what would you do ? need short term solution
 

Hey guys today I am moving from our Marietta home which we are selling/closing on Monday . That home is 5 miles from where I work . Our new retirement home is in Northern GA. so my drive to work will be 71 miles each way . I only have to do this drive until mid January when I will take 6 weeks of vacation which takes me to my retirement date .

My vehicles are a diesel dually pickup , a Toyota RAV4 and my Boxster S . So initially my thoughts are rotate the fleet depending on weather until I retire . Next scenario buy a cheap beater Honda/Toyota and sell when I retire . Third scenario find an extended stay place for a couple of months . What would you do ?

What are your normal hours of work?

I would choose between a couple of nights a week near work and commuting using the cars you have. Maybe find a decent hotel that will give you a discount. Use the hotel if you're tired or have to work late, otherwise commute.

I live in an extended stay facility, it's no better than a hotel.

I would not buy a cheap car for five months of driving. Every cheap car I bought took me five months to get it to the point I was happy with it.

One of the guys where I work that commuted almost that far after getting their retirement home got a Prius. Because it was so far the savings in Gas $$$ for the commute made the Prius payment.

He was driving an older Jeep Grand Cherokee before and he commuted 2 years before retirement.

I have an 80 mile a day commute, so I get geeky about numbers.

Assuming 142 miles a day x 5 days a week x 4 weeks a month x 5 months to end of jan = 14,200 miles until retirement. (and that is assuming working full sept and full jan)
Doing a quick google search on rav4- it quotes 30 mph highway for a 2017- Not knowing your year, I assumed 28 overall(guess) = 507 gallons of gas x 2.65 (guess) gallon= $1343 in fuel.

Assuming you found a magical unicorn camry for free that cost nothing extra to buy, register, or insure, and it did twice that gas mileage (again- magical), you'd only save $671 in gas.



This is going to be a quality of life decision over financial (in terms of getting a place to stay vs. commuting).

oh yeah- I was assuming all freeway commute. You will find out real quick what the actual commute looks like when you do it in real time. For example- at one job I worked, the commute SEEMED like it would only take 30 minutes, but when you factored in being stuck behind school buses in 3 counties- it almost doubled the time. Coming home a different way, it took 15 minutes just to get three blocks down the street to the interstate because of 5:00 traffic (and the interstate was just the BEGINNING of the commute) arghhhhhh!!!!!

At least it's only temporary!

find a nice bed and breakfast joint and work out a deal with them.

damned if I'd stay in some sterile extended stay joint.

Baz of course has the most stylish idea.

What is the expected time of the commute? In the DC area 71 miles could be an hour and ten minutes each way or 2 1/2 hours each way.

Look at Air BNB, btw. I spend about two weeks a month at my facility in NC and have switched from hotels to Air BNB when available. Whole apartment at 1/3 the price.

No kidding. I used to go to Nova a few times a week, 60 miles each way. Morning was one hour, afternoon 2 easy. It sux but its not really that bad, unless its ~2hrs each way. Car just needs a few more oil changes, you need sleep and time to get stuff done. Books on tape.

I wouldnt bother with a new car unless you plan on upgrading anyway. Not enough time to make the #'s work.

Zackly what i was thinking.

In So Cal we measure commutes with time, not miles.

My commute is 35 minutes in the morning and 60 minutes in the afternoon.
I have co-workers with commutes that take twice that long.

If you can do the 71 miles in an hour I say no big deal, just deal with it.
But if it takes two hours each way that's a different story.

Drive the boxster top down. When that commute becomes a chore, find someplace closer to stay.......

Can you do 4-10hour days a week for the duration?

Where can you drive 71 mph average in the US of A?:eek:

3 cars ought to be enough to keep it interesting. Id drive the dually once a week, and rotate between the rav, and the boxster all other days .

Santa Cruz to San Jose.;):D

I don't think you could pay me enough to drive 70 miles into Atlanta from the mountains (what, like Dawson Co.?) and back every day. I'd find a nice place to spend the week - the B&B idea is a good one - and go home on the weekends. If you commute, just rotate between the Boxster and the RAV4. The truck will just waste a lot of gas.

