I have a possible job opportunity in Kelso, WA that I want to jump on. Problem is it is in Kelso, which I have 0 interest in, and I live in Portland. It would be an hour commute and I'm unsure if an hour commute is doable long term. Has anyone here had experience with long commutes? What is too long?

I commute from battle ground, wa to Tigard daily. With a side trip on the way home to SE Portland (82&Foster) for my gym. Close to 100 miles per day total.

Commuted from basically brush prairie, wa to intel Hillsboro for 10+ years.

It's doable. I will say that it sucks to give up basically 2 to 3 hours of every day to sitting on the road on varying degrees of traffic, so add that into the equation that you use to determine if its worth it.

I do 80 miles per day. It's not terrible once you get used to it.

I work 0.9 miles from where I live. It's pretty rough some days, but ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

Almost no time to listen to sports radio on the way to work. Ouch. If I were you I would ask for a relocation farther from home

I commute about 45 minutes each way every day. You can look at it as alone time... time to listen to music or radio or whatever. It's not that bad I don't think.

_________________
"I don't know what you're talking about." GT

Takes me 5 minutes summer and 7 minutes winter to get to work. I would complain about no sports radio on the way to work, but I am pretty sure that even 7 minutes of Cowherd is too much for me most days

As for commuting. I've considered moving out of the city here and out where I could get a large piece of property to live on instead of these cramped subdivision homes they have here in the city, but I just am not ready for an hour each way during the winter. Take away snow and Ice (with stupid drivers) and I'd do it in a heartbeat.

Thanks for the feedback folks

I've had little experience commuting daily to work but lots of experience making the trip from Kelso to Vancouver or Portland. Actually once you get out of Portland and on either 405,(which I'd recommend) and back on I-5 its not a bad drive and pretty fast.

Imagine having to leave Spokane and be in Great Falls, Mt. monday morning at 8am their time. That's over 3 mountain passes including going by the coldest spot ever in the continental US. That's long commuting. lol

That means leaving about 11pm Sunday night. I was raising a family in those days and spent as much time as possible at home. I tried the leaving sunday day and staying overnight. But since I was going to be out of town until at least thursday it seemed easier. Tired bastard that night tho.

_________________

I told you these breasts could get us to 12-2 GO HAWKS

Several times a week I have a hour and half commute, and it's not bad at all once you get used to it.

Hell, my mother used to commute 2-hours every day for 4 years straight, and she was 55 at the time.

i used to work in Portland, and drive from Longview. i got used to it. wasnt my favorite thing ever, but it wasnt all that bad. youll be going the opposite of the rush so it should actually be pretty nice.

care if i ask what it is in kelso? just curious

_________________

I was going to say the same thing as mux, the commute is even easier if you're close to I-205.
I-5 can still suck south bound in the afternoon.

Als environmental. Big company with an awesome lab.

i work 45 miles outside of town, once you get your system down it's not bad at all.. gives me time to think about what i need to get done that day, check out mike and mike in the morning, or a little Bob and Tom show.. not bad at all.. my monthly gas expenses are ridiculous, but i drive a 5.7 dodge durango , so that's what i get for being stupid...

_________________
On to the Next Episode

Traffic is the killer for me, I have zero tolerance for it anymore. I check KATU traffic before I leave work and if it looks bad I just make a pitstop at the local Buffalo Wild Wings, have a brew and some food and watch whatever game is on, I have a traffic ap for my my phone and I just kick back until its over then continue on down the road.

I used to commute from Yacolt, Wa to the backside of Portland Airport for many years and while on paper it was 36 miles it would take me an hour each way. Due to my work shift (graveyard) I never had problems with traffic so it was always a nice drive and give you a chance to unwind.

You should be ok as it seems like someone already mentioned you will be going the opposite way. If you can tolerate it I would buy a little commuter car, I bought an old crx for 500$ that I drove to well over 250,000 miles getting 40+ mpg, when I moved closer to town I sold it to some punk kid for 1500$

_________________
http://personal-spectrum.com/

I have a 7 mile 12 minute commute that is absolutely brutal. However out of 16 all but one other guy live at least 30 minutes or more. Four live over an hour away. They do it and have been for at least a decade each.

I think its always good to have a buffer time from between home and work. However, unless this position is a real in road to something dramatically better, I'd be cautious about choosing to spend a fair chunk of your waking hours in a car. You spend less time with the people you enjoy, because there is less time in the evening, so you try and stretch that by staying up later, end up exhausted.

Dude, it is not .9 miles from your apartment over the garage down to your Mom's basement.

@OP You just have to try it for awhile and see how it works for you. I did Battle Ground -> Lake Oswego (35 miles each way) for 4 years. You can either sit in traffic or work out ways around it. I'm doing Battle Ground -> Lloyd Center District now which is about 20 each way. You can usually find some good routes that either avoid the traffic or at least feel like they avoid the traffic.

_________________
President of the Perfect Parents Society - est. 2013

I think you accuse others of living in their mother's basement a bit too much, Jester. Hiding something?

An hour isn't too bad. Sounds weird saying that, but I think for a lot of folks living outside Seattle, having to commute into downtown Seattle (or eastside), an hour is pretty common.

I live 19 miles from my work in downtown Seattle, takes me any where from 50-75 minutes.

Catch up on some audio books, new music, sports radio. Won't be bad.

_________________
Steve Austin ‏@steveaustinBSR Seattle Seahawks damn sure opened a can of Whoop Ass tonight. #industrialstrength 9/15/2013