This just seems pretty grotesque to me. My first job out of university I had a two hour commute each way. I read tons of books, and listened to a lot of podcas

This just seems pretty grotesque to me. My first job out of university I had a two hour commute each way. I read tons of books, and listened to a lot of podcasts (on my Orange SPV C500, no less). I suppose there were times I enjoyed the space, but overall I think you just grow addicted to the sacrifice and hard work and heroism of it all. Addicted to the stress because it lets you prove what a hard worker you are, and brush aside other people's worries about work. The only journey to work I've ever really enjoyed was a 45 minute walk each way to a co-working space in Sheffield, through parks and beside rivers, listening to audiobooks. And now I work at home and see my wife and two kids loads, and no amount of money will ever change that.