4-day schedule, 2 days working from home, 2 days in the office)

 

[ballmode]

as far as you want, i'd personally not want to go more than 30 miles

 

[oiprocs]

60 miles one way for me.