Author Topic: Longest commute?  (Read 3643 times)

StartingEarly

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Longest commute?
« on: July 16, 2021, 02:39:53 PM »
I don't necessarily have a commute per say but I'm always driving to different work locations as a professional gambler. It's easily over 75k miles a year now that everything is opening back up. The last two months have been over 8k a month. Does anyone drive more for work that doesn't specifically drive as their job?

reeshau

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #1 on: July 18, 2021, 08:37:18 AM »
I have no commute.  But here are the two longest commutes I ever heard of.  (Directly from the person)

I knew a guy once who lived in South central Michigan.  He transferred from Indianapolis to Detroit, and didn't move.  His commute was 2 1/2 hours, highway driving, either way.  As I roughly calculate it, that's in your neighborhood.

There are a lot of people in Traverse City, Michigan who are consultants, and fly out for the week, and back in for the weekend.  Except for last year, they may have a good chance of beating your mileage, but they are flying it.

Steeze

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #2 on: July 18, 2021, 09:10:25 AM »
For some reason my company keeps hiring people right out of college that live 1.5-2hrs away. They last about a year and quit. We have job sites to go to at 7am many days, that means an extra hour drive from the office. So they are leaving their house at what, 4am? Then work until 5pm and drive 2 hrs back. Not to mention that almost everyone else is working until 6-7pm most days, so they aren’t even keeping up. Plus sometimes there is weekend work, couple hours for $100. If it is 15 min from your house it makes sense. When it is 2hrs it makes no sense.
« Last Edit: December 01, 2021, 06:51:53 AM by Steeze »

Dicey

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #3 on: July 18, 2021, 01:04:41 PM »
You're a professional gambler, therefore every mile you drive is voluntary, IMO. Why did you start this thread? Feels like trolling to me.

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #4 on: July 18, 2021, 05:03:10 PM »
When I worked for the US Census I was averaging a bit over 1,000 miles each week. But I got paid for every mile

deborah

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #5 on: July 18, 2021, 06:31:05 PM »
A relative is a FIFO worker in Africa even though he lives in Australia.

Wolfpack Mustachian

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #6 on: July 18, 2021, 07:55:15 PM »
You're a professional gambler, therefore every mile you drive is voluntary, IMO. Why did you start this thread? Feels like trolling to me.

Seriously...why not throw in highest monthly spend? and largest carbon footprint? on a site like this...

Dicey

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #7 on: July 18, 2021, 08:37:29 PM »
You're a professional gambler, therefore every mile you drive is voluntary, IMO. Why did you start this thread? Feels like trolling to me.

Seriously...why not throw in highest monthly spend? and largest carbon footprint? on a site like this...
Exactly.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #8 on: July 21, 2021, 03:14:28 AM »
I'm driving to different casinos for work, in that sense yes it's voluntary, I could also drive 0 miles a year and make, drumroll please $0.

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #9 on: July 21, 2021, 03:36:09 AM »
I'm driving to different casinos for work, in that sense yes it's voluntary, I could also drive 0 miles a year and make, drumroll please $0.
Not the only options.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #10 on: July 21, 2021, 03:44:47 AM »
I'm not driving for the sake of driving generally, it's for a reason, if I could make more money staying in one place I'd obviously do that.

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #11 on: July 21, 2021, 03:59:12 AM »
I'm not driving for the sake of driving generally, it's for a reason, if I could make more money staying in one place I'd obviously do that.
Why post here then? Why start this thread at all? Seems pretty antithetical to the core of the forum, and you don’t seem to be seeking change.

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #12 on: July 21, 2021, 06:47:55 AM »
I'm not driving for the sake of driving generally, it's for a reason, if I could make more money staying in one place I'd obviously do that.
Why post here then? Why start this thread at all? Seems pretty antithetical to the core of the forum, and you don’t seem to be seeking change.

To echo, nereo, I'm not getting it. I saw this thread pop up when I came on, and I forgot about what it was about except for the actual question when I first saw it. I internally answered it - an hour and 15 minutes drive each way and it sucked. Now I'm at about a 15 minute drive each way, and it's much better. I made sacrifices to do so. It was worth it.

