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Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:26 am**

I got this great job with lots of interesting opportunities, and above all, high pay. Then again, I will be commuting 80 minutes one way. (Distance 57 miles) There is no traffic though. How bad could it be? Also, given that there is no traffic and 90% of the commuting distance is a highway, could it take much less than 80 min (what google map says. I used to take 10% less to get anywhere than google map estimate when driving without traffic) to commute?

Job - North-Central VA
Home - NoVA

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:52 am**

I think this is doable for a year or so- it'll wear on you though. I was doing a commute for a summer, about 100-120 minutes depending on traffic, and it was fairly annoying. Without traffic it'll be better, easier on the nerves, and you can probs gun that time down to something like 60-70 minutes. You're still looking at a two hour or more commute, each freaking day. I think it is alright for a year- I do think you should look to relocate though eventually. I know nothing about Northern and Central VA- but there's gotta be some sprawl coming south from NOVA that would put you within a 45 minute commute one way? Or just move to the new place.
In sum, you can do it for a bit, but it'll wear on you.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:01 am**

194481hr12 wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:26 am
I got this great job with lots of interesting opportunities, and above all, high pay. Then again, I will be commuting 80 minutes one way. (Distance 57 miles) There is no traffic though. How bad could it be? Also, given that there is no traffic and 90% of the commuting distance is a highway, could it take much less than 80 min (what google map says. I used to take 10% less to get anywhere than google map estimate when driving without traffic) to commute?

Job - North-Central VA
Home - NoVA

A buddy of mine was commuting 60-80 minutes into DFW every morning from his fancy house in the burbs. He actually didn't mind it because he got into books-on-tape & podcasts and said it gave him time to decompress before going home. I, on the other hand, would be fucking miserable doing that drive every day.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:06 am**

You do not want to speed in Virginia. I learned it the very very very painful way. Anything above 80mph in VA is automatically reckless driving even roads like I-64 the limit starts at 70mph. (mind you, many roads in southern states the speed limits start at 80mph) and is a class A misdemeanor criminal charge. (in the same realm as domestic violence and petit lacerny even though you are just, speeding).

On top of that, VA state patrol is cunning as flying fuck, the way they choose their hideouts speak veteran. And on top of that, some counties budget rely on collecting revenues from speeding fine, so they have a strong incentive to clip you even if you are just going 5 over. (Madison county and culpeper county especially on route 29)

Source: car enthusiast and went to a public undergrad in central VA, terrible combination.

So, don't count on cutting the commute down to 60min. I promise you, life will catch up on you if you try that. Download some good podcasts or audibles and just think of the commute as a way to learn knowledge.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:09 am**

I feel like commuting from NOVA is always going to be dicey, so even though you think there won't be traffic, where are you going so that there truly ISN'T traffic? If you're traveling along 95 I wouldn't be confident there won't be traffic at any time of day. If you're using what traffic looks like right now when half of NOVA is working from home I wouldn't count on things looking like that post-pandemic.

Is there a reason why you wouldn't move to the new location? It will almost certainly be cheaper than NOVA, unless you're living with family or something in NOVA. I did a 60-90 minute one-way commute for a bit as a junior associate (not by choice) and it was awful. The unpredictable traffic made it even worse, but it was also just a long time to be in the car every day. If this is for a temporary job (maybe a one year clerkship) and there were reasons why it wouldn't make sense to relocate for a year I would probably suck it up and do the commute, but if this is going to be a permanent job I would do everything I could to get closer to work. It's awful to work a long day, get in the car and drive over an hour home, so that you can get up in 6 hours and drive an hour plus back.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:31 am**

feminist.supporter wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:06 am
You do not want to speed in Virginia. I learned it the very very very painful way. Anything above 80mph in VA is automatically reckless driving even roads like I-64 the limit starts at 70mph. (mind you, many roads in southern states the speed limits start at 80mph) and is a class A misdemeanor criminal charge. (in the same realm as domestic violence and petit lacerny even though you are just, speeding).

On top of that, VA state patrol is cunning as flying fuck, the way they choose their hideouts speak veteran. And on top of that, some counties budget rely on collecting revenues from speeding fine, so they have a strong incentive to clip you even if you are just going 5 over. (Madison county and culpeper county especially on route 29)

Source: car enthusiast and went to a public undergrad in central VA, terrible combination.

So, don't count on cutting the commute down to 60min. I promise you, life will catch up on you if you try that. Download some good podcasts or audibles and just think of the commute as a way to learn knowledge.

This is actually a very helpful one. I will be using route 28 and 15 primarily though.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:31 am**

papermateflair wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 11:09 am
I feel like commuting from NOVA is always going to be dicey, so even though you think there won't be traffic, where are you going so that there truly ISN'T traffic? If you're traveling along 95 I wouldn't be confident there won't be traffic at any time of day. If you're using what traffic looks like right now when half of NOVA is working from home I wouldn't count on things looking like that post-pandemic.

Is there a reason why you wouldn't move to the new location? It will almost certainly be cheaper than NOVA, unless you're living with family or something in NOVA. I did a 60-90 minute one-way commute for a bit as a junior associate (not by choice) and it was awful. The unpredictable traffic made it even worse, but it was also just a long time to be in the car every day. If this is for a temporary job (maybe a one year clerkship) and there were reasons why it wouldn't make sense to relocate for a year I would probably suck it up and do the commute, but if this is going to be a permanent job I would do everything I could to get closer to work. It's awful to work a long day, get in the car and drive over an hour home, so that you can get up in 6 hours and drive an hour plus back.

It was just that I hated being too far away from a major city... I am still pondering on where to live though

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:02 pm**

I commuted an hour each way to law school, which was manageable. I also started my current job commuting an hour each way and it was a freaking nightmare. The ride was easy and pleasant (unless the weather was bad) and I enjoyed listening to podcasts or music, but it was 2 hours sucked out of my life every day and on top of a fairly demanding job, it was awful.

