• For more information on how to avoid pop-up ads and still support SkiTalk click HERE.

Your work commute and commuting history

Muleski

So much better than a pro
Inactive
Joined
Nov 14, 2015
Posts
5,243
Location
North of Boston
On the travel thing, one of the guys who used to work for me, and travel a lot with me, was THE best tour guide on the planet. If we had meetings cancelled, or had a big block of unscheduled time, he always had a plan. I'd make some excuse like checking my email, and he'd say "NO!" or "Take a look at your BlackBerry." We'd end up at some gun show, or some obscure museum, a civil war fort, a minor league hockey game. You name it, it was great. The New Mexico HS basketball state tournament. A D3 lacrosse game. No matter where we were headed, he had made a few calls and done his homework. The guy is the best. I catch up on the phone with him and we just laugh like crazy about some of the experiences. The bars and restaurants.....ending up in the kitchen. Hysterical.
 

graham418

Skiing the powder
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Mar 25, 2016
Posts
3,460
Location
Toronto
I live in Toronto, and work in the construction business. When I started out as a young man, working in the field, I would travel all over Ontario. If it was less than 150km trip one way, I would generally commute, depending on the site location and which highways I would be taking . It would always be less than 1-1/2 hours each way. More than that and I would stay out of town , leaving early monday mornings , returning on friday evenings. Traffic was never too bad, and living in the city , I was always going the opposite way of traffic. If I was working close to home , it would be 30 minutes in the morning maybe, 45 in the evening.
Fast forward a few years, and I was working in the office , in Milton, which was a 70km trip each way. Leaving at 5:45am , it would be a 50min trip , including a stop togged a coffee. But a minimum 1 - 1/2 hr trip home. Unless it rained or snowed, which could double that .
2 years ago I left that, and now have a relatively easy trek, 20 minutes in the morning, 30 back home at night. A lot less gas, less stress, etc.
 

surfsnowgirl

Instructor
Skier
Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
5,769
Location
Magic Mountain, Vermont
When i lived in southern California i became the master of back roads if the freeways were a mess and they often were. For quite a while i lived at the beach and worked inland so drove about 45 miles each way. However, it was opposite of traffic so i flew the whole way. What determines if something's a viable commute for me is not the mileage but is it with or against traffic. I have no issue telling a recruiter where i will not commute. When i lived in LA there wasn't a dollar amount anyone could offer me to get me to go to the west side (west LA, Westwood, century city, Santa Monica) because that's deadlock take you hours to get home traffic.

Now I'm in southwestern CT. I worked 11 miles away from home for a few years and it took me 30-45 minutes depending on whether i took the parkway or backroads. I was recently laid off and just started working in Greenwich which is only 26 miles away but in the hell traffic direction so you are looking at 60 to 90 minutes each way on most days. I have the option of taking the train which is what I've been doing and it's a lovely 45ish minutes and no gas usage and no wear and tear on my jeep which is fabulous. It's nice to have the option to drive should waze tell me it's a shorter commute day but i love the train. Plus when i go play in NYC I'm a hop, skip and a jump away. When i was looking for a job this time around i flat out refused to go to wall street or anywhere in the financial district since that's a monster mass transit commute. I also refuse to go to Jersey because that's even further away.

I also make it clear in interviews these days that I'm an avid skier and go away every weekend for near half the year. My new job had assured me I'll be on my way every Friday by 4 or 5. Plus i get 3 weeks vacation and we close between Christmas and New year's so i can teach Christmas week at my mountain which thrills my ski school director.

My main things are distance, is it with or against traffic and is mass transit an option. Plus quality of life/work-life balance is super important to me.

I'm feeling pretty lucky to have landed my latest gig because I'm not in the legal department, have a management analyst title instead of paralegal so aside from the quality of life benefit I'm also setting myself up for other career opportunities outside of the paralegal box.
 

Jim McDonald

愛スキー
Skier
Joined
Nov 15, 2015
Posts
2,101
Location
Tokyo
I spent the best part of 45 years commuting by train/subway/motorcycle/motorscooter/bicycle in Tokyo, typically no more than about 30 minutes one-way.
Now, the longest part of my "commute" to work these days is the pee stop between bedroom & coffee maker :micdrop:.
 

fatbob

Not responding
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
6,288
In the past few weeks, I have gone from home (Florida) to Malmo, Sweden, Sankt Polten, Austria, then home for two days, then to Wisconsin, now in Munich, next week in Paris, then home for a week, then the UK for a month (Scotland, England, Wales and back to Scotland), then home for two days, then Charlotte, then back to Munich, then Alborg Denmark, then Prague, then home for two weeks, then Villamora Portugal, then Newcastle in the UK.....

I think I win the prize for the worst commutes, each of those are for a week at a time.

Trying to work out what you do for a living based on that schedule - beer?
 

