How Does a Long Commute Affect You?

chops018

If you have to endure a long commute like myself, how does it affect you?

For me, I get the train at 7.30, get to the station around 8.00, get a bus around 8.10, and I'm in work around 8.40. (start time is actually 9.00 but the later trains would make me late).

The way home is a bit longer and different. I finish at 17.15 and I walk for 20 mins to the LUAS, 8 mins on the LUAS, then train home has more stops than in the morning so it's 40 mins compared to 27 in the morning. Usually arrive home between 18.35 and 19.00 depending on what train I make.

So, in the morning it's around 1 hour and 10 mins. In the evening it's around 1 hour and 20 mins to 1 hour and 30 mins.

This month I've noticed I'm getting sick very easily - colds that cure but come back, basically not going away.

I've a feeling the long commute doesn't help. I'm hoping once flu season is gone and the weather picks up a bit it will be all grand, because in actual fact this time last year I was working a 50 min drive away and I found I was more tired after the drive than on the train/bus - mainly due to being able to read a book, paper, go on the iPhone.

So, as I already said: how does your commute affect you? How long is it? Do you think you are more prone to flu's, infections, other seasonal illnesses?

The Backwards Man

You're not so bad, you're not even out of the house half a day. :P

chops018

The Backwards Man wrote: »

You're not so bad, you're not even out of the house half a day. :P

Gone 11-12 hours most days is bad enough :P

Why, are you gone more than 12? :eek:

Black_Knight

An hour both ways, but public transport means a can sneak a visit to the pub beforehand if I so please.

Black_Knight

chops018 wrote: »

Gone 11-12 hours most days is bad enough :P

Why, are you gone more than 12? :eek:

He does everything backwards

mickstupp

Mine's about 1.5 hours each way. Much worse if there's traffic problems. Exhausting, and really hard on my back, bus and car seats suck.

I would say I'm far more prone to grumpiness than sickness.

The Backwards Man

chops018 wrote: »

Gone 11-12 hours most days is bad enough :P

Why, are you gone more than 12? :eek:

Some days alright, not regularly now though.

Used to have a 2 hour 15 minute drive to work, ten hour day, and same home, away from 5.45am to 8.15pm. Young and foolish then.

bjork

I cycle about 40 minutes each way. Love the fresh air and I fit in some exercise for the day.

Elvis_Presley

Right now 15 mins door to door, up until three weeks ago 50 mins each way in public transport. I dont know what to do with the extra free time, I need to get hobbies again. Commuting sucks, it absolutely killed me, and the loss of time and energy is such a waste of life.

Teyla Emmagan

I really hate commuting, what a waste of your life. My current job is half an hour away from my house - that's what I like most about it.

Used to have to drive an hour and a half each way. That was when they were building the N11 bypass (bypasses, to be more exact). On a bad day you'd have listened to Eamonn Dunphy's entire 2 hour breakfast show before you got to work. Horrific.

the nikkei is rising

I drive because I'm not a pleb, half hour each way instead of over an hour on public transport.

The Peanut

Used to leave house at 5 for work at 7am. 12hrs til 7 and then back home by 9. Did it for 5 years in my twenties. Did it solely to earn as much money as I could to build where I live.

Could not physically do it now.

errlloyd

I spent 40 minutes waiting for an 84 the other day, the live timer on my phone and on the screen said it was coming. Time passes nothing happens. I walked over to the bus stop (I had been away cause there was no shelter) and it had a note saying it was being bypasses. 50 minutes till the next bus. I wanted to punch a wall.

There are tangible links between commute distance and depression. All that wastes time.

chops018

the nikkei is rising wrote: »

I drive because I'm not a pleb, half hour each way instead of over an hour on public transport.

If I decided to drive rather than take the train, to pay for parking, petrol and wear and tear on the car it would actually be double what I pay for commuting now.

Not only that but it works out the same in travel time as I tried it once or twice.

eviltwin

I used to leave the house at 7:30am and would home 7:30pm Monday to Friday. Had a young child at the time and it was no life.