If you want to reduce your commute time, there are ways. It's not reducing commute = no income. That's not saying it won't take sacrifices, but if you're not willing to make any changes to reduce your commute, then, as nereo said, why the post? This is why people are thinking you are trolling.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #13 on: July 21, 2021, 01:43:30 PM »
Reducing commute reduces income, there's no real good way around that in my line of work. I was under the impression that we're supposed to try to make more money so we can put more money away. I reduce costs and environmental impact where practical. I'm doing my driving in a 2002 Insight so I average right around 55mpg. With how much I need to travel for work I'll end up being a nomad after the end of the month since I'm letting my lease expire, doesn't make sense with how little I'm home. I'll eventually find a cheaper place with better taxes I want to have as home base.

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #14 on: July 21, 2021, 05:02:45 PM »
Have you read any of the blog posts?

Dicey

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #15 on: July 22, 2021, 07:55:10 AM »
Reducing commute reduces income, there's no real good way around that in my line of work. I was under the impression that we're supposed to try to make more money so we can put more money away. I reduce costs and environmental impact where practical. I'm doing my driving in a 2002 Insight so I average right around 55mpg. With how much I need chooseto travel for work I'll end up being a nomad after the end of the month since I'm letting my lease expire, doesn't make sense with how little I'm home. I'll eventually find a cheaper place with better taxes I want to have as home base.
How you plan to be a nomad in a 2002 Insight would be a far more interesting thread than this one.

Villanelle

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #16 on: July 22, 2021, 12:18:00 PM »
We live in the greater DC area.  Spouse has had several coworkers whose commutes are more than 2 hours each way, every day.  Yes, it is very, very, very expensive to live close in, and very, very expensive to live somewhat close.  But even forgetting about the expense of that drive, I can't imagine the toll it takes to spend all that time commuting, and the stress of making that drive in our horrible traffic.

Many of these people seem to arrange work hours to start early and leave early, to avoid the worst of the traffic.  However, enough people do this that by 230, the traffic has started in earnest, though it's still not as bad as it would be at 5.  But starting work at 6a, when you have a 2 hour drive to get there?  No, thank you.  I'd make a *lot* of sacrifices in the home I wanted and in other areas of the budget to avoid that. 

OP, it sounds like you haven't read much or maybe any of the blog if you think the point is to earn more money so you can save more money.  Mustachianism means different things to different people, but that's not what it means to hardly anyone. 

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #17 on: July 22, 2021, 12:28:28 PM »
I drive about 30 miles each way.  If I'm being honest, my commute is low-key one of the better parts of my day.  It's almost all backroads and I have satellite radio.  I get to work so early that I might only see three other cars until I hit the highway.  The afternoon is a little worse because of the traffic, but if I can time it right, it's not a bad ride.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2021, 02:59:49 PM »
I've read plenty of the posts, I do what I can where I can but my job is my job and I don't know how much longer I'll be able to do it so I'm trying to put away as much money as I can so I eventually don't have to be forced back into the job market.

Well, it's not hard to be a nomad in a small car when you get free hotel stays all over. I get almost all of my hotel stays and food paid for by the casinos because of my work so I really only need enough space to have a few weeks worth of my clothes and then wash those every two weeks.

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #19 on: July 22, 2021, 04:17:01 PM »
My husband was commuting 2 hours one way at one point... but only 1-2x/week, so it evened out with a 'typical' commute (though a typical commute is still too much). Now he's down to 1 hour 45 minutes each way and said that extra 15 minutes each way is huge.

Personally, I will never tolerate a 30+ minute commute to work daily. Ain't happenin'. I have better things to do with my week than drive around. A wonderful side effect of being Mustachian is that every day I get closer to having FU money should I need to make this decision...! For now I'm at 15 min each way (35 min when I bike), but will probably change jobs and move back to our old house in a few years which would bring my commute back to the 30-minute range.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #20 on: July 22, 2021, 04:43:05 PM »
So if I was driving as a salesman I doubt anyone would give me grief but because I'm making more money as a professional gambler and driving a gasp 55mpg vehicle I'm getting endless grief?

