To commute or not to commute

[penicillinman]

I have been offered a job that will be about 2.5 hrs away from where I live. This will be a 7 on/7 off deal daytime hours. Really dont like my current job and dont see myself sticking with them much longer (wait - let me rephrase - im desperate to get out now !). I have done 7 on/7 off in the past and loved it. I have a wife and 2 kids so I am just worried about leaving family and having to stay in another city for 7 days, otherwise this would have been a very very easy decision. What I do have working for myself is that my wife stays home and kids are still preschool age so even if i do decide to take this job, it will be temporary until I can find something better. I have been thinking about maybe staying for two days and commuting back home to sleep but wonder how realistic this might really be considering my work days will be long. The financial bit = commuting is expensive so I will have to work two days extra (to cover commuting/living expenses) on my days off at a hospital close to where I live for this to make some finacial sense (to make what i currently make ) but I would still have 5 whole days to relax. A little bit on my current job= In the same city where i live but commute still is an hour, work 8 hr shifts no particular set schedule and I still do work about 2 days extra every 4 weeks, so i get about 6 days off every 4 weeks. So I am curious to find out if anyone here has been in my situation? what have you done ? Any thoughts, opinions ?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[penicillinman]

Correction - If i take the job, i will have 10 days off every 4 weeks ( 14 days - 4 days of extra work).

 

[BidingMyTime]

If I'm reading correctly, you are taking about 2.5 hours each way, a total drive time of 5 hours each day? I'm guessing your shifts are 10 -12 hours long as well? I do not see how this is at all doable. this would leave you with 7 -9 hours a day to sleep/bathe/fill up your car with gas/get looking presentable for work/etc. I think a better solution would be to rent a motel/hotel room for a week at a time and have your family drive up to see you mid-week. Is your current job really that bad? If it turns out you really like the job, maybe you and your family can move to the new city.

 

[penicillinman]

sorry for the long story....


So here is my story. Worked in this 400+ bed hospital in a relatively small beach town about 2.5-3 hrs away from a large metropoliton city. I really loved my job because it was challenging and all rphs were treated the same (meaning you work a shift everywhere, icu, or , central etc). AND best of all it was a day shift 7 on 7 off - This is why i loved my job the most. To work days and only half the year !! Problem was this small town is not ethnically diverse at all and my wife and kids (1 year and 3 year old) tended to get pretty lonely - most of all the wife. She didnt complain, bt i knew she was lonely and dint like it much over there. The plan was to stay there for a couple of years, get experience and move on to this large metropoliton city. Time came - I applied and got in to this large teaching facility. So here I am about 4 months later working evening hours which means I am gone from 12 pm to 10.30 pm(commute and traffic) and have only two days off every week. Out of which I work a prn job once a weekend every 4 weeks - have to do this to meet my savings goals because life is more expensive here. I dont really have much time to spend with the family at all besides 6 days every 4 weeks. But whenever I am off it is great to be in this city. My wife who stays at home, absolutely loves living here. Now here is the problem - I Hate my job. I spoke to my previous boss and she is ready to take me back since they have an opening - two actually but this will not last much longer. This hospital is exactly 2.5 hrs away from where I live. I have the chance to get a 7 on 7 off again 11 hrs a day shifts but I am so torn because I cant move back to that town again. The only thing I see i can do is commute there and come back every 3rd night. That means I would be away from family for 4 nights every 7 days when I am on my work rotation, leaving my wife and kids completely alone - but on the other hand would get 7 whole days off to spend quality time with the family if i dont work extra. My wife will support me either way, but would I be harming my family life ? Part of me says yes since I will practically not be there for 7 days, which really when you are working 7 on 7 off you are not anyway, and part of me says that life will be better because I will be able to do more with my family when I am off. The decision ofcourse in the end will be mine but here it is --what do you think I should do?

 

[Momus]

Yes, if you like 7 on, 7 off. Do it. Stay in the boondocks for 7 days, and 7 days spend it with your family. There are a lot of families/workers do that, you are not the only one.

 

[pharmd2014grad]

I was faced with a similar dilemma just recently. I am a new grad and I live in one of the larger cities in the Southwest US. After interviewing at the career fair I got a couple of job offers, both full time with similar salaries. One is a job with a big chain in the city, filling around 400 scripts per day working 8 hr shifts. I have a few friends who just started working for this company and are already looking for different jobs. The other job is 1.5-2 hr away with a smaller chain filling 120 scripts on the weekdays and 60 on weekends which is much less stressful. Schedule is working 4 days on 3 off in one week (3 * 12 hr, 1 shift 8 hr) then working 3 days on 4 days off the next week (3 * 12 hr shift). I am unable to relocate due to my husband's job and did not know what to do. With my schedule it would be impossible to commute every day and being away from home is always difficult. After days and days of thinking I decided to go for it and accept the position with the smaller chain. If I stay in the city and work for a larger chain I know I will be miserable and I will hate my job which will make those around me miserable too. I would rather have 10 quality days spent at home, than 30 miserable ones. Every one of my classmates was telling me I was crazy to accept a job that far away, but I don't want to get stuck at a job that I am going to hate. My best advice is, go with the job that makes you happy, everything else will work itself out! Good luck with whichever decision you make!

 

[gwarm01]

I commute a total of two hours each today. It's approximately a 50 mile trip each way. It gets very tiring, but I do it because I love my job and don't have such a great opportunity in my current town. I've been debating moving closer for half a year now, but I really like where I live and don't want to deal with the stress of moving. It takes it's toll, but I think I made the right choice.

That being said.. 2.5 hours away? I don't think I could do it.

 

[SELDANE]

Commuting 2.5 hours on a daily basis is really not an option. That being said, once you've decided this is the job for you make arrangements to find an apartment and sign either a 6 month or 1 year lease. I did that when I worked 7 on/7 off overnight at a hospital approximately 3 hours from home. This made life a lot easier and as time progressed my family adjusted to my life of "week on and week off" without any problem.

 

[penicillinman]

Commuting 2.5 hours on a daily basis is really not an option. That being said, once you've decided this is the job for you make arrangements to find an apartment and sign either a 6 month or 1 year lease. I did that when I worked 7 on/7 off overnight at a hospital approximately 3 hours from home. This made life a lot easier and as time progressed my family adjusted to my life of "week on and week off" without any problem.

So how did you feel about being away from your family? I almost feel guilty - kinda like I am abandoning my wife and kids for 7 days just so I can have a job I enjoy. Did you stop doing the commute because it finally gets to you ?