45-60 mins on a comfy bus usually have a nap each way, it's great

The Backwards Man

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe1a1wHxTyo

I walk five minutes down a tree lined path beside a landscaped garden.


Sorry.

Frigga_92

I commuted from Waterford train station to Dublin every week day for 4 months and it was horrible.
At the time I was working on contract in Dublin and I knew my contract would be bring me up to Christmas so I figured I'd see it out. My husband needed help with his dad so that's why I moved down.

I was on great money at the time but no time to spend it and now I'm on only okay money and plenty of time to spare. Typical.

I used to get up at 4:50am and get myself ready, too early for breakfast so it was just wash and dress and go. Leave for the train station at around 5:30am, get into train station at around 5:50am and get on train. The train left at 6am and later it was changed to 6:10am. The train was late pretty much everyday by between 5 and 20 minutes which meant I would then miss the 145 which left me off outside where i worked. I then started cycling from the train station to my workplace and then back in the evenings. This was great for keeping my weight in check but I was always exhausted.
I used to finish work at 5:30pm and race to Hueston for the 6:35pm train home. This was supposed to get in at 9pm but was always late by between 10 and 30 minutes. I would get home any time between 9:30pm and 10pm and then had to be in bed by 11pm so realistically I was only getting about an hour and a half at home where I was awake and only getting about 6 hours sleep a night.

For the first month or so my diet was okay but slowly the coffee and croissant once or twice a week became every morning as the tiredness started to get on top of me. I used to have my dinner at lunchtime because it was too late to eat dinner when i got home and again the dinners started out good but eventually chips started to creep in and I recall even eating burger king for lunch a few times :eek:
When I was on the train in the morning i could sleep, most people were sleeping so it tended to be quiet but the evenings were a nightmare sometimes, you could end up surrounded by school tours or people on hens or stags so it was more difficult to sleep so instead I used to read (silver lining I did read an awful lot of books during those months which was lovely) and eat, usually a coffee (I'd be wrecked) and a chocolate bar.

I suppose the worst thing affected was diet, just constantly reaching for something to eat to make the day a bit easier and make myself feel a bit better.
And the other thing was having no time during the week to do anything other than travel and work so the weekends were jam packed which meant that come Monday morning I'd be exhausted from the weekend. Vicious cycle.

When I was doing that commute it was the year we had the first really heavy snowfall, the end of 2010. There was days during those couple of weeks when the train didn't pull into Waterford until 10:30pm or I'd arrive at the station in the morning to be told it was bus transfers to Kilkenny or there was no bus transfers at all. I somehow managed to never miss a day but the place I was working for gave me a lot of hassle during those weeks, yet there was people living in Tallaght who didn't bother getting into work and I was after travelling half the length of the country for no thanks.

Now, my commute is lovely. It takes 17 minutes on my motorbike on main roads so never really affected by bad weather. I drive the bike all year round and it's lovely to have the freedom compared to the trains, buses, bicycles, taxis etc.

eet fuk

10 minute cycle or 30 minute walk.

Recently moved into town (Dublin) primarily to avoid public transport, and for me it is totally worth the higher rent. Extra1-2 hours per day to myself, no bus fares, no smelly disease riddled passengers coughing and spluttering all over me in winter. Mmmmmm, love it.

Ray Palmer

Apparently for ever 20 minutes you commute you loose an hour of personal life. Can't remember the study but you can be sure the longer your commute is the more unhappy you become.
I would never take a job that was a longer commute than 1 hour.
I used to work with a guy who loved his car and would go on about how he got from Bettystown to work in an hour. I passed him every day on my cycle to work at the point it took me about 20 minutes to get to work. I'd have a shower get to my desk and then he would arrive at his desk about 20 minutes afterwards. Used to go on about how he would never cycle because he wasn't a child and stopped playing with toys.
He used to go on about how I was crazy to have bought a house in Dublin and how he so smart because it was only an hour to work. Eventually I just couldn't put up with his sh*te after a while and explained to him how full of it he was. He did out all these sums showing how he was doing better than me financially as a result of his genius. I looked and laughed at him. He made the most outrageous claims such as his car cost him €20 a week (petrol,insurance and maintenance) and his commute was still down as 1 hour. He would not budge on his claims, for a week I would wave when I passed him on my way to work and look at my clock to see the time. He then eventually admitted his journey took him longer but some how much faster going home:rolleyes: I have met a few like him and generally all I can gather is people don't want to actually admit how long their commute is

lazeedaisy

I used to commute 3 1/2 hours every day for years.