Villanelle

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #21 on: July 22, 2021, 04:50:15 PM »
So if I was driving as a salesman I doubt anyone would give me grief but because I'm making more money as a professional gambler and driving a gasp 55mpg vehicle I'm getting endless grief?

LOL.  First... endless grief?

Second, you started a post about who has the longest commute, in a site known for ridiculing long commutes.  I think that has more to do with it than just the fact that you drive a lot. 

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #22 on: July 22, 2021, 05:25:53 PM »
So if I was driving as a salesman I doubt anyone would give me grief but because I'm making more money as a professional gambler and driving a gasp 55mpg vehicle I'm getting endless grief?

LOL.  First... endless grief?

Second, you started a post about who has the longest commute, in a site known for ridiculing long commutes.  I think that has more to do with it than just the fact that you drive a lot.

OP - who in this thread has even mentioned your occupation?  I’m not seeing why you think you are getting “endless grief”.

If a traveling salesman did a case study I’m sure there would be some rigorous discussion about whether spending so many hours driving was an optimal choice.

Putting some rough numbers behind it, driving 75k+ miles in a year means an average of 1,450 per week. Assuming 6 days of driving a week and almost exclusively driving at freeway speeds that’s 4.5 - 5 hours in a car every single day.  An Insight will last roughly three years under such conditions.

You say you’ve read the blog, but somehow you seem surprised so many hours in a car is incongruous on several different fronts (including physical health, environmental impact and the greater impact of cars in general). Then you offer up false dichotomies like how this is a choice between making lots of money or zero dollars.
« Last Edit: July 22, 2021, 05:28:21 PM by nereo »

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #23 on: July 22, 2021, 05:34:38 PM »
My income is relatively proportional to miles driven so there's not really anything false about it. If I tried being in one small area working I'd be lucky to make 75K a year, travelling brings that up to about 250k.

JAYSLOL

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #24 on: July 22, 2021, 06:20:30 PM »
I travel in a company vehicle for work, distance varies depending where we have projects, but I usually do about 20k/year, fortunately all paid for. 

A video short about a long commute from a fantastic Canadian satire radio program - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8eJlcF5G9qM

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #25 on: July 22, 2021, 06:48:20 PM »
My income is relatively proportional to miles driven so there's not really anything false about it. If I tried being in one small area working I'd be lucky to make 75K a year, travelling brings that up to about 250k.

That’s exactly what I mean by saying you offer up false dichotomies.  Earlier you said “ I could also drive 0 miles a year and make, drumroll please $0.” To be generous, your earlier response was hyperbole.  Regardless, you are presenting a false choice, while presenting the responses to be critical of your occupation, when literally no one other than you has brought that up.

So to get back to my earlier question - why did you start this thread? What are you hoping to gain or learn?

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #26 on: July 22, 2021, 08:13:20 PM »
I would think the insight should last a lot longer than that, there's a lot of 500k plus mile cars in the group. Highway miles don't wear on a car like city miles. I'm probably 95% highway miles. I know that it's not the most environmentally friendly job possible but at least I'm driving about the most efficient vehicle that's practical for the job. I looked into a Tesla and it would cost far more because the superchargers are like 25 cents or more per kwh. I'm wanting to turn the Insight into a PHEV at some point too to further reduce gas usage and make the engine last longer since the mountains put a lot of strain on it that having a big battery would relieve. Even if I didn't plug it in that often it would still help mileage since I have a lot of times my battery gets full and won't regen anymore if I'm coming down mountains.

maisymouser

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #27 on: July 22, 2021, 08:27:21 PM »
I would think the insight should last a lot longer than that, there's a lot of 500k plus mile cars in the group. Highway miles don't wear on a car like city miles. I'm probably 95% highway miles. I know that it's not the most environmentally friendly job possible but at least I'm driving about the most efficient vehicle that's practical for the job. I looked into a Tesla and it would cost far more because the superchargers are like 25 cents or more per kwh. I'm wanting to turn the Insight into a PHEV at some point too to further reduce gas usage and make the engine last longer since the mountains put a lot of strain on it that having a big battery would relieve. Even if I didn't plug it in that often it would still help mileage since I have a lot of times my battery gets full and won't regen anymore if I'm coming down mountains.

