Crazy commute?

My other half has a job in Ballinasloe hospital starting in January.
We live in Kilmainham and she is thinking of commuting up and down 4 days a week (stay with a relative in galway one night a week) for the 6 months she is working there.

It sounded crazy at first, but she nearly has me convinced! What do you think?

Car is 1.6 Avensis and gets 38-40mpg on that run which is 95% dual carrageway and motorway.

messrs

what sort of hours would she be doing? journey would take roughly 1.5 hours, this is with no traffic & getting a good run on the road. obv rush hour traffic would be that bit longer.
it is possible and its only for 6 months so not to bad.
if it was to much for her, is there a possibility she could stay an extra night in the relatives house?

Stheno

She'd rent a place in Ballinasloe cheaper than the total cost of commuting, and she'd have her sanity

That's ninety miles each way, I used do a similar commute three days a week occasionally and I was like a zombie after the third day, it was seriously exhausting

messrs

might be hard to rent a place for only 6 months though, most places want 1 year lease ect, - may be different down there tho, even book into a B&B for 4 nights a week may be cheaper.

there is a website (cant think of it now, but it will come to me!!) where people can share lifts ect, so she could look on that and see if anyone else was doing the same sort of commute and they could take it in turns driving, maybe week about or something

messrs

messrs wrote: »

what sort of hours would she be doing? journey would take roughly 1.5 hours, this is with no traffic & getting a good run on the road. obv rush hour traffic would be that bit longer.
it is possible and its only for 6 months so not to bad.
if it was to much for her, is there a possibility she could stay an extra night in the relatives house?

Thanks for the reply. Hours are 9 - 5.30.
We go up and down to galway a fair bit and early on a Saturday it takes ~1hr20 mins to Ballinasloe. She would be leaving dublin at ~7.30 so should hit little to no traffic en route we think? we live very close to the N4. Would be getting back in to Dublin ~7pm so traffic has normally thined out on the N4 into Dublin by this time.

She could stay with the relative another night or there is a hotel very close to the hospital that does B&B for €35 a night for hospital staff.

yop

I commute daily each day, drive is 1hr 20 each way. Have been doing it for 2.5 years.
Was doing Castlebar to Naas daily for 3 months That was tough going.

BMJD

it's not that bad of a commute, Kilmainham is beside the N4 so it's handy to get going plus she'll be missing the worst of the traffic on that route if she's heading West at 07:30. A diesel car would be a lot more economical on that type of commute but if it's only for 6 months then it probably isn't worth the cost of changing.

I know plenty of people who are commuting less than 50km which takes more than 90 minutes!

biko

Try it for a week maybe while checking daft and similar for a room in a house?
You do get used to it after a while but it will be a drag driving all that way.

Anyway, January is a while yet so she can probably get something in place before then.

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

She'd rent a place in Ballinasloe cheaper than the total cost of commuting, and she'd have her sanity

That's ninety miles each way, I used do a similar commute three days a week occasionally and I was like a zombie after the third day, it was seriously exhausting

We did think that at first but it really does seem to be a fairly handy straight motorway drive. Cost of renting would be cheaper than fuel, maintenance, new tyres etc but the quality of whats available to rent in Bsloe is very poor and all want at least 1 year contract unfortunately.

The main reason for considering it would be so that she would be home each evening rather than on her own in what don't seem to be decent rental options.

ba_barabus

I'd approach a b&b and ask if they would do a special rate for 3 nights a week for 6 months. She'll save the money on petrol doing that. Even 30€ a night for a single room should do it.I reckon she'll go mad with all that driving. I know I would.

MuppetCheck

I'm doing 1.40 up and 2.10 back (evening traffic) everyday and if there is a way to reduce it by staying over its definitely the way to go. You need to make an allowance for traffic at peak times - it could easily be longer than you think. Plus with the winter coming it being on the road a lot has its dangers.

There are other downsides too. She'll be shagged come the weekend, you lose out on a lot of free time and eating habits take a turn for the worse.

YbFocus

MuppetCheck wrote: »

She'll be shagged come the weekend...

You don't even know the girl :pac:

plys

I know this is the motors forum, but I read the OP and was all set to suggest the train. I mean, Kilmainham is close to Heuston; Ballinasloe is on the main Galway line; OP indicates working hours are regular enough at 9:00-5:30...

No reason why this wouldn't be doable, right??

Then I checked the Irish Rail website, and, well, the first train doesn't get to Ballinasloe until 9:20am. AND a monthly taxsaver ticket costs €440!!!!

