For many of us, commuting is just one of the extra jobs that comes with homesteading. My commute is 90 miles, one way. Average drive time is 95 to 100 minutes. I'm northwest of Austin so ice and snow are only problems a couple of days a year. The most serious problem is when the low water crossings flood. I'm fortunate to work four/tens so its one less trip. I am also fortunate in the Spring when the wildflowers bloom, the drive is one of the most beautiful in the country.

-- paul (primrose@centex.net), February 24, 2002

Answers

50 miles each way. Mainly interstate and state routes. About 45-50 minutes

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), February 24, 2002.

My trip to work only takes three minutes. For some reason, after reading how many miles you travel one way, I feel guilty. My trip is all down hill, so if we get a snowstorm I don't have any excuses, I can slide to work.

-- george nh (rcoopwalpole@aol.com), February 24, 2002.

My commute is 8 miles, heading East in the mornings to a daily eye-feast sunrise. Have seen some really spectacular ones, my favorite being the mornings when the green stripe between the sunrise and the waning night sky is noticable.

-- Rose in Coastal Texas (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Mine is approx 35-40 minutes one way.

-- Nickie(little farmer) (niwar28@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

I'm still in town and my commute now is under ten minutes most of the time. My land is a little further away from work but still only fifteen minutes or so. Last Sunday I drove my new used John Deere 4200 from the bullpen at work out to park it in my barn and it took a little over half an hour. Of course, I had to take a couple backroads instead of the highway as my tractor will max out at a hair over thirteen miles per hour! They guy who followed me out there did tell me he thought I hit fifteen mph on one downhill stretch. ;o)

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), February 24, 2002.

My "commute" is 16 miles into town along tree lined roads and past a pretty little lake. And I only go when I feel like it as we are retired. LOL Jeeze now I feel guilty too! LOL LQ

-- Little Quacker (carouselxing@juno.com), February 24, 2002.

Wow! 90 miles is a lot. my cut off has always been 50. i currently do 35 miles one way. four days a wk sounds nice, wish i could do that. can't imagine having 3 day wkends all the time...

-- Buk (noaddy@tiredofads.com), February 24, 2002.

My comute to work takes only a few secounds. Out the back door and I'm there. Ain't farm life good.

-- Butch (beefarm@scrtc.com), February 24, 2002.

When I first moved to the country It was 1 hour each way for me and my spouse. now he is retired and I got a job in a little adorable country town just 20 min. away. all back roads and very beautiful.

-- Corky Wolf (corkywolf@hotmail.net), February 24, 2002.

I have a winter job and a 3-season job, and both are within bike- riding distance (and I'm not that big of a bicyclist!). I'm not exactly in the country, but not in town either. By the time ice and snow get bad enough to be considered an issue here in Maine, no one's out on the road in anything except the new 4-wheel drive that they've been dying to roll into a ditch or on snowmobiles!

-- Sheryl in Me (radams@sacoriver.net), February 24, 2002.

Well, I get up in the morning, go outside, feed the cows, chickens, dog & cat, then go inside for breakfast. That's my commute.

-- bruce (niobrara55@hotmail.com), February 24, 2002.

Hubby and I walk to the end of our driveway (about 200 ft.) and that's it. We have a home auto repair business and I'm only there long enough to get the office opened. Then it's back up the driveway for me to take care of "homestead" related business!

-- Marcia (HrMr@webtv.net), February 24, 2002.

75 miles for me (one way). Then it's drive all night and then back home again. Gets tiring sometimes.

-- Brian (Truckerbkf@msn.com), February 24, 2002.

Steve drives an hour up to Louisville. He works construction, and the company in Louisville pays much better than down here. There is a Home Depot going up in our local town, about 15 miles away, and we were hoping Steve's company would get the contract. I don't like him having to drive that far.

-- Cindy in KY (solidrockranch@msn.com), February 25, 2002.

up too 2 hours each way,,, if I work 12 hours a day or more,,I get a room

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 25, 2002.

Like Bruce and Butch said, A few seconds, out the back door to the barn for chores. Alittle slower in heavy snow. Bill in SE. Mich

-- Bill in SE. Mich., (Billshsfrm@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

Hubby drives 50 or 65 miles (according to station he is working out of) The pay/benifits/retirement is much better than anything around here and he's being doing it for 25yrs. Looking forward to retirement!

I only drive 6 to 8 miles a day( I work part time).

-- Debbie T in N.C. (rdtyner@mindspring.com), February 25, 2002.

For more than 20 years my husband's commute was about 60 miles one way and then for five years was about 90 miles.