Just an FYI, my earlier reply wasn't intended to "give you grief"- I answered what my personal preference was, as per your request in your original post.

So if I was driving as a salesman I doubt anyone would give me grief but because I'm making more money as a professional gambler and driving a gasp 55mpg vehicle I'm getting endless grief?
OK, so you are seriously a professional gambler? I get that you are OK with justifying it financially but honest question, what do you think that brings to the world as a whole? Putting those kind of miles on a car is obviously not environmentally the best option, I don't know how gambling makes the world a better place, and I'm trying to understand what draws you to MMM which at its heart aims to maximize efficiency and sustainability. Again, I mean it as an honest question- I am not trying to be accusatory or mean-spirited.

reeshau

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #28 on: July 23, 2021, 12:16:53 AM »
So if I was driving as a salesman I doubt anyone would give me grief but because I'm making more money as a professional gambler and driving a gasp 55mpg vehicle I'm getting endless grief?
OK, so you are seriously a professional gambler? I get that you are OK with justifying it financially but honest question, what do you think that brings to the world as a whole? Putting those kind of miles on a car is obviously not environmentally the best option, I don't know how gambling makes the world a better place, and I'm trying to understand what draws you to MMM which at its heart aims to maximize efficiency and sustainability. Again, I mean it as an honest question- I am not trying to be accusatory or mean-spirited.


Youch.  I can't begin to count the number of occupations that might wither under that question...

"So, you're a barista?  So, you further people's caffeine addiction, to keep them from having to get energy through adequate sleep, exercise, and a healthy diet?"

"So, you're an ISO auditor?  Do you feel your company sincerely follows the spirit of the goals of this particular standardization regime, or do you think you are just checking boxes to allow business as usual to continue?"

I presume he's a professional gambler because he's good at it.  He might even enjoy it, which would be more than many could say.


nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #29 on: July 23, 2021, 04:35:28 AM »
My income is relatively proportional to miles driven so there's not really anything false about it. If I tried being in one small area working I'd be lucky to make 75K a year, travelling brings that up to about 250k.

That’s exactly what I mean by saying you offer up false dichotomies.  Earlier you said “ I could also drive 0 miles a year and make, drumroll please $0.” To be generous, your earlier response was hyperbole.  Regardless, you are presenting a false choice, while presenting the responses to be critical of your occupation, when literally no one other than you has brought that up.

So to get back to my earlier question - why did you start this thread? What are you hoping to gain or learn?

I would think the insight should last a lot longer than that, there's a lot of 500k plus mile cars in the group. Highway miles don't wear on a car like city miles. I'm probably 95% highway miles. I know that it's not the most environmentally friendly job possible but at least I'm driving about the most efficient vehicle that's practical for the job. I looked into a Tesla and it would cost far more because the superchargers are like 25 cents or more per kwh. I'm wanting to turn the Insight into a PHEV at some point too to further reduce gas usage and make the engine last longer since the mountains put a lot of strain on it that having a big battery would relieve. Even if I didn't plug it in that often it would still help mileage since I have a lot of times my battery gets full and won't regen anymore if I'm coming down mountains.

Your response did not address my questions.  I’m glad you think your Insight will last a lot longer, but the longevity of your car isn’t what I was asking about.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #30 on: July 23, 2021, 04:22:45 PM »
Oh, you didn't realize I was flat out ignoring your question for being pedantic?