I personally love driving, even if it is boring motorway driving, but I can't help but feel we are left with little choice but to drive, given the rubbish public transport options available to us.

OP, I would recommend your OH should try the commute. Having worked away from home Monday-Friday, rented a room etc., to me there is no substitute for getting home to your own bed every night.

A-Trak

I've recently had to commute 3hrs return minimum every day for the last 3 weeks.
The car I was given is rubbish, the food is awful and the drive is mind numbingly boring.

All in it's a far poorer quality of life and if I had to pay for fuel/up keep for the travel there's no way I'd do it.
As others suggest I'd try the commute for at least a week before committing to anything.

Old diesel

Stheno wrote: »

She'd rent a place in Ballinasloe cheaper than the total cost of commuting, and she'd have her sanity

That's ninety miles each way, I used do a similar commute three days a week occasionally and I was like a zombie after the third day, it was seriously exhausting

Slight niggle is that to rent somewhere at reasonable cost - she may have to house share aka as renting a room.

Which is fine - unless you end up living with muppets.

Hopefully that should be a lot less likely in Ballinasloe then in a town with an IT/uni.

Its what id do though if it was me (renting)

Time to get the calculators out - the extra cost is renting - food and ESB are a cost - but shed incour most/a lot of that at home.

The thing that strikes me though - bearing in mind I know nothing about Ballinasloe - is - is DECENT accommodation actually available there.

Nothing worse then living somewhere crap house wise imo

Ded_Zebra

I've never done this kind of commute long term but I did do Ashford to Dundalk for 3 weeks. I would commute it if I was her, just much nicer to be in your own house after a long day. Well I prefer it anyway!

However, I wouldn't do it in the Avensis. Cruise control, soft suspension and comfortable, supportive seats is whats needed. Personally I would sacrifice some extra cost in terms of fuel/tax to get them. Auto would be a plus too.

I think its commutable to be honest plenty of people are an hour travelling 10 or 15 miles to work. 1 hour 20 to 1 hour 30 isn't bad really, especially if she works just her set 9 to 5:30 hours I'm only 15 mins walk from work and often would be getting home later than 7 (and sometimes much later), she would still have plenty of the evening and she wouldn't have to leave that early either to be down for work.

Its an easy drive too all motorway so privately stress free. Pity she hasn't a diesel car though would save a lot on costs.

Zubeneschamali

I did Athlone into Kilmainham for a year - it's long, but doable in the right car.

Auto would be wasted on this trip: it'll be an hour's motorway cruise in 6th each way, plus 15 minutes driving each end.

Cruise control, comfy seats, aircon, a good stereo and a motorway tag.

veetwin

That's not a bad commute at all especially if it's only short term. As someone else suggested there's plenty of lads spending an hour and a half in their cars morning and evening to go a fraction of that mileage.

I used to live in Lucan and work in the city centre less than 10 miles away. Plenty of times I left at 8am and it would be 9.30 before I got into work. I got the bus mostly but some days had to bring the car and it was pure torture compared to doing 1hr 20 on a good motorway.

YbFocus

The girlfriend does tullamore to Blackrock daily in the 530d, 1hr 20 mins and finds it grand.

You want a good, comfy, mile eating car!

This thread reminds me of some of the horrible commutes I used to do. Looking back I still wonder wtf I was thinking. It was not good for the body or the brain at all. Newcastle West to Lanesborough 5 days a week was the worst, but it was shared driving so only drove every second day. At least 5 hours driving a day. Newcastle West to Kilkenny was bad too but that was shared between 4 of us.

If possible, she should rent somewhere cheap. She will drive herself mad after a while. I don't think anyone should travel any longer than 45 mins in the morning and an hour in the evenings. Im aware this can't always be an option for everyone

Sheldons Brain

A least in January B&Bs might be interested in some business at a good rate, even if this wasn't available in the tourist season. Driving in the dark/fog/sleet etc isn't ideal, less so than in a few months when the days are brighter.

quadrifoglio verde

I'm 12 miles from dublin city centre, if i leave at 8 in the morning, it's half 9 before I'm
In town. I certainly would try the commute even for the first shirt while and see how it goes.
Or if you don't own the house, you could both look at moving out a bit for cheaper rent and to be closer to ballinasloe. Only issue would be for you commuting into the city centre.

Zubeneschamali

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

If possible, she should rent somewhere cheap. She will drive herself mad after a while.