Left the house at 5.30, home by 5.

Never had any adverse effects, never sick, went through audio cd books by the tonne,

It never bothered me, but everyone else used to be bothered by it,

My boss would always hint at it, or others could not understand the length of it, but being home by 5 every day, not many people could boast that.

Dont miss it since I stopped, but to be honest the only adverse effect was snow or really bad weather, which lengthened the mornng commute, I was up and out in 7 mins flat.

Mine is grand. I either get the bus or walk. Bus takes anything between 15 and 25 mins, depending on traffic/number of stops. If it isn't raining I'll usually walk. It's about 30 mins, but it's all uphill. A very steep hill! The walk home is a lot faster.

The longest commute I ever had was a 20 minute walk and 30 minute train journey. So never had it that bad..

boardie100

commute is 45 mins to an hour but I work one day at home so it helps a lot... weather like tonight's breaks my heart driving the m50... I honestly think more than an hour is too much and would affect my mood... id prefer public transport to driving anyday

Sugar Free

30 mins from closing the front door at home to sitting down at work but only if I leave before 0745 at the latest.

I drive to work which I imagine reduces the risk of infection more so than the length of the commute.

Penny Tration

Average work day for me -

Leave house at 7.30am. Walk to bus stop, get a bus anywhere between 7.45 and 8.00am.

Get off bus at 9am-ish. Get another bus. Get off other bus. WWalk for 10 minutes. Arrive in work at 10am.

Finish work at 7, opposite route home, usually get home between 9-9.30pm.

Depending on the day, I'm out of the house for anywhere between 12-14 hours.

It's grand. I get a bit tired, and can't do much on consecutive work days, but no hassle really.

heldel00

Reading this thread is really giving me the kick up the bum I need.
20mins to work, 20mins home. Have plenty of time to get up off my backside and get myself a hobby or get out for a walk or something.
Fair play to you all. Some of these commutes you are talking about are no joke.

Just out of curiosity, is any of your commutes going to be a long term thing (earn as much as you can/ work your way towards promotion) or is there light at end of the tunnel (new job? Shorter commute?)

boardie100

Jenny Thalia wrote: »

Average work day for me -

Leave house at 7.30am. Walk to bus stop, get a bus anywhere between 7.45 and 8.00am.

Get off bus at 9am-ish. Get another bus. Get off other bus. WWalk for 10 minutes. Arrive in work at 10am.

Finish work at 7, opposite route home, usually get home between 9-9.30pm.

Depending on the day, I'm out of the house for anywhere between 12-14 hours.

It's grand. I get a bit tired, and can't do much on consecutive work days, but no hassle really.

that's a very long day... dunno.if I could hack that

Penny Tration

boardie100 wrote: »

that's a very long day... dunno.if I could hack that

I'm actually grand with it. I jacked in a job 10 minutes from my house for this one, which is essentially the same job, just a better title and pay

Penny Tration

heldel00 wrote: »

Reading this thread is really giving me the kick up the bum I need.
20mins to work, 20mins home. Have plenty of time to get up off my backside and get myself a hobby or get out for a walk or something.
Fair play to you all. Some of these commutes you are talking about are no joke.

Just out of curiosity, is any of your commutes going to be a long term thing (earn as much as you can/ work your way towards promotion) or is there light at end of the tunnel (new job? Shorter commute?)

My commute is gonna be a relatively long term thing. I worked my way up to this place. Crap job, but decent wages compared to the last place, and a much better title. Can't go any further up in the company.

namloc1980

2 min drive to the station, 16 mins on the train and then 13 min walk to the office. Same in reverse in the evening.