12 ms·

I was a mega commuter for about 6 months. It did terrible things to my mental health. On a really, really lucky day I could make it home from work in about 75 m

I was a mega commuter for about 6 months. It did terrible things to my mental health. On a really, really lucky day I could make it home from work in about 75 minutes. Those were good days. Average was around 90min, and god help me, if there was an accident on the bridge, it could sky-rocket to 2.5 hours. I have never been more depressed in my entire life. After the drive home on Wednesday, I had already spent over the equivalent time of a standard work day in my car. At the end of the month, I had spent well over a work week's worth of hours commuting. That is time you don't get back, and it is near impossible to use it for anything worth while if you're stuck driving. Audiobooks helped _a little_ some weekly podcasts made some days better than others, but on the whole, it was just 3 hours of bored raging every day. When you're finally home, you've got about enough time to cook, say hello to the family, and then nip off to bed because you've gotta wake up before dawn to beat the bulk of the traffic. It was such a fucking grind. Never again. I'll happily trade 10s of thousands of dollars off any potential salary to not endure traffic again.

cdubzzz 10y ago
We have one mega commuter at our office who seems perfectly content with the travel and he has been doing it for as long as I have been here (so at least four years). He has a 20 min. drive from his home in WV to the train station and then a 2+ hour train ride in to the city. Yesterday on the way home, there was an accident ahead of his train and it took him _five hours_ to get home. I really can't comprehend it. I recently went from a 25-30 minute commute to a 45-60 minute one and I'm already regretting it a little because I just feel much more tired when I get home.
- castratikron 10y ago
  A train ride is easier on you than a drive in traffic. He probably naps on the ride home.
  - cdubzzz 10y ago
    In the same way that commute preferences are different for my colleague and me, they are different for everyone. My commute is also by train (metro) and I find the additional time that I have tacked on to be surprisingly draining. My previous, shorter, commute required a line change so I was only on each train for about 5-10 minutes. My new commute is all on one line for at least 30 minutes (and more often 45+). So I have more than tripled my time on the train, and I think it is precisely this that makes me get to the end of the commute feeling so much more tired.
    - ethanbond 10y ago
      But that wasn't really the comparison. The comparison is train versus driving a car, and I'd agree with GP – car commutes are a million times worse. I'm sure not everyone agrees with this, but your comment doesn't even address it.
    - rayiner 10y ago
      There are trains and there are trains. When I commuted from Baltimore to D.C., the 15 minutes I spent on the Red and Orange to get from Union Station to my office was much more draining than the 45 minutes on the Amtrak from Baltimore to D.C.
  - superuser2 10y ago
    Personally, quiet train with comfortable seat > driving > nearly everything else > standing on a loud, packed train.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
    It is: I have a similar 15-20 minute drive to the bus and then a 30 minute express bus ride into the city. It's much faster and less stress than driving, but the total amount of time I spend travelling still gets to me.
- JadeNB 10y ago
  > He has a 20 min. drive from his home in WV to the train station and then a 2+ hour train ride in to the city. A train commute is not the same as a car commute (as castratikron (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12865204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12865204) also notes). I have a two hours' walk to work, and I love it; it is calming. Half that time in a car would have me a frothing mess of rage (I say with authority, having briefly had a 90-minute commute a while back).
