Reply to: Length of Commute

[psychocandy]

OP -.been doing 90 mins each way via train for almost 2 years. I've got young kids etc and wife who's I'll.

You get used to it. But it's tough at times.

Depends on a few things for it to even work at all for me.

1) client who's flexible. I do 8-4ish so get home 530-6.so 2)still see my kids albeit I'm up at 530

2) not too many extras. Already long days so if clients wants extra too often it won't work for me.

3).trains. if it's packed no go. If it's empty u can sleep/chill

[MrMarkyMark]

IIRC, there are limits to how long you can stay at such places, so I suppose there's a risk you might not be able to book...

Depends on the campsite.
I knew someone who lived in a caravan, on the campsite, in Debden Essex, they were there for longer than 6 months.

He negotiated a very tasty rate as well.

[dwater]

buy a caravan

I've been thinking of getting a motorhome and finding a site within public transport of the client. I kind of did that with my parents' motorhome when I moved to a permie job in London, while I found a place to live. I stayed in a very nice camp site in Crystal Palace that was a nice trip to London Bridge station (iirc) and a shortish walk to the office. That could be really nice if you work away from home a lot

IIRC, there are limits to how long you can stay at such places, so I suppose there's a risk you might not be able to book...

[Danglekt]

buy a caravan

[Big Blue Plymouth]

Im presuming you are going to Reading? I regularly commute from Bath to London. I have done the daily train commute but I currently work from home and stay over one night a week to get a day or two in the office if needed.

Yes it can be done. Yes it can be tiring but its not the worse journey in the world.

Yes.

I'm in process of moving house & live on my own so I have concerns that I have just too many things to support outside of work at the moment to be able to do this kind of commute each day.

[Whorty]

Current role has a mix of 2 mins to my kitchen up to 2 days a week, to anything up to 3 hours into London. I'm normally out at different offices 3 days a week and the shortest commute is a 1 hr 10 mins drive. The rest are the 3 hours (drive, train, tube, walk) into Mayfair or 2 hours drive to west London. If I need to be in London for consecutive days I tend to stay over in a hotel - client pays as officially my contract says I'm home based

Also do a lot of international travel for them too, but I guess that's not really commuting

[kevpuk]

As others have said, consider other options to hotels - especially Londinium way......I have spent 3 of the past 5yrs in non-local gigs, and the majority of time stayed over in a Spareroom sourced accommodation.....that said, I WFH one or two days a week, too

[dwater]

my commuting experiences

When I did contracting back in the '90s, I also rented rooms in places that were far away from home - I lived in Yeovil and had jobs in Southampton, Reading, and Crawley. For Soton and Crawley, I found friends or friends-of-friends to cheaply rent rooms from. In Reading, I found a cheap hotel initially, and then rented a room.

I bought a motorcycle to help get through the traffic on Friday and Sunday, which I enjoyed (ZX6R).

Now, I have a flat in Chafford Hundred, which is on the train line to Fenchurch St. station - 35 min journey, iinm. It's a good line since it passes by Canary Wharf, and there are quite a lot of companies in/around the Old St. area which is a short-ish healthy walk from Fenchurch St. station. Near the Chafford Hundred station is Lakeside Shopping Centre, which has free parking and a short bridge to the station. Overall, though, my journey to my old (perm) job in Minories, took about 1:10mins. That was perfectly fine in terms of time, imo. The cost is about £5-6 each way on peak (£3.20 off peak, I see from my phone, which surprised me). I managed to get my perm manager to allow me to travel in off peak times (iirc, after 9:30am and before 4:00pm) and make up the rest of the time at home. The trains are operated by C2C which are generally very reliable (are they considered the best? I think I heard something to that effect).

It's not so good for western London, since you have to tack on a lengthy tube journey (from Tower Hill, probably).

Anyway, in Chafford Hundred, there is a Premier Inn, so that might be worth looking into. Google Maps tells me it is £54/night - ymmv. It is a 10min walk to the station, but you can drive to Lakeside and park there - probably will take the same time, but you avoid rain/etc. I'm sure there are rooms to rent too - I did that to see what it was like here before I bought a place. Actually, I didn't like that room at all (I think it was mostly for students) but I suppose it was fine for contracting when you're really only there for sleeping/showering during the week - well, that's how I was in the '90s.

[bobspud]

No. Bristol market is dead at the moment.

Im presuming you are going to Reading? I regularly commute from Bath to London. I have done the daily train commute but I currently work from home and stay over one night a week to get a day or two in the office if needed.

Yes it can be done. Yes it can be tiring but its not the worse journey in the world.

[NickNick]

No. Bristol market is dead at the moment.

OT but I've just landed my first contract in Bristol (where I live) since the late 90's. To say I'm happy about having the ability to walk to client site as opposed to a 100 mile drive is an understatement....

[LondonManc]

Without diving into the detail it was quite unbelievable.

Nothing surprises me with contracting any more. Decisions baffle me at times but no longer surprise me.

[MrMarkyMark]

This is the exact reason why I left said place. I ended up being told to work in a midlands location 100 miles from home 100%, when all the client staff were in London. Stupid ...

Very stupid.

Its funny as I know other contractors there that usually only do one day a week in London

[LondonManc]

Personally, anything over 100 miles in the car is a stop over, this can be less if there is consistent heavy traffic. Train, no more than two hours and no changes. Try to use the train / public transport were possible. Also like to bike if it's less than 3 miles or so from the train station to the client site.

Stopover is apart/hotels with a cooker, fridge and no restaurants. They usually will do parking if you drive, also corporate rates.

As you say, it can very much depend upon the 100 miles. Not sure I'd fancy driving from north Manchester to Birmingham every day. They're be dead people all over the M6 as I finally crack and go on a Falling Down style rampage.

[MrMarkyMark]

Yep, worked there myself. Moving to Canary Wharf will probably drive the demand back up.

Well, quite ludicrous having yourself spread all over the city

[MrMarkyMark]

I would agree, discuss it on a human level with the client. Don't, however, make your problem their problem... that will only put you down in their view.

For the past 10 years I have travelled for 90 minutes each way on average. On some days the trains were delayed/cancelled or the motorway was a wreck and so the journey has taken 3 hours one way, on quite a few occasions. Yes of course it is very tiring, but we do this for a reason and each person will have his own reasons.

For the past 4 years, I have worked at home ~2 days a week and this has made a world of difference. It takes time to build the trust for this, and perhaps a well-worded contract too

Sounds a nightmare journey, glad you got it sorted.

Its funny, I have been clearly told you can work where you want and do the hours I want as long as they add up to a week.
Other contractors in the same organisation, different department, have trouble working from home as the MD "doesn't like it".

You don't get, if you don't discuss / ask, but even then you never know what the answer may be.