Reply to: maximum work travel time

[andy]

Its 10 min walk for me
Life is so good

[Maxamus]

its an hour for me each way. Dont mind it at all.

But i think i might venture down Leeds way for my next gig so that will probably be 1 3/4 each way.

[Moscow Mule]

About 8 hours each way - out Monday, back Friday - every week.

It's bloody knackering so I'm stopping - told them I'll work from home two weeks a month or they can poke their renewal.

[VectraMan]

Anything over 45 (each way) mins and I would be thinking about hotels. 1.5 to 2 hours (each way) and it is definately hotel.

Come on guys, work it out. By staying local to the job you can (more than) earn back the hotel costs. If you have a decent contract you can get a weeks work in by Thursday lunch and have long weekends every week. The long commutes must be killing your home life anyway.

I've had phases of staying away (£15 Travelodge rooms are cheaper than a days commute as well), but I've found it gets a bit depressing and I feel unsettled. There's something to be said for getting to your own bed.

Being able to work at home is a much better way. I aim to do Tuesday and Thursday at home, which means I never commute two days running.

[The Lone Gunman]

Currently (only for a short fixed term contract) I am doing 3 hours door to door each way

It's a means to an end so I see it as necessary, and with baby bear at home I don't want to stay away - I want to get home to see him, if only for a few minutes before bedtime.

Fair comment. It is important if you have kids. I also have an understanding wife, which not all are.

With your example and an hourly rate of 40 quid thats 240 quid a day. If you stayed local you would probably do 1/2 hour each way so 200 quid. Stay at a cheap B&B and you have made 170 quid extra per day, or live the contractor life in a 200 quid a night hotel and realy enjoy it.

[Bear]

Currently (only for a short fixed term contract) I am doing 3 hours door to door each way

It's a means to an end so I see it as necessary, and with baby bear at home I don't want to stay away - I want to get home to see him, if only for a few minutes before bedtime.

[The Lone Gunman]

Anything over 45 (each way) mins and I would be thinking about hotels. 1.5 to 2 hours (each way) and it is definately hotel.

Come on guys, work it out. By staying local to the job you can (more than) earn back the hotel costs. If you have a decent contract you can get a weeks work in by Thursday lunch and have long weekends every week. The long commutes must be killing your home life anyway.

I are currently finishing Thursday at 19:00 and billing 5.5 days.

[VectraMan]

In the 18months I've been at this, I've always done 1 1/2 - 2 hour commutes. I'm quite happy driving, and don't usually have too many traffic problems so it doesn't bother me all that much.

My previous job I'd drive for an hour and a half and then take a short train trip, and it was the train part that would stress me out and piss me off. I just couldn't spend an hour commuting on tubes or whatever across London, it would drive me insane in no time. I'd much rather have a 100 mile drive.

Each job I've had has been in a different area, so although I've thought about moving I've been proven right in staying somewhere fairly central. 2 hours from here covers most of southern England and the Midlands.

But in my current role I'm managing to work at home a couple of days a week, which makes you think. I tend to do 8am - 4pm, and then don't know what to do with the extra part of the day I don't usually see.

[Lockhouse]

I'm currently doing 1 3/4 hours each way from outside Winchester to Liverpool St on a daily basis and I've been doing it for 5 years. Recently I have found I have to stay in London in a hotel one week a month as I can't do it full time anymore and if I get my next contract renewal I'm renting a flat and staying up here during the week. It has definitely affected my health. I reckon the longer the journey, the shorter the duration of doing it comfortably. An hour each way is around the normal limit of a long term commute for most people.

[Francko]

What is the maximum work travel time that you consider , when looking for gigs ? (
Looks like in London 2h is not that uncommon.

Depends also on the type of journey. In London even 20 minutes in an overpacked sweaty tube are already too much. 2h each way? Oh well I still remember the words of an ex-colleague "I don't need more spare time, I wouldn't know what to do with it". Sad but some people are just so bored that they cannot assign a value to their free time.

[lukemg]

Anything over an hour will grind you down eventually, can do longer for short term gigs (but they always get extended and then you suffer !).

[SallyAnne]

1 hour max. Ideally (and this has been the case for a long time) 30 minutes. I pity those poor b***rs who have to sit in traffic day in day out. Currently a 10 minute train + 12 minute bike ride - fantastic. A bit of reading done + exercise every working day.

Thats ideal that Bob.

I always said no more than an hour each way, but I'm currently doing: -

15 mins car,
45 mins train,
20 minute walk

And it's a really really nice journey. Even when I have to hang around at the train station with delays and stuff, I dont really mind it.

Before this gig I had 50 minutes on a cramped metro each way - that was far worse.

[bobhope]

1 hour max. Ideally (and this has been the case for a long time) 30 minutes. I pity those poor b***rs who have to sit in traffic day in day out. Currently a 10 minute train + 12 minute bike ride - fantastic. A bit of reading done + exercise every working day.

[threaded]

I regularly commuted from Doncaster to the City (London). Get some work done on the way / watch a movie on the laptop (pre DVD so had to swap disks somewhere near Peterborough)

[Kyajae]

What is the maximum work travel time that you consider , when looking for gigs ? (
Looks like in London 2h is not that uncommon.

Easy. 45 mins max. Then it's an extra £2/hr per 1 hr tavel (there and back) on top of the proposed rate So if you travel 2 hours a day total, it's£4 a day. So if you're travelling say 2 hours per day, it's an extra £20 per we ek.

If the pimp says 'no' go tell 'em to **** off. But don't go overboard. You wouldn't want a pimp thinking he/she is taking the p*ss less than you are.

The fact they are phoning people who are living further and further away from the gig implies that all the one's they have contacted nearer to the gig won't touch it for one reason or another. Make your travel pay. You're wearing out your car and your daylight for them. It has a price.