But this is very personal-tolerance specific.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:12 pm**

Native Virginian here — my gut says a post-pandemic (assuming most return to commuting) you actually will have some traffic to contend with on 28. That said, if the job is a great one, would you consider moving further out to the edge of NoVA to cut the commute down? Or move to Richmond for overall better QOL (in my opinion at least)? Negotiate WFH x days a week? Hard to suggest more without knowing specific locations. Bottom line that commute sounds really unpleasant and not sustainable.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:16 pm**

I had an hour commute to work. Get an Audible and Spotify subscription!

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:17 pm**

Anonymous User wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:12 pm
Native Virginian here — my gut says a post-pandemic (assuming most return to commuting) you actually will have some traffic to contend with on 28. That said, if the job is a great one, would you consider moving further out to the edge of NoVA to cut the commute down? Or move to Richmond for overall better QOL (in my opinion at least)? Negotiate WFH x days a week? Hard to suggest more without knowing specific locations. Bottom line that commute sounds really unpleasant and not sustainable.

I'll be at the farthest edge of the NOVA I think... as I will stay in Manassas. The location is somewhat equally far from Richmond. Just a very weird situation here...

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:59 pm**

Anonymous User wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:12 pm
Native Virginian here — my gut says a post-pandemic (assuming most return to commuting) you actually will have some traffic to contend with on 28. That said, if the job is a great one, would you consider moving further out to the edge of NoVA to cut the commute down? Or move to Richmond for overall better QOL (in my opinion at least)? Negotiate WFH x days a week? Hard to suggest more without knowing specific locations. Bottom line that commute sounds really unpleasant and not sustainable.
I'll be at the farthest edge of the NOVA I think... as I will stay in Manassas. The location is somewhat equally far from Richmond. Just a very weird situation here...

Is this job in like, Culpepper or something? I guess don't see why living in Manassas is fine because it's "close" to the big city when literally the only time you will have to go to DC would be on the weekends, and it's not like Manassas is close to DC.I get wanting to be in the big city but it takes like 30-60 minutes to get to DC from Manassas, and unless you really love to drive, I can't imagine driving all week for my commute and then deciding I want to spend my weekend driving into DC. Obviously you can be in some of the other NOVA suburbs faster but I wouldn't live in Manassas and commute for three hours a day so that I can be close to *Fairfax*. Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, are any of those options? I'd rather live in those places than Manassas (but obviously I hate Manassas

), and presumably at least one of them is closer than Manassas.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 3:30 pm**

papermateflair wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 1:59 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:17 pm

Anonymous User wrote: ↑
Thu Feb 18, 2021 12:12 pm
Native Virginian here — my gut says a post-pandemic (assuming most return to commuting) you actually will have some traffic to contend with on 28. That said, if the job is a great one, would you consider moving further out to the edge of NoVA to cut the commute down? Or move to Richmond for overall better QOL (in my opinion at least)? Negotiate WFH x days a week? Hard to suggest more without knowing specific locations. Bottom line that commute sounds really unpleasant and not sustainable.
I'll be at the farthest edge of the NOVA I think... as I will stay in Manassas. The location is somewhat equally far from Richmond. Just a very weird situation here...
Is this job in like, Culpepper or something? I guess don't see why living in Manassas is fine because it's "close" to the big city when literally the only time you will have to go to DC would be on the weekends, and it's not like Manassas is close to DC.I get wanting to be in the big city but it takes like 30-60 minutes to get to DC from Manassas, and unless you really love to drive, I can't imagine driving all week for my commute and then deciding I want to spend my weekend driving into DC. Obviously you can be in some of the other NOVA suburbs faster but I wouldn't live in Manassas and commute for three hours a day so that I can be close to *Fairfax*. Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Harrisonburg, are any of those options? I'd rather live in those places than Manassas (but obviously I hate Manassas ), and presumably at least one of them is closer than Manassas.

TBH main reason living in Manassas for me was the Korean food in centreville. But why do you hate Manassas? Just wanna know in what ways that place is flawed.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:17 pm**

Man, I would never do this. My commute was 45 minutes each way before COVID and it was terrible. I was actively looking to leave the neighborhood I like, and I was also planning on asking the firm let me work out of a little satellite office it has for a specialty practice I'm not in because that office is a little closer to where I live.

A long commute is terrible for your quality of life because it means there's less time for you to do the things you like to do.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 8:35 pm**

I have a 70-80 minute commute each way. I've been doing it for 6 months and its pretty miserable. That being said, I think I could stick it out for 2+ years. One major part of that is that I negotiated to WFH permanently one day a week which means one day with no commute. Even with that, it's definitely less than ideal. I think its really dependent on what your hours are and FT requirements are. I end up getting to work by 9:20 and leaving by 5 so I can be home by 6:30 (I also have 2 kids, if I didn't have kids I wouldn't mind the commute nearly as much). I then work about 1.5 each night. But my firm has very lax FT requirements and my hours requirement is manageable.

Posted: **Thu Feb 18, 2021 10:52 pm**

Aren't long commutes really terrible for your health (back, heart, etc.)? I had a 90 minute round trip commute one summer, I didn't mind it too much for ten weeks I wouldn't want to do it long-term. I'd move to Richmond or Charlottesville or something, never been but I've heard they're nice. And downtown Richmond or whatever might be more "urban" than far suburban NoVA.

Posted: **Fri Feb 19, 2021 12:08 am**

This job better be paying you a half a million dollars or something for you to be doing that awful commute.

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Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160) Forum

Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

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Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)

Re: Anyone doing 70 ~ 80 min commute? (Total 140 ~ 160)