  - johnm1019 10y ago
    I love walking and would do it more often, but how have you kept up the health of your knees? If I walk (like walking from A > B in one go) more than about 2 hours a day by the 3rd or 4th day my knees start to feel it.
    - JadeNB 10y ago
      > I love walking and would do it more often, but how have you kept up the health of your knees? If I walk (like walking from A > B in one go) more than about 2 hours a day by the 3rd or 4th day my knees start to feel it. I dunno. I used to spend time on a treadmill, too, and that really killed my knees, so it's not just some super strong joints. I think you just get used to it; I started when I was 20 (though I've scaled it up over time), and that probably helps.
  - AdamN 10y ago
    You walk four hours each workday? Why not bike?
    - JadeNB 10y ago
      2 hours (my wife works in the same place, and I usually ride home with her). I don't like biking as much as I like walking.
ryandrake 10y ago
Yea, it sucks. Here's what a 2 hour commute looks like: * Wake up at 6:15AM * Leave house at 7AM * Arrive at work at 9AM * Leave work at 6PM (sometimes 7PM if there's a late meeting) * Arrive home at 8PM (or 9PM depending on above) * Play with young daughter for an hour or so until bed time * Try to manage to get some dinner into my mouth as I'm falling asleep from exhaustion This is when I don't come in very early (like today), which can sometimes shave 30 minutes or so off the trip. Honestly not sure what the solution is. I'd trade salary for a saner lifestyle, but I would not trade away the job security that comes with having a tech employer on every block for miles. You don't get that certainty in non-insane small towns. The only thing I can imagine worse than a long commute would be to have to move every 2 years to a different city for work when your company goes belly up or when your company realizes it can abuse you because there are no other employers around.
- mbrameld 10y ago
  > to have to move every 2 years to a different city for work when your company goes belly up or when your company realizes it can abuse you because there are no other employers around. You have a very warped view of the tech industry outside the valley. Your impression certainly doesn't match reality, but enjoy that commute!
- Quinner 10y ago
  NYC has plenty of tech opportunities and a public transit system that can get you from most residences to most workplaces in well under an hour.
- thfuran 10y ago
  I'll stick with: Wake up at 8:15 Leave house at 8:45 Arrive at 9:00 if there was traffic, or a bit sooner otherwise Leave Work at 5 or maybe quarter after Arrive home by 5:30, or earlier if I didn't stop for gas. There's plenty job security around here unless you are incompetent and don't know anybody.
superuser2 10y ago
>it is near impossible to use it for anything worth while if you're stuck driving It's also impossible if you're stuck standing on a public transit vehicle. You need one arm for the overhead rail and another for the backpack there isn't room to wear, and most of your attention to keep from falling over when the bus or train accelerates and brakes. BART for me is a 15 minute bike ride + 10 minute transfer + 25 minute train + 10 minute walk, for a total of a little over an hour. The AC Transit transbay bus is more like 50 minutes, given that have to transfer from transbay terminal to Muni, but it's unreliable and the chances of getting a seat are zero instead of slim. I now accept a 75 minute commute split between my car, the Oakland/Alameda ferry, and Muni because traffic within the East Bay is reasonably pleasant to drive in and the ferry feels reasonably civilized (no quick jerky movements, not crowded, reasonably clean). In clear traffic, like if I go in on a Saturday, the drive straight to my office takes 18 minutes. Our public transit system is horrifically dysfunctional.