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #31 on: July 23, 2021, 04:37:10 PM »
I think reeshau hit the nail on the head. A lot of professions aren't all that useful but you have to make money somehow so you should pick something you enjoy that makes you good money if you can, that's what I did. I have been on the forum a very long time, I only became a professional gambler about 2 years ago. Most of my other options for work would be making 75k or under which isn't great for retiring and working with people I largely don't want to associate with (see my sexual harassment thread from when I was subjected to an eventually successful witch hunt). I would say that I am doing it in a reasonably eco friendly way compared to how I could be doing it. A lot of people that do what I do travel around in large trucks or campers, I'm doing it in a 55mpg vehicle and as the upgrades become available I'm upgrading it for better mpg.

I thought it was an interesting post because while having to commute long distances isn't necessarily ideal it is a requirement for a lot of jobs and I was wondering where my mileage stacked up on the extreme end of things. I can't see changing much since it would greatly reduce income and the writing is already on the wall that the time I'll be able to make decent money doing what I do is probably 5 years or less. I can't see a sane reasonable person in my position deciding to make less money so they don't put away enough before the ball drops to end up being ok and choosing to force themselves back into working for other people. I'd much rather keep my independence from other people's decisions as much as I can.

I'm surprised with all the FU money threads and everything else that people on here would legitimately be trying to convince me that I should take a greater than 100k a year paycut just to avoid driving. My driving actually doesn't increase my expenses in a meaningful way since I can write off iirc 58 cents per mile and I'm paying self employed tax rates so at 250k a year my overall car expenses are less than the reduction to my taxes.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #32 on: July 23, 2021, 04:43:44 PM »
So you're a truck driver? So you deliver electronics that people don't need an upgrade on and contribute to electronic waste?
So you're a restaurant server? So you serve people portions that the restaurant deems appropriate but largely leads to food waste?
So you're a newspaper delivery person? So you deliver something that could be done online leading to great waste?
So you're a stock broker? So you create money on paper but no real value to the world?
So you're a Chevron employee? So you work for a company that patented the rights to ev batteries just to destroy the ev industry for years?
on and on and on, it's the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friend. It could be argued that 90% of jobs are inherently bad or useless for some reason.

My job takes money that generally would just get put back into the slot machines and takes it away from the casinos that are already massively profitable and tends to distribute it somewhat more equitably. Restaurant workers get tips, casino workers get tips, etc etc

maisymouser

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #33 on: July 23, 2021, 05:49:07 PM »
So you're a truck driver? So you deliver electronics that people don't need an upgrade on and contribute to electronic waste?
So you're a restaurant server? So you serve people portions that the restaurant deems appropriate but largely leads to food waste?
So you're a newspaper delivery person? So you deliver something that could be done online leading to great waste?
So you're a stock broker? So you create money on paper but no real value to the world?
So you're a Chevron employee? So you work for a company that patented the rights to ev batteries just to destroy the ev industry for years?
on and on and on, it's the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friend. It could be argued that 90% of jobs are inherently bad or useless for some reason.

My job takes money that generally would just get put back into the slot machines and takes it away from the casinos that are already massively profitable and tends to distribute it somewhat more equitably. Restaurant workers get tips, casino workers get tips, etc etc

I wasn't saying that all other jobs have no negatives. I am just trying to see the positives, or what you view as positives, to your chosen profession. Everyone is going to find different value and trade-offs for different careers, and I'm not saying I am 100% proud of the company I work for to make money. Now I realize that your perception is that you take money away from casinos, which you feel are NOT providing benefit as a whole- is that the answer to my question?

If that's the case then I have an analogous side gig of credit card/bank account churning.

Thanks for explaining further. Again, I didn't mean it as an insult of a question. Was genuinely curious.

This also leads to a belief I have that I hope that most on the MMM forum share- there really ought to be *better* ways to make money out there that don't have as many negatives, and more jobs that provide a sustainable future for people AND the planet. We are all making concessions that we shouldn't have to make.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #34 on: July 23, 2021, 05:53:29 PM »
My job COULD be mostly sustainable but I have to live in the world as it is and not how it should be. I chose the best options based on reality. If there weren't market forces trying to destroy eco friendly means to further their own gains I'd likely be able to drive coast to coast on either electricity or 100% biodiesel made of waste products by now.