KevinF

Gathermeister-New England
Team Gathermeister
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
3,345
Location
New England
I live and work in metro-west Boston. From April through October I try to bike commute as much as possible, which usually winds up being about half the time.

The ride into work is just over 17 miles. I leave home at around the same time each day, so I always see the same joggers, walkers, cyclists, etc. out doing their thing as well. Some of them are so regular (i.e., we see each other in almost the same spot every time) that it's weird if I don't see them.

There's a good network of rideable roads between home and work, so I can mix up the route home to keep it different. Flat routes, hilly routes, short routes, long routes.

The cycling forum I visit has a thread about commuting stories, but my rides seem to be pretty uneventful. There's a family of foxes that live near me, so I see them fairly regularly. Deer and turkey sightings aren't uncommon. Suicidal squirrels are common. Weirdest thing I've seen is somebody's bra lying there in the road.

When I drive I'm struck by how boring it is. I keep saying I'm going to keep riding until the snow starts falling, but riding in the dark makes me nervous... and it gets dark in the evenings here in Massachusetts by the time mid-October rolls around. Summer solstice time is great; it stays light forever, so I take advantage by taking the "long way home".
 

Lauren

AKA elemmac
SkiTalk Tester
Contributor
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Jun 7, 2016
Posts
2,589
Location
The Granite State
I think I can categorize my commute as "it's complicated".

I'm 80 miles, 1 hour and 10 minutes, away from our office. When I go there I listen to podcasts and enjoy my coffee on the way in, and I tolerate the ride home. Sometimes I'm there 5 days a week for a few months straight; sometimes I'm on a job site for a few months straight; and sometimes a mixture of the two with a little home office time mixed in.

On the travel thing, one of the guys who used to work for me, and travel a lot with me, was THE best tour guide on the planet. If we had meetings cancelled, or had a big block of unscheduled time, he always had a plan. I'd make some excuse like checking my email, and he'd say "NO!" or "Take a look at your BlackBerry." We'd end up at some gun show, or some obscure museum, a civil war fort, a minor league hockey game. You name it, it was great. The New Mexico HS basketball state tournament. A D3 lacrosse game. No matter where we were headed, he had made a few calls and done his homework. The guy is the best. I catch up on the phone with him and we just laugh like crazy about some of the experiences. The bars and restaurants.....ending up in the kitchen. Hysterical.

This is absolutely key to travelling for work...take full advantage of the area you are in, no matter how podunk the town may seem...meet some locals, find events, and make use of your time off (however minimal it may be), I'm always surprised of the things I find and the people I meet.

Also for anyone travelling, I HIGHLY recommend the app "TV Food Maps". It lists essentially every restaurant that has been featured on foodie TV shows (Diners, Drive-ins and Dives; Best Thing I Ever Ate; etc.), I have found some incredibly amazing, unsuspecting restaurants this way.
 

at_nyc

Getting off the lift
Pass Pulled
Joined
Mar 8, 2016
Posts
646
I have the easiest commute (yes, it's a REAL commute, of real jobs): I walk or bike. :) it's always less than 30 min. Sometimes as little as 15.

And when the weather is bad (rain, below freezing or above 90 degrees), I take the subway/bus. Or work from home for the day if it's really nasty (storm)

You can tell where I live from my handle.
 

Crank

Making fresh tracks
Skier
Joined
Dec 19, 2015
Posts
2,626
No commute these days. I mostly work from home. Have the occasional video shoot anywhere from 5 minutes to a couple of hours.
Back when I worked in the corporate TV world I had a 14 mile drive that took 45 minutes - an hour in the southwestern CT traffic. My last few years in TV I had a 7 mile ride on mostly back roads. I did ride my bike to work a few days per week in clement weather
 

Bill Miles

Old Man Groomer Zoomer
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 16, 2015
Posts
1,315
Location
Hailey, Idaho
I have been retired for 15 years, but when I used to live and work in Wichita, it was about 7 miles, 15-20 minutes. Sometimes slowed by snow in winter. Had to be careful during or following thunderstorms because some intersections would flood badly.
 

David Chaus

Beyond Help
Skier
Team Gathermeister
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
5,529
Location
Stanwood, WA
As a couples and family therapist, I went into private practice in part to avoid traffic. I start work at 10am and my last appointment is over at 7pm, so I miss the commuting messes. Also I live on 10 acres in a rural area, about 5 miles from some more recent sprawling development (thankfully restricted to a growth management boundary). My drive to one office is 15 miles and takes about 25 minutes on rural roads and I-5. My other office is 24 miles, takes 45 minutes is further south on I-5. I am rarely driving in congested traffic.
 

pais alto

me encanta el país alto
Skier
SkiTalk Supporter
Joined
Nov 11, 2015
Posts
1,940
Location
Working at the ski area, my commute is pretty nice - a 25 minute drive up/down a two-lane mountain road through national forest with some great views of town and the valley below. Pretty sweet really. And once I get there, the ride up to the office looks a lot like this:
9d284f321aaa2eac45aef5f4f2d88c81_zps4ujxmpk8.jpg


