I have a 35min express train with a 15 min walk to the station. I'm not currently doing drop off's as df is home, but when I do it will probably be a 25min drive and drop off and then a 40min express train (because I need to park I go one stop further back). Before I had DS, I would leave work at 4:45 to make it back for a 6pm pick up. We live in Sydney, so no real choice but to live this far out so we can afford a nice house with a big yard. I only work 3 days per week so I think the commute is worth it, if I want to work closer to home I would have to work full time to earn the same amount of money if not less.
Fi, you know where I work I live (approx) 35Km from work. My trip to work takes me anywhere from 30 min (granted that is at 6am) to 90+ minutes (for a 930 start). If I am starting work at 0930, I leave home no later than 0800 to drop DD off at Kinder/Creche and then continue on to work (I prefer to leave by 0750 but she isn't always intune with that!). I only do drop off's if I'm starting 0900 or later. If I am on the late shift, my trip to work is 45 min (give or take) and I leave at 1130.
My trip home is much quicker. I can do door to door (including picking DD up from Kinder and having a social chat with carers) in 1 hour. If I'm not collecting DD it is about a 45 min trip.
Coincidently, if I were to catch the train (and didn't have to worry about drop off/pick up) it would take me around 40 min on the train (longer if it's an all stations) plus the 5 min walk each way from the station to home. But because I'd have to take the train two stops in the opp direction of where I actually need to go for work, then walk 2Km, drop off, then walk 2Km and get a train to the city... it would take over 2 hours!
It takes me about 40 mins. I drive to my Dad's (12min), drop off the kids(2 min), drive to the station closest to him (10min), catch express train (16 min), walk to office (4 min).
I loved living in the country, 10 min walk to work, so nice.
I agree, and have always wondered why so many people commute so far... how can they afford the petrol, wear and tear on the car, and time?
As you know we have also moved to the country and now my DH can walk to work if he chooses but as he sometimes needs his car he drives down the street (about 5 blocks) to park the car closer to the office... and yay for free all day parking!
We live 1 block away from my DDs school and 2 blocks away from my DSs school. I'm still a SAHM but there is also a childcare centre on our street that i could use if i worked.
In the city DH bought a weekly train ticket for about $30 so we don't have to buy that anymore. He also doesn't have to commute for nearly an hour per day (30 mins each way, no drop off).
We've always been a huge advocate for living fairly close to work though. I think if many people did the sums it would almost work out cheaper to live closer to work (if work is in the same spot each day) than to say, live on the outskirts of a major city and commute into the CBD and pay for petrol/wear and tear on the car and parking.... plus all the convenience food because you have no time to cook.
It's about 65-70 minutes each way. I drive DD to family day care (20 mins), then either drive 25 mins to bus station for a 20 min bus ride, or I drive into CBD after dropping DD off which is 30 minutes with a 15 minute walk.
Driving to the bus station involves literally driving past my house again after drop-off and risking a parking fine for parking in a 5 hour carpark since I'm never early enough for the commuters' park. There is little point in catching a bus from daycare as the bus station near home is the beginning of the express bus route (the O-bahn) into the city. Anything else takes at least twice as long.
I could find daycare closer to home, but the lady who does it is married to one of DH's work colleagues and she is one of few people who DD took to when she was quite young. (She met DD at 4 months of age and DD went to sleep on her - she didn't do that for anybody). Ideally DH would get up and take her as he doesn't start work until 2pm, but I haven't been able to convince him yet (he could go back to bed after drop off).
After my daughter's bus picks her up to go to special school, my other kids and I jump in the car and hit the motorway. In the morning it takes me over an hour to get them to two different schools and a further 10 minutes to get to uni, but on the way home that time is halved at least. It's the traffic that's the problem here.
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I live (approx) 35Km from work. My trip to work takes me anywhere from 30 min (granted that is at 6am) to 90+ minutes (for a 930 start). If I am starting work at 0930, I leave home no later than 0800 to drop DD off at Kinder/Creche and then continue on to work (I prefer to leave by 0750 but she isn't always intune with that!). I only do drop off's if I'm starting 0900 or later. If I am on the late shift, my trip to work is 45 min (give or take) and I leave at 1130.
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