As an old geezer the commute will wear on an already tired old body..especially if you are used to a very short commute...

Drive the most efficient vehicle. Keep a ditty bag with you, crash at the local Eight Ball Motel on nights when you're too tired to drive home.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1505408188.jpg

I can drive your Boxster locally until you're ready to retire.. :D

Yeah, not so much the wear & tear on vehicles as the wear and tear on you...I like the renting a place idea.

Definitely don't buy a beater. Drive what you have. It will be cheaper.

Then play it by ear. If it tires you, rent a room., work from home, have some cases of anal glaucoma.

G

^This. need more info.

if this is a one-hour drive each way..go for it. get some audio-books and crush that commute. i would rotate cars that you already have. work the wife's ride into the rotation. mix it up. whatever you do..paying the fuel has to be cheaper than buying another ride.

i used to drive 47 miles each way. slowly that became a 2.5 hour drive home and a two hour drive to work. now that sucked..it was doable until traffic patterns changed against me.

imagine how much sweeter this will make retirement?

hey, can you do 4-10's?

btw..congrats on you pending freedom from work!!!

no way..unless you already ride, i would not pick up a new bike to ride into work right before retirement.

that's like making a shiv in prison just to see if you can..one week from your release date.

I recently finished 1 year of the hell commute, Northern Bucks County PA to Midtown NYC, 85 miles each way, every day. I decided that the only sane way to do an insane commute is on a motorcycle. I chose a 1998 BMW R1100RT. Best $3500 I have ever spent.

I do close to that on my morning commute, but that's at 4:30 am ;)

It helps that I usually only go into work on Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday.

Other than that I work at home.

Lots of places.

I can drive to Tulsa right now and the speed limit is posted at 75. Most everyone is moving at 80 to 85. In large parts of Texas the legal speed limit is 80. Drive across the USA in the west and there are many long stretches of low traffic and the speed limit is posted at 75 or 80. And most traffic is rolling faster.

Airbnb?

Vrbo??

Just drive the Rav. Those things go forever.

Having worked ridiculous hours on and off over the years, I am not going to tell you what to drive. I am instead, going to suggest that you do whatever it takes to keep from getting chronically exhausted. Be cautious and pace yourself. Get a room or take a space if it gets too much. My experience is that if you give too much for too long, you won't just snap back after a day or two, and that is when mistakes are made.

+1

I used to do 90 miles one way back when i was 20
It was tiring then. You come home and you are pooped , forget about doing any chores.
Weekends, you think of nothing but relaxing.
and that was when i still lived at home.
I then moved out, and things just wore me down fast.
House renovation, did not progress at all.

Now i have been doing a 50 mile commute, since 2007 , even that at times is a grind.
It's ok in summer during vacations if there is light and no road works.

But in winter, dark days, rain, it's extremely tiring.
I usually wake up at 5h30, so i can get in before the real traffic, in the dark
And then leave early, while there is still light before the real evenign traffic.

without that i'de go nuts, leaving in the dark, coming home in the dark.. depressing in winter months.

Rent an RV and park it in the company lot.

Attempt to do the drive as-is with an extended stay in between as necessary. Save the money it's only a few days away.

rjp

Any good friends at work or in the area, that are of similar age?
chances are they have kids already out the house, and plenty of spare rooms.

If you have a couple of them, you could do some kind of rotation.
Arrive on monday, sleep at Friend 1 on monday, drive home on tuesday
Work a day from home on wednesday,
drive to work on thursday, sleep at friend 2 on thursday, RTB on friday.

I mean, if your employer is flexible and you have a bunch of friends, it could even be fun visiting them all
Go out , buy em dinner , it's more fun spending money on food with friends than paying gas or hotel to sit alone..

Hey guys sorry for lack of reply been busy moving the past two days. I can do the drive in 1 hour 15 minutes . I asked my boss if I can work 5:30 - 3:00 and he agreed . That will allow me to miss most of the traffic . I am going to check out B & B that sounds like a good option .

1h15 does not seem to bad.
If you don't mind early days, it's doable.
Get in before traffic, get out before traffic, and still have some sunshine left when you drive home..

That sunshine is really what makes the difference in winter.. trust me .