Villanelle

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #35 on: July 23, 2021, 06:01:54 PM »
I think reeshau hit the nail on the head. A lot of professions aren't all that useful but you have to make money somehow so you should pick something you enjoy that makes you good money if you can, that's what I did. I have been on the forum a very long time, I only became a professional gambler about 2 years ago. Most of my other options for work would be making 75k or under which isn't great for retiring and working with people I largely don't want to associate with (see my sexual harassment thread from when I was subjected to an eventually successful witch hunt). I would say that I am doing it in a reasonably eco friendly way compared to how I could be doing it. A lot of people that do what I do travel around in large trucks or campers, I'm doing it in a 55mpg vehicle and as the upgrades become available I'm upgrading it for better mpg.

I thought it was an interesting post because while having to commute long distances isn't necessarily ideal it is a requirement for a lot of jobs and I was wondering where my mileage stacked up on the extreme end of things. I can't see changing much since it would greatly reduce income and the writing is already on the wall that the time I'll be able to make decent money doing what I do is probably 5 years or less. I can't see a sane reasonable person in my position deciding to make less money so they don't put away enough before the ball drops to end up being ok and choosing to force themselves back into working for other people. I'd much rather keep my independence from other people's decisions as much as I can.

I'm surprised with all the FU money threads and everything else that people on here would legitimately be trying to convince me that I should take a greater than 100k a year paycut just to avoid driving. My driving actually doesn't increase my expenses in a meaningful way since I can write off iirc 58 cents per mile and I'm paying self employed tax rates so at 250k a year my overall car expenses are less than the reduction to my taxes.

Are you a gambler or a gamer, or do you consider them one and the same?

« Last Edit: July 23, 2021, 06:04:21 PM by Villanelle »

Metalcat

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #36 on: July 23, 2021, 06:29:31 PM »
I think reeshau hit the nail on the head. A lot of professions aren't all that useful but you have to make money somehow so you should pick something you enjoy that makes you good money if you can, that's what I did. I have been on the forum a very long time, I only became a professional gambler about 2 years ago. Most of my other options for work would be making 75k or under which isn't great for retiring and working with people I largely don't want to associate with (see my sexual harassment thread from when I was subjected to an eventually successful witch hunt). I would say that I am doing it in a reasonably eco friendly way compared to how I could be doing it. A lot of people that do what I do travel around in large trucks or campers, I'm doing it in a 55mpg vehicle and as the upgrades become available I'm upgrading it for better mpg.

I thought it was an interesting post because while having to commute long distances isn't necessarily ideal it is a requirement for a lot of jobs and I was wondering where my mileage stacked up on the extreme end of things. I can't see changing much since it would greatly reduce income and the writing is already on the wall that the time I'll be able to make decent money doing what I do is probably 5 years or less. I can't see a sane reasonable person in my position deciding to make less money so they don't put away enough before the ball drops to end up being ok and choosing to force themselves back into working for other people. I'd much rather keep my independence from other people's decisions as much as I can.

I'm surprised with all the FU money threads and everything else that people on here would legitimately be trying to convince me that I should take a greater than 100k a year paycut just to avoid driving. My driving actually doesn't increase my expenses in a meaningful way since I can write off iirc 58 cents per mile and I'm paying self employed tax rates so at 250k a year my overall car expenses are less than the reduction to my taxes.

To be fair, I don't really think anyone is telling you to drive less and make less money. What people are asking is why on earth are you posting about this HERE.

I personally find your story quite interesting and would really love to hear more about it, I wish you had a journal so that I could understand better what your unique lifestyle is like.

That said, I totally did a spit take when I read your OP and thought "why is he asking this????". You obviously aren't looking for advice on how to reduce your mileage or anything like that. So what exactly are you looking for? Are you just looking for fellow longhaulers? I really don't think you will find many here, although I have seen a few traveling salespeople around, and they got the exact same "is there a way you could drive less???" treatment as you have.

So I assure you, the responses you are getting are not because of your job, and they're not grief either. The default setting of this community is to challenge the need to drive. You simply cannot post a thread about extensive driving without being grilled about the actual necessity for it.