She's only planning to do it for 6 months - she'll hardly feel that.

And if you think 3 hours a day in the car is bad, try 6 months in a room in some shared kip in Ballinasloe.

MuppetCheck

Are her hours definitely going to be fixed? It's when things go wrong or are busy in work that a long commute becomes a real pain.

MuppetCheck

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Are her hours definitely going to be fixed? It's when things go wrong or are busy in work that a long commute becomes a real pain.

Hours are fixed but there is the local hotel for €35 a night if she is stuck working late or the weather is particularly horrible for driving.

I think the best thing is to give it a go for a week or two and see. Staying with a relative one night and the hotel/B&B another night should make it manageable the other 3 days.

Plys mentioned the Train in his post. I checked this out at first aswell. Really crap that they cant have an early morning train Dublin-Galway. That would have been ideal. A rip off but better than driving I think. I emailed irish rail to see if any possibility of a timetable change next year but no response. expected as much!

LynnGrace

Weather is a factor to consider also. It's good that she has the option to stay over. I'd consider staying over two nights, most weeks, maybe Monday and Thursday nights, to get a bit of rest.

Snotaul Goodman

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

If possible, she should rent somewhere cheap. She will drive herself mad after a while. I don't think anyone should travel any longer than 45 mins in the morning and an hour in the evenings. Im aware this can't always be an option for everyone

It very much depends on the situation. I think anything up to 1 and half hours each way is doable if it means living where you really want. If I could live at or close my home place I'd be perfectly happy to drive 1.5 hours each way in order to live there. However if I was just renting somewhere in a different part of the country I wouldn't commute that far to another place I'd just move closer.

Idbatterim

there is also the toll on the M4 to bear in mind, unless you bypass it, adding 15 or so minutes I would guess...

MuppetCheck

Deleted User wrote: »

Hours are fixed but there is the local hotel for €35 a night if she is stuck working late or the weather is particularly horrible for driving.

If they are fixed it's more manageable to be fair. In my case I can need to be in very early or get stuck very late. Being stuck in until 8 and back in for 6 for example is when things tire you out. If she can stick to a routine that's half the battle won.

FionnK86

It takes me 2 hours to get to work every day, and 2 hours back

pete4130

I work 12 hour days, 21 days straight and do 300km a day, easily 100km of that is off road too. Just factor in your hourly rate with all the driving. Luckily my 12 hour days are all paid and driving is part of the work. It's still really damn tiring doing all those km's every day.

pred racer

Op, I do the opposite, near Ballinasloe to leixlip.
It's do-able for short periods but not long term. I work 12hr shifts and it didn't really leave enough time for sleeping.
My advice, get a room. I did.
It's cheaper (I was spending €120-150 a week on juice, the tolls mount up really quickly, that doesn't even take tyres, servicing etc into account)
And there is less chance of becoming a statistic

JJJJNR

I would rent a room for six months, definitely not worth the stress, finish work head to the gym/sleep or spend 1.30 hr driving. F. that.

kikel

Rent a room, I started in the Kilkenny to Sandyford commute during the summer. Once it got to september i got myself a room in Dublin. Go home one evening a week. Quality of life is great. what will really kill you is the fog, ice and rain.

visual

1.5 hours each way in ideal conditions and traffic isn't really reality of early morning evening driving.

Yes its do able but tiredness is going to to kick in when the drive turns out to be 2 hours each way.

Biggest killer isn't speeding or drink driving but driving tired.

131spanner

My current commute is 20 minutes, or half an hour if traffic is busy. I think I wouldn't be able to do anything over 45 minutes to an hour to be honest!

MuppetCheck

Just to give an example of how the commute can go wrong meaning she might need to work back to make up time...

I left Waterford at 5.45 this morning, about 25 mins earlier than the time I normally would when going in for 8. Torrential rain from Dungarvan to Youghal accompanied by thunder and lightning meaning lost time. Fender bender between Midleton and Carrigtwohill so it was backed right up from Midleton. In the end I got into the office at 8.25 meaning the journey took an hour longer than normal. This is going to be a regular occurrence too for the winter so it will mean leaving earlier again to avoid it.

Zubeneschamali

MuppetCheck wrote: »

This is going to be a regular occurrence too for the winter so it will mean leaving earlier again to avoid it.

The motorway is a lot more predictable. I've only been diverted off it for an accident once in 5 years.

