Advice on moving away from the city but still commuting?
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Anonymous
| We live in alexandria...looking to move kind of far out like bristow,front royal...manassas...maybe even waldorf or purcellville area. Do you know anyone who lives that far and still works in DC?How do they commute? My husband would take a bus or train since we only have one car. Any tips? |
Anonymous
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perhaps if you or your spouse don't like each other very much, and the marriage would be strengthened by never seeing each other, this would work.
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Anonymous
| His co worker lives in dumfries and says its an hour commute each way - that's not that bad? Or am I wrong? lol I'm from a small town we don't even have public transportation so this is all new to me. I didn't ask for your smartass remarks either. |
Anonymous
| I know people who live that far out. The key is to commute in a way that lets you relax or work during the commute: train or bus works well, but driving doesn't. My friends all take laptops with them and get a lot of work done while they're commuting. They say it works really well for them because they can take the train or bus, but if they had to drive that kind of distance, they'd want to kill themselves. |
Anonymous
| Anyone happen to know what a commute by train would be from manassas into DC? |
Anonymous
This comment is so dumb it's not even "Jackass" quality funny. |
Anonymous
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People tend to way, way underestimate their commutes around here. I don't see a Dumfries to downtown DC commute being one hour, if you are not commuting in the middle of the night. I don't even know where Dumfries is....just sounds far.
People do commute from far places, it is possible, it's just not for me. We are one of those families who opted for a small house close in because it isn't worth giving up hours of my life. I still have a 45 minute commute door to door, and I live close in! I walk to a metro, don't have to change lines, and work near a metro. I can't imagine having to drive to public transportation, then take it in from far away. I can't imagine a bus is very fast, at least metro is not on the roads. I don't know OP, sounds unpleasant, but if you want more property/bigger house it's one way to do it. I would suggest your husband actually trying the commute during the hours he would be going to and from work. Then picture doing that every day. I have a coworker who has a 2.5 hour commute each way to W VA every day. Not sure how he does it, but he does sleep on the train, and his wife doesn't work which I think does make it easier. |
Anonymous
Not so dumb. The post did an article on families with big commutes a bunch of years ago, and many of the marriages ended up in trouble. So, it may be tongue in cheek, but it isn't that dumb, either. |
Anonymous
If you are getting productive work done, then it shouldn't affect a marriage. It means that when you get home, the work is done. |
Anonymous
New Poster. But long commutes are also linked with poor health. I'm not sure if it is driving only though, maybe if you take public transport it's different. I could totally see how it would strain a marriage. And just because you have a long commute and are productive at work doesn't mean you won't necessarily have to work at home too. I don't see how the two are related. Either you have a job/boss that requires you to check in during the evenings and on weekends, or you don't. |
Anonymous
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I live in Bristow. My son is friends with a little boy who lives in my neighborhood, the Dad works in DC, and the family only has one car.
The mom brings the Dad to the VRE station very early in the am (I want to say around 6:15 am?) and then goes back and picks him up some time around 6:30 pm (I might be a bit off on the times...) In general, I do like living out here (neither Dh nor I work in DC, so the commute isn't a factor for us). Housing is cheaper, for sure! If you have any questions about the Bristow area, feel free to ask 
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Anonymous
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I heard of some who live in Harpers Ferry and commute with the marc train.
But if you want something closer, the train also stops at point-of-rocks. This is a radical change in lifestyle. If I was given the chance I most likely would take the chance and do it. But only if I could get a 4 day work week with 1 day worked from home |
Anonymous
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I too would do it if I could WFH 2xs a week and if my DH had the same flexibility.
My DG grew up in LI and these was a train that had college courses...some sort of degree you could get on the train. With a wireless network card I could get sooooo much done on a train, as long as I had a seat. Just not having the interruptions of family or co[i]workers would be huge. |
Anonymous
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For me, personally, this would be awful. I just would hate having 2 hours every day (at minimum) wasted on commuting. I would see that as less time with my kids, spouse, etc.. And buses, trains, can and often do run late.
I think it's really good advice to try the actual commute for a couple days (your husband could sleep in a hotel out in Bristow or Manassas) and see if it's really doable. I'd rather live in a small place, closer in, and have more quality family time. |
Anonymous
| If you drive, the commute is just wasted time. If you take the train, then you can work (or read, or sleep, or do something else that you want to do) during that time, and it's not wasted. |