I have been commuting for years. My flight is blocked just under 2 hours, same time zone, and about 15 flights per day on my own airline. It’s as easy as it gets because I can book jumpseats so I never have to rely on checking loads. I work about 14 days per month which leaves me 16-17 days off per month. The good news is I always get up and back on my working days (no hotels or crashpads). The bad news is the first and last day of my trip can turn into 18 hour days which is very tiring. I also never pick up overtime and I always make sure I’m fairly senior in category so I make less money than the pilots who live in base.