During the fall I work a lot on the upper mountain and get end-of-day going-home commutes like this:
IMG_0054.jpg


Or like this:
3b0dd4752f3b0671a73bf0482098350c_zpsc9ncdhem.jpg


Not bad, particularly since during the ski season I drive up before the guests start up and go down after the evening rush. The ski area runs shuttles for employees but it takes almost as long for me to get to the pick up location as it does to drive up, and when i drive I don't have to listen to anyone talking, I have my cup holder for coffee, and control of the tunes or NPR.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
Industry Insider
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
7,484
Location
Breckenridge, CO
When I was a kid, I biked to work. During college I drove to some jobs, walked or biked to others. When I graduated and worked in MA I commuted an old 4 lane divided highway for a year before the office was moved to a location just off a 6 and 8 lane highway. I never liked the commute in MA. Too many pushy people trying to get there before you.

After I moved to Maine, I was working in an office on the third floor of my home. Yay! Mostly I've been working in home offices since. No commute, but I do need to travel to visit clients and pick stuff up like mail and parts. Most of the time that travel is by car.
 

Monique

bounceswoosh
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
10,561
Location
Colorado
After I moved to Maine, I was working in an office on the third floor of my home. Yay! Mostly I've been working in home offices since. No commute, but I do need to travel to visit clients and pick stuff up like mail and parts. Most of the time that travel is by car.

I sometimes work from home if I need to. With open office plans, you're in a weird position where often they'll say to feel free to stay home if you need to focus. Which seems batsh*t to me - that's what an office should provide, among other things. But anyway. I find that when I have something really clear to work on, I do well at home. If it's more open ended or there isn't really a fixed outcome or solution, my mind wanders a lot.

Now I'm studying Comp Sci stuff for upcoming interviews, and I may need to take @coskigirl 's suggestion (elsewhere) of leaving the house to study effectively. There's a coffee shop nearby that specializes in this sort of thing - lots of small tables and counters with tons of outlets to keep the computer charged. But not enough space to lay out all 50 million study materials. This may also be a benefit, as it forces me to focus on one item of study at a time, rather than allowing myself to flit among java syntax / this particular vexing sorting algorithm / which whiteboard exercise should I code?

On the other hand - I just realized (duh) that there's a library about 10 minutes away. No food, I'm sure, but if I remember libraries correctly, they often have big tables. I just need to see if they have wifi ... which again, double-edged sword - tons of tutorials at my fingertips, but also all the other things.
 

Monique

bounceswoosh
Skier
Joined
Nov 12, 2015
Posts
10,561
Location
Colorado
With open office plans, you're in a weird position where often they'll say to feel free to stay home if you need to focus. Which seems batsh*t to me - that's what an office should provide, among other things.

Forgot to mention - lots of people have children or roommates at home, in which case staying home does not guarantee the opportunity to focus. I'm lucky in that I have relatively chill pets and no one else is typically home during the day. Sometimes my husband comes home for work phone calls because he is in a cubicle farm.

I find it annoying that companies choose to save money on office space by forcing you to use your own home that way. They also never have enough shared offices, and inevitably, starting from the top down, people ignore the scheduled calendars or run late. If you're going to have open office space, there should be a ton of small offices for collaboration or heads-down work. They never ever allocate enough.
 

Doug Briggs

"Douche Bag Local"
Industry Insider
SkiTalk Tester
Joined
Nov 9, 2015
Posts
7,484
Location
Breckenridge, CO
Forgot to mention - lots of people have children or roommates at home, in which case staying home does not guarantee the opportunity to focus. I'm lucky in that I have relatively chill pets and no one else is typically home during the day. Sometimes my husband comes home for work phone calls because he is in a cubicle farm.

I find it annoying that companies choose to save money on office space by forcing you to use your own home that way. They also never have enough shared offices, and inevitably, starting from the top down, people ignore the scheduled calendars or run late. If you're going to have open office space, there should be a ton of small offices for collaboration or heads-down work. They never ever allocate enough.
That's why I moved my office over my garage as soon as it was built. Being in my actual home in a spare bedroom provided way to many distractions as well as someone else worked there, too.
 

surfsnowgirl

Instructor
Skier
Joined
May 12, 2016
Posts
5,769
Location
Magic Mountain, Vermont
My SO isn't good at working at home cause the cats drive him nuts and he finds it too distracting.

I crank the music and go into focus mode. Would i want to do it every day, no but now and again is fine.

My new job has low cubicle walls which is good and bad. We all work on different things so we are encouraged to pop in some ear buds and listen to music, podcasts, whatever. I love doing that as it's my way of "closing my office door" when i need to focus.
 

Sponsor

Top