Long-distance commuting on a regular basis for work
fawltytowers93
Posts: 1,872 Forum Member
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I live in Cardiff but have been offered a job in London, its only three days a week but its great pay.
Living in London is extremely expensive, so I'm considering remaining living in Cardiff but commuting to London for those three days, via a National Express coach, which is a four hour journey.
Does anyone on here long-distance commute? I can imagine its exhausting but at least you save money I suppose.
I just need to know if its worth doing, and if its tolerable.
Living in London is extremely expensive, so I'm considering remaining living in Cardiff but commuting to London for those three days, via a National Express coach, which is a four hour journey.
Does anyone on here long-distance commute? I can imagine its exhausting but at least you save money I suppose.
I just need to know if its worth doing, and if its tolerable.
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Is there any way you could consider relocating to a town/village/city outside of London? Like Luton, Stevenage, etc? I don't really know much about property prices around there, but I do know my future sister-in-law lives just outside of Luton, and rents, and it's not expensive.
Is there any type of housing or anything your job can offer you? Maybe they can give you advice on relocating nearer London, without the extreme cost involved of relocating to actual London.
I stayed in a Hostel by Kings Cross the other night for £17, as I was getting an early train. Once you have your eye shades and ear plugs its doable.
Would not fancy a four hour plus commute every day.
If you plan ahead for travel and accommodation can be quite reasonable.
So - it's okay as long as the job is interesting and possibly if the money is good. But it's not something you want to do seriously long term. I only did my commute for 14 months and that was enough. 8 hours a day is madness - especially if it's by coach. I suggest you find somewhere closer to London. The area around Banbury ought to offer places for rent and it's only an hour to London by train.
8 hours commuting a day? Not really doable even just for 3 days. You will be shattered.
The commute does take a huge chunk out of my life, but I try not to think of the travelling time as 'wasted'. Instead, I use it for reading, listening to music, learning something new, etc.
The worst part is that you have very little time to yourself in the evenings (during the week). As you're only working 3 days per week, a better option might be to stay in a B&B for 2-3 nights per week (if you don't fancy the travelling). It depends also on the demands of the job, e.g. if you will need to work late sometimes, then a B&B would be better.
The other thing I disliked though was being reliant on an hourly train service. As it happens Chiltern was generally very reliable but it still irked me and when things did go wrong I hated that feeling of potentially being stranded 60 miles away from home. What seemed like a fairly easy commute suddenly became a long distance.
:kitty:
8 hours a day on a bus sound like hell - even if it is only 3 days a week! Do you have friends in London? A couple of nights a week on a sofa/floor would be a lot easier!
I wouldn't do it personally, but I guess if you are on the coach you can read and/or sleep. But as others have said, it may be worth staying for those two days..
Now she's even more vexed since we found out we are not moving our offices from croydon to London, and threatens to work from home more often.
I would feel some sympathy for her but she knew where the job was before she applied.
No she wasn't told we might be moving into London at the interview either.
Can probably get free breakfast too.
I would never employ someone if I knew they were going to consider doing this sort of commute. You need to find an alternative.
I guess he thought it was worth the double travel and being back home instead of staying over.
I have used Travelodge a lot the last year or so, never seen rooms that cheap in London, usually £38-£55 a night.
I know they do offers, but even then the deals dont show in London.
You'll do well to get that price on a regular basis.
Drive up early at 5am on Monday, stay with a friend Mon and Tue, drive back home Wed after work, about 7pm.
Not the best life, but there you go.
It masquerades under the 'Kew' or 'Kew Bridge' name, but it's good, has a car park (which you pay for) and is very near the M4.
For the evenings, Kew Green is a short walk, you've got an ASK and a few pubs. Or get the 65 into Richmond, under 10 minutes and you've all you need there. It's very affluent.
Or get the 267/237 into Chiswick. Again, there's all you need.
Where in London do you work?
He rented a room from a private house two nights per week for about eight months. He paid something like £60 per week. The family lived in the house full time and apparently, his room consisted a bed, a TV and a small fridge. He had a copy of the front-door key. Quite trusting, that family. He could store his stuff in his room when he went home each week. Useful.
I can't remember how he found it, though. I wouldn't be surprised if it was through 'wanted' postcards he put up in various newsagents around his targeted residential area, because he did the same thing for a second-hand bike. This was around six years ago.