I have commuted to every airline job I’ve had (20+ years). I do a long drive AND a flight. I’m totally over it. It’s a complete waste of time and tough on the body.

That said: I’m not moving to a base either. Some reasoning: We aren’t city people. We like rural areas and our friend/family network where we are. We live well below our “possible” means. This allows me to work less and have more time off to keep the sanity vs. continually commuting. I’ve found flying less at a higher rate (CA) is preferable to “working the system” as a senior FO. Fly a few trips a month and chill. We’ve got quite a bit of acreage and built the “captain’s house” in the country. If we sold it all, we might get a 3 bed/2 bath on a 1/4 acre built in the 80’s at most of our bases. Just can’t justify that.

Commuting sacrifices lots of career opportunities if you hope to keep your family and sanity, but I think it can be worth it if you don’t have the mentality that you need 100 hours every month until age 65 to make you happy.

Good luck. Tough decisions.