cdubzzz 10y ago

We have one mega commuter at our office who seems perfectly content with the travel and he has been doing it for as long as I have been here (so at least four years). He has a 20 min. drive from his home in WV to the train station and then a 2+ hour train ride in to the city. Yesterday on the way home, there was an accident ahead of his train and it took him _five hours_ to get home. I really can't comprehend it. I recently went from a 25-30 minute commute to a 45-60 minute one and I'm already regretting it a little because I just feel much more tired when I get home.

castratikron 10y ago
A train ride is easier on you than a drive in traffic. He probably naps on the ride home.
- cdubzzz 10y ago
  In the same way that commute preferences are different for my colleague and me, they are different for everyone. My commute is also by train (metro) and I find the additional time that I have tacked on to be surprisingly draining. My previous, shorter, commute required a line change so I was only on each train for about 5-10 minutes. My new commute is all on one line for at least 30 minutes (and more often 45+). So I have more than tripled my time on the train, and I think it is precisely this that makes me get to the end of the commute feeling so much more tired.
  - ethanbond 10y ago
    But that wasn't really the comparison. The comparison is train versus driving a car, and I'd agree with GP – car commutes are a million times worse. I'm sure not everyone agrees with this, but your comment doesn't even address it.
  - rayiner 10y ago
    There are trains and there are trains. When I commuted from Baltimore to D.C., the 15 minutes I spent on the Red and Orange to get from Union Station to my office was much more draining than the 45 minutes on the Amtrak from Baltimore to D.C.
- superuser2 10y ago
  Personally, quiet train with comfortable seat > driving > nearly everything else > standing on a loud, packed train.
- HeyLaughingBoy 10y ago
  It is: I have a similar 15-20 minute drive to the bus and then a 30 minute express bus ride into the city. It's much faster and less stress than driving, but the total amount of time I spend travelling still gets to me.
JadeNB 10y ago
> He has a 20 min. drive from his home in WV to the train station and then a 2+ hour train ride in to the city. A train commute is not the same as a car commute (as castratikron (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12865204 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12865204) also notes). I have a two hours' walk to work, and I love it; it is calming. Half that time in a car would have me a frothing mess of rage (I say with authority, having briefly had a 90-minute commute a while back).
- johnm1019 10y ago
  I love walking and would do it more often, but how have you kept up the health of your knees? If I walk (like walking from A > B in one go) more than about 2 hours a day by the 3rd or 4th day my knees start to feel it.
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    > I love walking and would do it more often, but how have you kept up the health of your knees? If I walk (like walking from A > B in one go) more than about 2 hours a day by the 3rd or 4th day my knees start to feel it. I dunno. I used to spend time on a treadmill, too, and that really killed my knees, so it's not just some super strong joints. I think you just get used to it; I started when I was 20 (though I've scaled it up over time), and that probably helps.
- AdamN 10y ago
  You walk four hours each workday? Why not bike?
  - JadeNB 10y ago
    2 hours (my wife works in the same place, and I usually ride home with her). I don't like biking as much as I like walking.

ryandrake 10y ago

Yea, it sucks. Here's what a 2 hour commute looks like: * Wake up at 6:15AM * Leave house at 7AM * Arrive at work at 9AM * Leave work at 6PM (sometimes 7PM if there's a late meeting) * Arrive home at 8PM (or 9PM depending on above) * Play with young daughter for an hour or so until bed time * Try to manage to get some dinner into my mouth as I'm falling asleep from exhaustion This is when I don't come in very early (like today), which can sometimes shave 30 minutes or so off the trip. Honestly not sure what the solution is. I'd trade salary for a saner lifestyle, but I would not trade away the job security that comes with having a tech employer on every block for miles. You don't get that certainty in non-insane small towns. The only thing I can imagine worse than a long commute would be to have to move every 2 years to a different city for work when your company goes belly up or when your company realizes it can abuse you because there are no other employers around.

mbrameld 10y ago
> to have to move every 2 years to a different city for work when your company goes belly up or when your company realizes it can abuse you because there are no other employers around. You have a very warped view of the tech industry outside the valley. Your impression certainly doesn't match reality, but enjoy that commute!
Quinner 10y ago
NYC has plenty of tech opportunities and a public transit system that can get you from most residences to most workplaces in well under an hour.
thfuran 10y ago
I'll stick with: Wake up at 8:15 Leave house at 8:45 Arrive at 9:00 if there was traffic, or a bit sooner otherwise Leave Work at 5 or maybe quarter after Arrive home by 5:30, or earlier if I didn't stop for gas. There's plenty job security around here unless you are incompetent and don't know anybody.

superuser2 10y ago

>it is near impossible to use it for anything worth while if you're stuck driving It's also impossible if you're stuck standing on a public transit vehicle. You need one arm for the overhead rail and another for the backpack there isn't room to wear, and most of your attention to keep from falling over when the bus or train accelerates and brakes. BART for me is a 15 minute bike ride + 10 minute transfer + 25 minute train + 10 minute walk, for a total of a little over an hour. The AC Transit transbay bus is more like 50 minutes, given that have to transfer from transbay terminal to Muni, but it's unreliable and the chances of getting a seat are zero instead of slim. I now accept a 75 minute commute split between my car, the Oakland/Alameda ferry, and Muni because traffic within the East Bay is reasonably pleasant to drive in and the ferry feels reasonably civilized (no quick jerky movements, not crowded, reasonably clean). In clear traffic, like if I go in on a Saturday, the drive straight to my office takes 18 minutes. Our public transit system is horrifically dysfunctional.