lo peeps.

I am having to make the move back down south, and was wondering if anyone currently lives in the sticks and commute's into the big smoke?
I'm an IT contractor, but I dont want to live right in the city 'cause it's difficult doing jobs in the M4 corridor, so I'm thinking of living in maidenhead or somewhere similar. Any thoughts?

I do that. I live in a farmhouse in the middle of nowhere just outside of Hertford and commute into Liverpool Street daily. I love living in the peace and quiet and working in central London, have the best of both worlds that way but there are some problems:

* Can't go out for drinks after work unless I have 24 hours notice and a place to stay (can't drink and drive).

* Can pi55 me off sometimes when I spend 3 hours a day commuting, especially if I'm tired.

* I drive about 25 miles a day most of it in semi-traffic, guess what that does for my fuel economy.

* Come to think of it if I need anything, even a pint of milk, it's a 5-10 minute drive.

* Costs me £250 a month to get to work, not including petrol.

* My life is ruled by trains, so I can be quite short tempered http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif

On the plus side:

* I have 1000 acres of land to "play" in.

* I can have enormous mega parties, like the one in July where about 120 people turned up.

* I sleep much better in the unpolluted clean fresh country air http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif

* View from my window is rolling Hertfordshire countryside.

* Only noise is a horse neighing across the road in the paddock, or perhaps a fox having a number 1 in a hedge.

The plus points make up for the bad for me. I also work in IT and could work from home if I needed to do anything at the weekend. I've been living there for 20 months now and I have no intention of living in a city for the time being.

Steve.

I live in a village nr Luton and used to commute to London every day (hubbie still does) By car you really need to be working shifts or very long days so as you dont have to travel both ways in rush hour. Alternatively find a good train link - ours is 40 mins to Kings Cross and is normally quite reliable, if a bit expensive.

I did it for 2.5 years. Lived in the country nr Ipswich. Commute into Liverpool St. (1hr 50mins door to Door)

Its OK if the job has a little flexibility. If you spend nerwly 4 hours a day travelling, a half day in the office is really not practical so the option to "work from home" is invaluable.

Cost...£310/mnth for Rail, £80/month for Car Park http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif. Eventually I as amde an offer nearer to home that was just too good to refuse. I do miss working in London though. The missus has today started a new job and she now commutes - but its for a rail company so she gets shed loads off the the ticket http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/biggrin.gif

I'd do it again but wouldn't want to think that was my "life" for the next 40 years. You learn to really really hate trains http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/smile.gif

Deano

Not sure if this helps but...

Anything longer than 15 mins to get to work realy pi**es me off. I work with guys that sit in traffic for an hour + every day to get to work and then hour + back. I get 45 mins in bed more than they do, and am drinking a cold one 45 mins before they can think about it.

Respect for dsmith - nearly 2 hours door to door http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/eek.gif

Its a tough choice, but I prefer to live very close to work, esp on a friday night http://bbs.scoobynet.co.uk/wink.gif

David