There were a few snow days that were dodgy.

guil

Some amount of grannies here crying about driving for an hour. It takes me 15-20 mins to get to work in the morning but then I'm driving all day. I'm in work about 4:30am every morning and finishing at 2:30pm or 3pm is a short day for us.

Special Circumstances

guil wrote: »

Some amount of grannies here crying about driving for an hour. It takes me 15-20 mins to get to work in the morning but then I'm driving all day. I'm in work about 4:30am every morning and finishing at 2:30pm or 3pm is a short day for us.

Me too! But I do it for free, as I like it so much, then when I finish I do a desk job so I can finance the petrol/tyres/maintenance/redbull.

MuppetCheck

MuppetCheck wrote: »

I'm doing 1.40 up and 2.10 back (evening traffic) everyday and if there is a way to reduce it by staying over its definitely the way to go. You need to make an allowance for traffic at peak times - it could easily be longer than you think. Plus with the winter coming it being on the road a lot has its dangers.

There are other downsides too. She'll be shagged come the weekend, you lose out on a lot of free time and eating habits take a turn for the worse.

Almost 4 hours a day driving to and from work and an actual days work too ?

MuppetCheck

guil wrote: »

Some amount of grannies here crying about driving for an hour. It takes me 15-20 mins to get to work in the morning but then I'm driving all day. I'm in work about 4:30am every morning and finishing at 2:30pm or 3pm is a short day for us.

But driving is your job It's not like the other people are going for a second sleep once they arrive at their destination.

Augeo wrote: »

Almost 4 hours a day driving to and from work and an actual days work too ?

Yeah, and anywhere from a 9-14 hour day depending on how busy it is. Hence why I think it's a good idea to stay over at few days a week if possible.

guil

MuppetCheck wrote: »

But driving is your job It's not like the other people are going for a second sleep once they arrive at their destination.

Just because I drive for a living doesn't mean it's any easier, my point was all the people moaning about driving a few hours in their car to work. I get into a truck first thing and could be sitting in it for 13 hours a day a few times a week.

MuppetCheck

guil wrote: »

Just because I drive for a living doesn't mean it's any easier, my point was all the people moaning about driving a few hours in their car to work. I get into a truck first thing and could be sitting in it for 13 hours a day a few times a week.

But you're a professional driver - it's what you're paid to do. These people are paid to do something completely different with a drive on top for their often equally as long work day and them complete a drive on top of that when you are at home having your tea.

It's a bit like a doctor complaining about not liking to see patients.

guil

MuppetCheck wrote: »

But you're a professional driver - it's what you're paid to do. These people are paid to do something completely different with a drive on top for their often equally as long work day and them complete a drive on top of that when you are at home having your tea.

It's a bit like a doctor complaining about not liking to see patients.

I'm not complaining at all, I'm not at home having my tea most days as you suggested. I'm in work just 12 hours and won't get to my car for another hour or so.

This is regular coming into winter. When I mentine someone crying over driving I meant as in a 9-5 job.

nc19

I remember back before the bust it took me 1&1/2 hrs to go from lucan to churchtown on 2 gear tuesdays

YbFocus

guil wrote: »

I'm not complaining at all, I'm not at home having my tea most days as you suggested. I'm in work just 12 hours and won't get to my car for another hour or so.

This is regular coming into winter. When I mentine someone crying over driving I meant as in a 9-5 job.

I can't see your point, you chose your job.

These people can moan about 1hr plus commutes because it is crap and tiring.
It's a very different story when your getting paid for it.

guil

YbFocus wrote: »

I can't see your point, you chose your job.

These people can moan about 1hr plus commutes because it is crap and tiring.
It's a very different story when your getting paid for it.

Ha I was waiting for that and tbh I didn't choose the job, I was a plasterer and got pissed off after months with no work. Got the licence handy enough and the day after I passed the test rang about a job as a HGV driver.
There was literally sfa jobs suitable for me.

MuppetCheck

MuppetCheck wrote: »

.....

Yeah, and anywhere from a 9-14 hour day depending on how busy it is. Hence why I think it's a good idea to stay over at few days a week if possible.

Long day, I couldn't do it tbh, fair play to you, I would be moving jobs or moving house

YbFocus

guil wrote: »

Ha I was waiting for that and tbh I didn't choose the job, I was a plasterer and got pissed off after months with no work. Got the licence handy enough and the day after I passed the test rang about a job as a HGV driver.
There was literally sfa jobs suitable for me.

You rang and got the job. . . You chose the job?
It means nothing towards this anyway!