Over the summer, about .4 miles when I was working at a movie theater.
Alas, I was generally dead on my feet after an 8-10 hour shift with a 15 minute break, ending sometime around 1 AM. So I mostly relied on borrowing a car/mooching rides off friends, at least going home from work.
Current job, 2.5 km each way.
Last job, 40 km each way. It’s one of the reasons I had quit.
Don’t know if this counts as working at home or not, but I used to work and live at the same youth hostel. Could be both good and bad, for all the obvious reasons.
I hate long commutes. It blows my mind the distances people in the DC area travel, and why they’re not taking over the run down inner city neighborhoods just to cut down their travel time.
Having posted a long commute (2500 miles) in the other thread, I’ll post a short commute in this one. Right now I’m at home, but in another window on this computer I’m installing some software on a machine in Florida for work.
It took . So is my commute the walk from the kitchen to my PC, the 3-ish mouse-clicks and 10 keystrokes it took to make the connection or the 3 inches of mouse movement it now takes to switch between being “here” and being “there”.
I just switched back & forth 3 times. Neener neeener!! Wana see me do it again??
Ah, here’s one where I can post something.
I can walk to my current job, as it is slightly over one mile away. But I don’t because the city of Dallas is decidedly pedestrian unfriendly, especially in my neighborhood. So I drive 3.5 miles to get to work, and 1.5 miles to get home. Still, a 5 mile total commute ain’t bad.
D’oh. I totally forgot about the shortest commute I’ve ever had. When I was a kid I worked at my parents restaurant, which was just short of two blocks from our house. That’s, what, I guess about an 0.3 mile total commute both ways!
For two years, I lived across the street from work. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. I didn’t have a car then. It still sucked in bad weather.
10 steps from my bedroom to my office at home, where I do most of my work. I go into my real office about once a week, which is a 10 minute drive away.
On the other hand, the commute to my field sites has at times been 5,000 miles and taken 4 days.
I live on the farm where I work. I don’t commute; I’m always here.
I think I win 
Uh…
Except that I don’t work in my home. I work outside my home, in an outdoor profession, that happens to take place entirely all around my house.
For the last year as I’ve been fundraising for my new firm I’ve worked at home. We converted the bedroom next to the master as an office when we moved out here for Lady Chance so the two of us commute about 15 feet.
But I’ve got the new space set up now. So my commute will be about 2 blocks away in the business district of my town.
Prior to this when we lived in DC is was 1.5 hours or so both ways depending on daily conditions. Ugh. Every time I think about that I’m pleased I moved.
My boyfriend used to work at a store around the corner from his apartment. Literally, around the corner. No crossing of streets necessary.
Its actually an extra 10 hours a week assuming a 1 hour commute each way five days a week. In some places where people live 30ish miles away from huge cities it is closer to 2 hours so its an extra 20 hours a week of paycheck free work.
My commute is 0.8 miles and about 8-10 minutes to walk, 4-5 minutes by bike.
I am sure you know this but it sounds like davenportavenger doesn’t.
People live far from work for many reasons.
…My kids are 8 and 5. We live in a town with NJ’s top public schools. Additionally like so many other couples we are a 2-income family. My Wife actually make a little more than I do. Thankfully she works one town over and has a very short commute of about 10 minutes.
…I cannot find a job closer to home and I am stuck with a 42-mile commute that is at least heading opposite the rest of the commuters. It takes me 40 minutes in the AM and 45-50 in the PM.
…When we moved here I actually sacrificed and doubled my commute for the benefit of my wife and Kids. I hope that helps everyone understand some of many reasons why people have long commutes.
Jim
I realize why many people have to take a job with a long commute. And I don’t think 42 miles is all that long compared to some of the other commutes in that thread (three hours? the hell?). It’s just that personally I don’t like work and I would REALLY hate having to work off the clock (which is what a long commute really is) even more. After being spoiled with my current commute I don’t know if I could ever go back to the days when I had to ride the bus to get to work. And riding the bus is WAY less stressful than driving, for me anyway.
jrfranchi - I too live in a town with one of NJ’s top schools. I grew up here, and I’m raising my children here. This is a small town where everyone knows each other, and the children have a wonderful ‘free-range’ childhood. We are a bike ride away from the ocean. And our commutes into NYC are at least 75 minutes. It’s a trade-off. Our parents took on that long commute for us, so we could grow up in a great small town. And we now do that for our children. I know just what you’re talking about.
Under 5 minute wall to get from my 2nd floor Apt door to my desk at work.
I walk out my Apt building, past one small store front building, then in side entrance of Building I work in. My dept. just down the hall from where I enter.
Added bonus … they hospital I work for owns the Apartment building I live in and
rents to only employees at a discounted rate. About 25% lower then area’s going rate.
I almost feel guilty. The hospital has an ongoing policy of paying people and extra
$100 , per event, to employees who make it in each time there is a foot of snow or more on the ground!
I just walk across the street. 
This will change within a year :mad:
The best commute I ever had was about 5 years ago.
House to day job: 6 blocks
Day job to Taekwondo school: 10 blocks
TKD school back home: 16 blocks