Originally Posted by
CBreezy
Not a single person on earth actually enjoys commuting. That isn't the argument. If I could live above the terminal and also have my big yard while also never having to hear any airplanes, I would. What we are talking about is choosing to commute because of everything else not directly related to my own personal narcissism.
Commuters choose to commute because of thousands of reasons. It's a literal perk of the job. We do it for our spouses so they have a support network while we are gone. We do it for their kids so they are in good schools, with friends or close to family. We do it for our aging parents so they have someone to help care for them. We do it because we love the culture and location we grew up in. It has nothing to do with the actual act of commuting
Great post, however, it paints only one side of the coin. For all those rosy reasons to commute, there are equally bad ones, as you know. I think the best way to sum this up is:
1. All things being equal, don't commute.
2. If you have a powerful reason not to move, such as embedded family, spouse/kid issues, etc, don't commute, but if you must, make it short and sweet.
In my 7+ years of commuting, I would not do it again. I chose the airline I fly for because it was where my family wanted to live. I will hold off on upgrading to avoid the commute. Personally, it makes the job miserable. I speak of course of long-term commuting, if you have to do it for a year or something to get into a base, then it's totally possible, but I wouldn't do it any longer than that. Everyone will see this differently, though.