I don’t drive to work.
My work wakes me up every morning.
Wha?
75 miles, 75 minutes, crossing 2 state borders, each way. It’s all on the highway and against the traffic flow - I live just outside Boston and work in southern Maine (still rural, but already becoming suburban Boston, to the irritation of the locals). That makes up for all the years I commuted 2.5 miles in 10 minutes, usually going home for lunch, and it still beats uprooting the family.
For about a year my husband commuted 80 miles, about 1.5 hours each way.
I telecommute. 
I was watching a TV programme a couple of weeks ago about a fireman who lives in Prague but works in London. The shift system in operation means he spends four days and nights at the fire station (section house) and then flies back to Prague to be with his wife and child for four days, and then back to London. This is a round-trip of 1270 miles.
They ran a similar story 1/31/2004. The winner this time was a guy who commutes 170 miles each way, to Boston from a farm outside Augusta, Maine, total 9 hours a day (for an 8-hour job). He leaves home at 4:15 AM and returns at 10:15 PM.
Until just over a year ago I commuted 80 mles each way. It took a minimum of 1 hour 15 minutes in the morning (but more typically 1.5-1.75 hours) to get there, but getting home took a minimum of 2 hours, with the increased traffic at that time of day, and sometimes longer. friday before Columbus Day weekend was the worst, sometimes requiruing several hours to get home.
This took an incredible toll on my car, which died within months of my getting a new job less than 10 miles from home.
I knew a guy who commuted 3 hours each way, every day. I could always look to him while I was on my interminable commutes and think, “well, at least I’m not taking three hours each way, every day.”
It may not count, but I used to work with a guy on contract, who’d live and work in the Boston area for 6-month stints, between trips back home - to Montana. His drive just to the Spokane airport …
Now, I’m the guy they point to and say “I can’t believe you *do * that!” Some of them probably take longer to get to work than I do, though.
Something tells me that we’re in the same business. I usually have helicopters involved too.
Oh, an my record commute was 11½ time zones when I went over to India for a while.
I seem to remember reading about a… radio host, or something, who commuted from North Dakota to Texas (or similar locations) and back, every day, by plane. He had the airline equivalent of a monthly bus pass.
I used to commute from Eastern Canada to San Diego, but I did stay for a week or two usually. Now I commute 1 set of stairs in my house, although my main office is 600 miles away in the southern US. Fortunately I only have to go 4-5 times a year.
I once worked with a truck driver who drove his car 120 miles to the terminal every day, then drove a ten-hour round-trip in his rig (the same route every day), and, upon returning to the terminal, drove 120 miles home again. He did it six days a week for at least a couple of decades.
That was his preference, too. He just liked living out in the middle of nowhere. His terminal was in Jackson, MS, so it’s not like he couldn’t afford a place there on a Teamster trucker’s salary.
Right now it’s Dallas (home) to Memphis (work): about 430 miles one way. But like LSLGuy it’s not every day, usually only three times a month. The only driving involved is to/from the airports in each city. Total time from leaving my house to being in place at work is about 3 hours 15 minutes when everything runs smoothly.
When I go into work (via country roads), my commute is 35 miles and takes anywhere from an hour to an hour and 20 minutes depending on traffic. When I leave work and come home on the highways (late at night) it’s 45 miles and I can do it in about 45-50 minutes. I did this full-time for a year; now I only work once or twice a week (home with baby) so it’s much more bearable.
My husband used to be in the merchant navy and would commute from here in Baltimore to wherever his ship was stationed – usually Africa or the Black Sea area. It would typically take 2-3 days. Does that count?!
I’ve never thought anyone would commute more than 60 miles. I’m really stunned that some people would commute 80 miles or more one way every day. Must be good money at the other end to endure such time consuming commuting.
Wow–it’s stories like this that make me glad I didn’t move back to Houston…
My current commute is the longest permanent commute I’ve ever had. It’s exactly 30 miles each way, but I can make it in 30-35 minutes.
(Actually, when I picked a town to settle in, it was 22 miles/25 minutes each way, but my office moved.)
I did have a temporary commute (for about a year) that was 50 miles/45 minutes each way. It was made up by the fact that I got paid for time and mileage beyond my normal office commute.
While in the Navy, my typical commute was 5 miles/10 minutes each way. I didn’t know how good I had it at the time…
My commuting limit is about 60-80 miles each way, depending on how long the work day is. If I have a field assignment that’s farther than this, and I have to stay for more than a day, I get a motel room.
Here in Newark we are about 100 miles north of London . There are a small group of people who commute to the capital on a daily basis. They use the fast (125mph) rail line to get there in just over an hour.
When I’m working, and not in school, my commute is 40 miles one way. There’s no traffic, and it’s almost entirely highway travel, so it takes about 40 minutes. Although, I once made it in just over 30 at around 2:00 AM one Sunday morning… :eek:
I wouldn’t like it any shorter, and sometimes I wish it was longer - I love driving. It helps me think and plan my day on the way in the morning, and unwind and relax in the evening.
How? Do you live and work at the South Pole Research Station?
Oh yeah, since we’re talking about commuting, allow me to debut my new sig.