That's not a shitty part of the forum, it's actually a feature. No need to be defensive, just expect it to happen and answer as much as you feel like answering. But it will help you A LOT if the purpose of your thread is more clear. You will face max challenges from people when you aren't clear about what you are seeking, because that's when the default mode of this place kicks in, and that default mode is to assume that you are *looking for* constructive criticism of whatever you have written.

Again, not a flaw, that's a feature.

So perhaps you can clarify exactly what you are looking for???

From what I've seen, constant travel is fucking brutal on people. I've known a lot of longhauling musicians and salespeople and I've seen it take a hefty toll. Some people do it for a career they love, some do it for money, some for both. The thing is, all careers involve tradeoffs. Environmental concerns aside, I would personally take a longhauling career over a job where I'm tethered to a cubicle any day, other people are the opposite, we all have different priorities and values.

How do you find it? I can't even tell from your original post if this is something you dislike or don't mind, so again, I'm wondering what you were looking for when you first started the thread??

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #37 on: July 23, 2021, 06:39:21 PM »
I like travelling around, I get to see places I'd never see normally and make a lot of money doing it. I like my job since I get to take money away from a casino which is normally seen as impossible. I am working on ways to reduce driving the same paths over and over again. So far I've got one person out in Colorado that I trust enough to run my freeplay and take a percentage of it. This generally translates into me either taking some time off or travelling to other places that are more profitable when the freeplay is factored out. I go to that area far less frequently though there are still some business reasons and personal reasons I end up there, I absolutely adore Colorado and Black Hawk and Cripple Creek are both amazing areas.

I genuinely enjoy travelling in most places so to be able to do it for a job and largely on my own schedule has been pretty freeing. It's not something I'd have been able to do if I hadn't found the forum years ago and put a large portion of my money away. I think the forum has helped me reduce costs and impact of the job. If I wasn't a regular on the forum I probably would have ended up with a few year old Volvo V90 Cross Country. I was actually looking at and test driving one since they had about 5 years of unlimited mileage warranty. In the back of my mind I kept getting the nagging thoughts of depreciation on a still 40k vehicle, premium gas, poor fuel economy so I ended up with my Insight. I'm putting a lot of money into my Insight to make it how I want but overall it will still cost far less than the V90 and have a much lower environmental impact.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #38 on: July 23, 2021, 06:41:36 PM »
I'm not sure how you're differentiating gamer and gambler. I file as a professional gambler.

Steeze

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #39 on: July 23, 2021, 08:12:09 PM »
Tough crowd.

Your profession sounds a lot more fun than mine, more lucrative, and probably takes more skill. So you drive around a lot. Big deal. There are 1000s of 2yr old Toyota’s in NYC with 100,000+ miles on them from taxi drivers who spend a good portion of the day driving in circles looking for a fare or driving people walkable distances with great public transportation options.

I’m a civil engineer which sounds great and all, but really I am just helping billionaire developers make even more money, making NYC a little taller, a little more expensive, a little more homogeneous. All professions have collateral damage.

You do you. Thanks for driving a 55mpg vehicle and not an RV. Congrats on having a fun job and being successful at it.

MudPuppy

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #40 on: July 23, 2021, 08:28:52 PM »
I used to commute about 160 miles a day. I wanted to work in a particular healthcare specialty that the college town we lived in while my spouse was still in school didn't offer. I kept it up for about 6 years before burning out. The change in rent was more than the commute was costing me, which was why I held out so long.
« Last Edit: July 23, 2021, 08:34:07 PM by MudPuppy »

Simpli-Fi

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #41 on: July 23, 2021, 08:39:40 PM »
I used to fly about 8000 miles to work and back every month…so 16k miles round trip x 6 per year 96k annual commute.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #42 on: July 23, 2021, 08:50:46 PM »
Where was that to? China and back?