Finally two years ago he realized it just wasn't worth it and started his own handyman business in our county. Now he works close to him and wishes he had done this 20 years ago!!!

I urge all of you, especially the ones with small children, to do everything possible to try to find some sort of work where you will be closer to home!!! Once those kids are grown and gone you can't get them back!!!

I could have "dream" journalism jobs working at other places in the state which would require long commutes....(I was fortunate to win several prestigious state awards early in my career and those go a long way on how many people want to hire you) BUT INSTEAD I have a home based office and work for the local weekly and a New York Times- owned daily and do just fine!!!!!

You could not pay me enough to make that daily commute into Birmingham and fight the traffic on those interstates!!!! When I first started we relied on fax machines a lot....now computers are WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), February 25, 2002.

My poor husband has to travel on average 2 hours one way 5 days a week to get to work. He has been unable to find a good paying job in the area we live in, nor can we afford to move to where all the jobs are. :P I know he is getting tired of it, but not much choice right now.

-- Bergere (autumnhaus@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

I work about 1/4 mile from where I live. I drive a 1994 van that has WAY less mileage (about 87,000 miles) on it then my husband's 1999 truck. He put more mileage on his truck in 2 years than I had on my van in 6 years and that's with me driving the van to South Carolina from Florida every summer! Hubby is on the raod alot. Down here it really scares me to death with the interstates the way they are. But that's construction for ya - Ya gotta go where the work is! Safe travels to you all!

Blessings,

-- Greenthumbelina (sck8107@aol.com), February 25, 2002.

I just measured mine - 15 ft. from the bedroom to my studio. Sometimes I even change out of my jammies before going to work. :-)

Sure don't envy y'all with those long commutes; been there, done that, never again! Hope it changes for you soon.

-- Jorja Hernandez (jorja@color-country.net), February 25, 2002.

My commute is 1 hour each way, 15 minutes driving to the city and the rest on public transit getting from 1 side of the city to the other. Luckily I only work in the city 3 days a week.

-- susan banks (susan.banks@sait.ab.ca), February 25, 2002.

Folks at work freak out that I drive 75 minutes one way, but that's nuthin to what some of you folks have to do!

-- Debbie in MO (risingwind@socket.net), February 25, 2002.

A few minutes now, after I move to my land, 80 miles each way.

-- Rog (rw285@isoc.net), February 25, 2002.

I'm at work now, but my husband drives 17 miles one way, not bad. You can make alot of plans for your homestead when your driving. Thats alot of driving for some of you!!!!

-- Suzanne (weir@frontiernet.net), February 25, 2002.

Hubby drove 80 miles each way every day for six years - yuck! I drive 7 miles and complain every day of the "traffic" jam at the one redlight that I have to cross.

-- Cindy (colawson@mindspring.com), February 26, 2002.

I drive 30 miles one way. I work 4 ten hour shifts so that really helps. It is also the "evening shift" and I drive home at night with little to no traffic, just me and the deer and the possums, and raccoon, and owls. On the drive to work, it is more deer(lol), coyotes, lots of turkeys, and red tailed hawks and the rare bobcat. After the infamous ice storm, it was so very very dark to drive those 30 miles without any lights from the farm houses or my home town street lights. It gave me an inkling of how dark it was back in the old days, out in the country. Have a great day!

-- Karen (kansashobbit@yahoo.com), February 26, 2002.

For the first year we were out here, I drove one hour and fifteen minutes one way. (Miles don't count since we're in the mountains) It wasn't bad, though, as half of the drive was down the basically deserted Blue Ridge Parkway watching the sun come up. My favorite part of the drive was listening to the traffic reports from Charlotte while not seeing a car for miles. Now I'm down to 45 minutes to an hour according to where I'm working that day. Once again there is hardly any traffic and beautiful scenery. It's worth the drive to end up here!!

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), February 27, 2002.

My is an hour and 15 minutes, each way. Do you guys have some advise in how to keep the car in good shape? Ralph.

-- Ralph (rroces1@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.

Personally, I think driving a vehicle an hour and 15 minutes in the city ruins them and driving a vehicle an hour and 15 minutes in the country makes them last longer. Kind of like a lived in house lasts longer than a house that isn't lived in. I just changed the oil and lube regularly. I also think washing is bad for a vehicle. Mine always last longer than their speedometers do. (Knock on my head).

-- paul (primrose@centex.net), February 27, 2002.

We had a good laugh, hubbie's is something like 612 mlies one way!!! {thats for the south route, for the north route I think he said something like 780 miles}

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), February 27, 2002.