Reply to: Advice plz from those who work away.

[BlasterBates]

I would go for the commute and maybe spend the odd night in a hotel rather than stay 4 nights in a hotel. I think 4 nights is too much in the long term.

[DieScum]

Yeah, it is a mixed bag.

I quit consultancy partly because of that. Miss the travel now sometimes.

But I remember on my last project being sat in the crappy hotel thinking wait a minute this is daft. I've got a great, city centre flat back home, sky tv with the football package, gym membership - all of which I pay plenty for. Plus a phone full of mates I can call up.

Yet there I was in some crappy little hotel which was no better than a bedsit. Most nights I'd just go tot he supermarket and get a sandwich because it was boring to eat in a restaurant on your own and there was no room service.

It was madness.

Depends where you end up though. Gigs in London were usually fine.

[alreadypacked]

Currently live in DimPrawnVille but since the wife is about to be made redundant have no ties to this god forsaken tulip hole.

The one upside is that I can commute to London albeit an hour on the train and tube journey the other end.

Been lucky for the last 6 months as WFH perm but now have a Wharf contract and the 2 hour each way is a bummer.

So considering moving back "home" into the country, nice barn conversion or such like but of course that will mean Mon-Thurs (poss Friday) away in a hotel.

So am I mad giving up a London commutable location, home every evening, for a better location, trading a 3-4 night hotel?

I'm sure plenty do it, would you advise me not to?

I lived in the Wharf for a year, really enjoyed it. Rents are quite cheap there at the moment. Used the Thames Clipper to travel to London, fab. Wife might find a role too. Leave the move home until after the contract is finished.

[Scary]

Not for me that, that is living to work IMO.

And spending 5 days a week away from the family in a hotel room or house share is...?

[Manic]

I'd rather get a 3 bed semi somewhere dull in zone 6 or on a quick rail route to central London and put the living in a barn in the country dream on hold whilst saving cash.

Not for me that, that is living to work IMO.

[Lockhouse]

I rented in the Wharf for 6 months a couple of years back. I got a one bed flat on a complex with a gym and pool so I could chill out in the evenings plus it was a 10 minute walk to work and also right next door to the riverbus stop. My commute was almost two hours each way but I'd been doing it for 4 years and needed a break. Yes I missed the missus and kids but I wasn't getting in each evening falling asleep in my dinner.

I wouldn't recommend staying in a hotel - you end up eating crap and drinking too much.

[Scary]

I'd rather get a 3 bed semi somewhere dull in zone 6 or on a quick rail route to central London and put the living in a barn in the country dream on hold whilst saving cash.

[TykeMerc]

So a mixed bag then. Last 6 months I've been WFH so 6 months in the smoke is not bad, hopefully the one after might be a WFH gig.

It's certainly a mixed bag.

You can wind up missing events from your childrens lives, have to deal with your wife complaining that you're not there to help (and loads of other reasons) and of course cope with the mutual isolation.

Don't count on getting work from home contracts, they're nice when they pop up, but are inevitably few and far between when you need them.

So long as you understand the drawbacks it's workable, but be aware lots of us that have done the working away gigs are also divorced.

[Manic]

So a mixed bag then. Last 6 months I've been WFH so 6 months in the smoke is not bad, hopefully the one after might be a WFH gig.

[darmstadt]

I think over the last 10 years I've slept more in hotel beds (in numerous countries) than I have my own. Occasionally I get a bit peeved but then I look at my invoices and it ain't too bad. What I do find is that the missus complains when I'm at home and then complains when I'm away working, its a no-win lose situation

[Peoplesoft bloke]

I've been doing it for 11 years and I think it's fine. I have a young child who I do miss as well as missing er indoors, but I think it's fine - I am missing out on some stuff, but it has enabled the three of us to have a month's holiday - something that would have been trickier as a permie.

Edit: I don't live in commuting distance of our tuliphole of a capital city - and I've never been unfortunate enough to get a gig there.

[Ruse]

It's not as bad as all that, honest. I am living away in Leeds right now on a 6 month contract, my home and family are 30 miles outside London. Having to leave on a Sunday evening is not great but it's amazing what you get used to. On the plus side you can get back a lot of time, I previously commuted to The Wicked Wharf and it sometimes took 2 hours each way. Now I have a 10 min drive each way.

With Skype you can see and talk to your kids as much as you like, in fact mine usually just wander off after about 10 mins to do something more intersting

[Mr Crosby]

If you dont mind getting divorced then go for it.

[rootsnall]

Don't do it if you have any choice in the matter, therefore don't do it. I just had my first taste of working away for 5 years or so and a previously rock solid happy marriage had it's first wobbles. It's not worth it. The kids were also fretting. It's works for some but I suspect it is just that you can get used to almost any existence, no matter how tulip it is.

[EternalOptimist]

working away is SH 1 TE.
You will lose contact with your kids and your missus. But absence makes the heart grow fonder. You will come up with compensation strategies, and you will have money.
You will have to live in some right sh 1 t holes, you will have a miserable cold existance. but its for your family.

Other people have had a different experience(ask Pogle) but thats mine