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[plantscience]

There's a great position opening next year near my hometown, only problem is that it's over 90 miles away...Would you commute the distance or do you already do that sort of commuting now? Gas here ranges between $2.69-$2.99, depending on whether my tank is getting low.....

[georgia_guy]

Is there a reason you won't leave your hometown? What about splitting the difference?

[dundee]

I am on the market right now and will commute as much as two hours, since I could do it by train and it wouldn't be five days a week - but two hours is my upper limit.

[mrbreeze]

My commute used to be 60 minutes. it got old after about three months but I did it for a year because I knew (after the year) that I would be moving closer.

Now my commute is about 25 minutes and the difference in my quality of life is huge.

It is not the price of gas you should worry about but the wear and tear on yourself. Let alone the productivity losses. 1-hour each way is 40 hours a month wasted in the care. That is a work week you spend driving instead of resting, thinking or writing.  Having said that, a 1-hr commute by train may be more tolerable since you can read or even grade homework.


Good luck,
mrb

[dr_dre]

I commute by public transit, usually from 90 minutes to two hours each way. For teaching, though, I try to arrive an hour early, so I leave home three hours before class. Last term I was commuting that distance four days a week. It was draining in some ways, but it's not unusual for people where I live.

[oldfullprof]

There's a great position opening next year near my hometown, only problem is that it's over 90 miles away...

I did that very thing for four years (3 X week.)  Now, I go 240 miles twice a week, staying in a hotel for three mights.  I could have gotten a job in SUNY in my home state (one was actually offered), but I was troubled by the ethics of one SUNY college, and won't work in this system.

[neutralname]

I think a 25 minute walk is about right.  It gives you some exercise and a way to ready yourself for the coming day.  I would not do more than 30 minutes on a regular basis.

[zharkov]

I did 90 miles / 1 hr 45 min for a few years, but it was usually just 3 days per week.  After a couple of years, I decided to move closer or find a closer job, and I found a closer job.  There were other factors for not moving closer, including how much the school paid, how much it valued my discipline, the admin, the community, etc. 

If you do take the job, books on tapes will be your friends.

[frack]

My commute is 12 minutes on foot. My wife (who lives in a different state) now commutes about 65 miles (one-way) 2 to 4 days a week. That's actually down a little from her commute in Indiana.

[prof_tournesol]

I walk about 30 minutes to my office, or it is about a four minute drive if the weather is completely atrocious or I'm returning twenty books to the library at once. That's the furthest I would commute. I have colleagues who do daily commutes of up to two hours each way and, not surprisingly, they're remarkably burnt out, unproductive and bitter.

[plantscience]

Wow! Thanks for all of the great comments...I knew there were a lot of long range commuters out there so thanks for the tips! The raise in pay will more than cover the fuel ($20,000 raise) and I love to drive but it's the time away from the husband the new home we just bought...so, you can see my dilemma.

[prephd]

Right now, I commute 1-2.5 hours each way, 5 or 6 days a week, often depending on circumstances often beyond my control.  Most days, I ride the train, so it's enough time for coffee, the paper, and checking my calendar & messages in the morning, and reading and napping in the afternoon. 

In the future, I hope to achieve more balance, but would still consider a two-hour one-way commute if it was either by train or only a few times a week. 

[trabb]

Right now, I commute 1-2.5 hours each way, 5 or 6 days a week, often depending on circumstances often beyond my control.  Most days, I ride the train, so it's enough time for coffee, the paper, and checking my calendar & messages in the morning, and reading and napping in the afternoon. 

In the future, I hope to achieve more balance, but would still consider a two-hour one-way commute if it was either by train or only a few times a week. 

[/quote

prephd: is that "anywhere from one to 2 1/2 hours"?  Or is it "1 1/4 hours"?

I'm in my first job for which I don't commute more than an hour.  My 4 minute drive is delightful.

[infopri]

After a lifetime of mostly working within a mile or two of work--and no more than five miles from work, ever--I took a job 45 miles (about an hour) away, through horrible weather/driving conditions.  I worked there for more than two years.  Now I'm job hunting again, and my radius for the search (I can't move) is at least 60 miles, and I'd at least consider commuting up to about 90 miles, although those last 30 would be tough.

Mrbreeze is right that the gas should be the least of your considerations.  It's the time lost in the car, the wear and tear on you, your car, and your husband, the inconvenience of being so far from campus, the remove you'll feel from your colleagues who live locally, etc.  Only you can decide whether the trade-off was worth it.  For me, it was, and I'd do it again--but I gotta tell you, living 1.5 miles from campus was much, much nicer.

[offthemarket]

There's a clear trend in this thread.  The people who have had commutes by car find it gets old.  Those who commute by public transit are fine with it.  Those who live right near their job don't think they could tolerate a commute and think their commuting colleagues are suffering.

I've had a 50-min drive in one position, an 8 minute drive in another, and now a 90-min or so commute by public transit.

I think I've been equally satisfied with all of them.  My long drive was during morning edition and all things considered, and I didn't reckon with much traffic, and it was through a beautiful area - downright pleasant.  now, on my public transit commute I get lots of grading, manuscript editing, reviewing, lecture planning, and my NPR podcast fix during quiet personal time.

When I was commute-less, when I wasn't in a good mood I looked upon those who lived further away with pity or a smidge of disdain (if they chose to live in the burbs with the McMansion and then complained about having to drive into town).  My commute increases my quality of life now, I'm in a wonderful community, very near my spouse's work, and living close to family and friends.  In my particular situation, I'd be very disappointed if I had to live near my university.

I think these decisions are really complex.  I'd encourage anyone with anything over an hour to consider public transit or a vanpool - even if it takes longer, it'd improve your quality of life.