Long commute to contract - experiences?

[psychocandy]

Seems to be a wide ranger of tolerances for commuting times/distance.

[NickNick]

For me it's always been about the life balance. Before I had kids, i was happy with a 1000 mile a week commute by car, it was easy. But once they came along this changed and I wanted more time at home, so I've only ever picked clients where the commute is 500 miles a week or less. My current is about 450 miles, and 45 mins each way, but a pleasant enough drive.

[Ignis Fatuus]

BTW try taking your net income and dividing it by total hours including commute as well as admin etc, to get your real hourly rate.

[doomage]

BTW try taking your net income and dividing it by total hours including commute as well as admin etc, to get your real hourly rate.

Yeah. Thanks for that.

[psychocandy]

Is £2/hour not much then?

[ChimpMaster]

BTW try taking your net income and dividing it by total hours including commute as well as admin etc, to get your real hourly rate.

This is so true - many people forget that their working day starts as soon as their personal time stops. For me it's not too bad because I am out of the door at 7am and back home at 6pm, but I've had it a lot worse where I've been working abroad week in week out for months at a time. Never again.

[Twilkes]

I'm not a real contractor (just can't commit to staying in the same job for very long) so my solution is normally the lowest cost one. Living in Perth and working in Edinburgh, I had a 10min walk to the bus station, spent 1hr15 on a Citylink bus to Edinburgh (train is normally close to 2 hours), then a 15min cycle to the office. Similar coming back, so on average about 1hr40 each way.

Buses are normally pooh-poohed (and often smell of pish-pish) but I find bus seats more comfortable than train seats, the journey is generally more interesting, you get to see into other people's cars, and because everyone is facing the same way you get a feeling of privacy that you don't get on a train, especially if there are only table seats left and you have to avoid looking at someone for the whole trip.

I drive once a week, and if I'm coming from Glasgow occasionally get the train as it's a lot quicker than the bus, so mixing it up also helps to keep it interesting, you don't need to commit to the same mode of transport forever.

I was usually okay with the journey, bit tired by the end of the week, but the worst thing was delays, delays, delays - Edinburgh is a nightmare to get into and out of at the moment, which actually led to me leaving my current job. This journey once took 55 minutes: The Royal Mile

So if you have a long but clear commute then it can almost be enjoyable. My new job will involve a one hour cycle most days, which will be a positively Zen experience compared to travelling in Edinburgh.

[speling bee]

Is £2/hour not much then?

Still doing that home based part time gig?

[kingcook]

This is so true - many people forget that their working day starts as soon as their personal time stops. For me it's not too bad because I am out of the door at 7am and back home at 6pm, but I've had it a lot worse where I've been working abroad week in week out for months at a time. Never again.

But factor in that many of us can afford to work for 50% of the year. Having such a huge amount of time off beats a permie's 28 days per year hands down.

[dogzilla]

The longest I travelled was about 1:20 driving from East London to Uxbridge every day, did that for 2 weeks.

Last 5 years I haven't had to travel more than 35 minutes. Maybe I've been lucky but I've always had the choice. **** spending hours on the train.