sonofsven

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #43 on: July 24, 2021, 11:23:14 AM »
I took a job building a big fancy house right when the housing market was crashing in '09 that was 49 miles from my door, so 98 per day, for nearly two years.
Just me and a dog in a one ton diesel van...
Commutes are not all equal, though. This was rural highways and small towns, not the endless suburban hellscape that many of you have to deal with, plus it was temporary.
I did look into buying a small efficient car but I would have kept my big van, too, and so I didn't really pursue it.
One thing I did learn is that you need to drive a lot and haul a lot in order for the higher cost of a diesel rig and higher diesel fuel costs to make sense. That van got similar mpg to my current Nissan frontier (18-19) but the operating costs were much higher. Of course it could tow a lot more, but the lumber yard has really big trucks and they will deliver for free.
I sold the van with over 300k miles on the odometer. I was doing 22-25k per year miles back then, lately I've been building much closer to home (5 miles!), the fuel savings are awesome.

Fishindude

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #44 on: July 24, 2021, 03:05:07 PM »
I made my living in industrial construction and a daily commute goes with the territory.  40-50 Miles one way is pretty routine and not all that big of a deal once you get used to it.
Good news is, the rural midwest traffic isn't nearly as bad or stressful as driving in a metro area.    In this profession, you have to go where the work is and living in the rural midwest, it's rarely in your hometown. 

nereo

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #45 on: July 24, 2021, 05:47:02 PM »
Oh, you didn't realize I was flat out ignoring your question for being pedantic?

No, not being pedantic. Several other posters have posed the same question - why start this thread? What sort of discussion are you hoping to get out of it? Seems the most basic of questions, and several posters have asked it, so I’m not sure of your hesitancy to answer.

ender

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #46 on: July 25, 2021, 09:10:02 AM »
I think the big question here is why not move somewhere with a higher density of casinos you can spend less time traveling back and forth from and presumably make more money, too?

Dicey

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #47 on: July 25, 2021, 01:06:12 PM »
Upon reflection, I don't believe the OP technically has a commute, per se. His job location changes frequently by his own choice. He works at a given location for a period of time, then moves on to the next one. That's not a daily commute. Given that he can, by his own admission, be hosted at his place of business for no cost, the better question is why the hell he has held on to a little-used home base for so long?

If you're going to live like a nomad, embrace it and take advantage of every economy you can create on your journey to FIRE.

StartingEarly

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Re: Longest commute?
« Reply #48 on: July 25, 2021, 07:23:15 PM »
I had a one year lease. I wasn't travelling when I started travelling. I was doing the high density of casinos areas but found out I could make more money travelling (I have several friends in the industry and not a single one that stays put approaches my yearly income) The stuff I do is far better to do while travelling, you tend to wait weeks for something to happen in an area whereas on the road you go out and find it already ready, do your thing and head on to the next place, it's hard to explain without giving away the whole strategy which I don't do online until the industry eventually collapses (part of why I'm focusing on doing what I can now, it probably won't be a thing in 5 years largely because of people explaining it online to a million people, writing on the wall, whole 9 yards...) but travelling makes a lot of sense because you make a lot more.

So the whole hosted in one area and not having to travel thing is not a thing. You can't consistently get enough play to get hotel rooms and food in one area consistently. You can however get 2 days here, three there, five in another, etc and end up having your housing covered but you can't do it consistently. For example. MGM in Vegas will give me $500 in freeplay, a 4 night hotel stay and $500 in food but they'll only do it like once or twice a month roughly. My travelling follows my offers and it follows what I'm looking for that ultimately generates those offers. If I were to stay in one place I would have to have a house and living expenses. Places that have a lot of casinos generally have worse working conditions and income potential due to competition and other factors, when you add in that only a few of those casinos is work even possible profitably you don't get anywhere that I've found yet that you can stay consistently.

Most of my travel is generally through areas that are each beautiful in their own way, it's not the same soul crushing hour drive into the city that is generally what people are referencing as a commute. A lot of my drives actually go through or stay at places that people come from far and wide to vacation to (Lake Tahoe, Black Hawk Colorado, Cripple Creek Colorado, etc)

 

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