Commuting

elamozzarella

I am considering moving out of the big smoke. Nothing firm yet. The area I want to move to will add an hour on to my commute, making it two hours each way. Will I go mad?

captainspam

We moved 9 years ago and my husband as his own buisness 1 1/2 hours away and he finds it exhausting. Also costs about £80 a week in petrol and a lot of milage on the car which has to have extra services and new tyres.

stator

Two hours a day commuting? Sounds too harsh for me. If you really enjoy your music / radio you could invest in a decent system in your car and that might keep you sane though.

lucylucky

Depends how long your current commute is and by what means you will be travelling.

How do you think you will cope?

elamozzarella

It would be completely intolerable in the car, train all the way. Which is slightly less intolerable. I have the kind of job which is almost always city-based, so a commute has always seemed inevitable. But four hours a day will leave me little time for anything else during the week. Hmm.

The irony is that the extra travel won't cost me more than living in London. But in time, and particularly quality-time, it will cost me dearly.

lucylucky

You cannot buy time, moving out of the smoke to give yourself less time to enjoy your new home may well seem a waste.

Naf20

I moved out of London which made my commute 2 hours each way. I enjoyed the first year and really enjoyed the change but now 2 years on its driving me insane. You will really lose out on your home life and the thought of driving for 2 hours after a hard day at work is really depressing. I am now looking for a job nearer my home. My advice is don't do it!!!

vikingaero

My brother moved out of London a few years ago. He was paying £700 rent for a 2 bed flat in Kent, and £300 each for travel. He moved back to a 1 bed flat for £900 per month and £80 each for travel.

movilogo

Commute time beyond 1.5 hr each way (either drive or public transport) becomes way too much after few months.

Ezmondino

45 mins each way is my max!

sarah_elton

Train or car? Train is easier to handle as driving is more tiring.

I'm currently just over an hour door to door with 45 mins on the train, moving soon a little further from London and will be almost an hour and a half, with an hour on the train.

Commuting is draining - I used to work a 20 minute walk from home and it definitely makes a big difference on weekday evenings. Don't expect to fancy doing much during the week.

I'm only planning on doing it for another couple of years which keeps me sane. And I recently bought a portable DVD player which helps, or I read. It's fine when the trains run ok, less so when the overhead wires fall down, the signals break down or someone decides to jump in front of a train.