• Anna-Louise Dearden commuted 140 miles daily for a job in London while living in Wellingborough.
• She moved to the countryside for family and affordability, buying a Victorian home in 2004.
• Dearden now freelances and values flexibility and balance over daily supercommuting.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Anna-Louise Dearden, a 50-year-old freelance public relations specialist and journalist living in Wellingborough, United Kingdom. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I grew up in Thornaby, a small town in northeast England. In the late 1990s, I lived in London while working as a magazine editor. After I had my first baby in 2000, my partner and I moved to the East Midlands to be closer to family.

For 10 years, I spent over four hours a day commuting to London for work. I still do the commute a few days a month.

It was worth it to improve my family's quality of life while maintaining a London job with a London salary, but if given the opportunity to do so again, I'd ask for more flexibility.

I fell in love with the countryside

While the original reason for the move was to be closer to family, I loved Wellingborough's slow, outdoorsy lifestyle.

In 2004, I bought a five-bedroom Victorian home for £285,000. If I had purchased a similar home in London at the time, it would've been close to £1 million.

I also have a 100-ft yard, which I'd never be able to afford in London.

My commute was 140 miles round trip

My day began with a 20-minute walk from my home to the train station, an hourlong train ride, a 40-minute tube ride, and a 10-minute walk from the station to my office.

A few years into this commute, I successfully negotiated one remote day a week with my employer, so I started commuting four days a week instead of five.

I enjoyed my time supercommuting

After getting used to my new routine, I became thankful to have time to enjoy my coffee, answer emails, meditate, read, or chat with other passengers.

I dove deep into some great podcasts and books and valued the opportunities for mindfulness practices.

The commute was pricey

Today, an annual train pass (not including travel within London) can cost upward of £8,900.

I spent about £6,000 a year on transportation, £600 a month on childcare, and about £20 a day on coffee and lunch. I had an expense account and sometimes was schmoozing clients, so some taxi cab costs and meals were on the company.

The key is to make a high enough salary to offset the extra commuting costs; I had colleagues who tried supercommuting but opted for a local job, as trains and childcare in the UK are so expensive.

Delays can also be a day-ruiner

It was also not uncommon to encounter bumps in the road. Even short delays or scheduled maintenance can disrupt plans and make the trip unpleasant, but it comes with the territory.

Even though I wasn't home all the time and missed a couple of school events, I have no regrets. I attended most important events and sports matches, and my kids were very well-socialized and happy.

Once I became a freelancer, my daily commute ended

I was made redundant in 2010 and decided to leave my in-house editor career to provide freelance public relations and journalism services. Now, I only need to commute to London for the occasional meeting.

My kids are grown and have moved out, but Stella, my Bernese Mountain Dog-Labrador mix, and I enjoy walking through the woods and experiencing everything the countryside offers. Stella prefers that I limit my commuting as much as possible, and I'm happy to oblige.

I would happily supercommute again, but only part time

I would consider supercommuting for the right job, but things would have to be different. I've found that balance is imperative for a quality life, and for me, that doesn't include commuting hundreds of miles a day, every single day.

I would request a more flexible schedule, such as working from home twice a week and supercommuting three days a week.

• Torrey Grant commutes eight hours each week for a teaching job at Syracuse University.
• That job is in addition to his account executive role at a PR agency where he works full time.
• The share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities has grown from four years ago.

Torrey Grant said his roughly eight-hour weekly commute for his part-time gig is worth the time because he enjoys the job and it supplements his income.

In June 2022, Grant and his wife moved from Syracuse, New York to New York City so they could be closer to her family. Grant landed a Manhattan-based account executive role at a public relations agency that specializes in the food, wine, and spirits industries. He was also able to retain his part-time gig of more than five years: teaching a wine and beer appreciation course at Syracuse University, his alma mater.

During typical weeks when school is in session, he wakes up at 4:30 a.m. on Tuesdays in his Manhattan residence, drives roughly four hours to Syracuse, and is at his desk by 9 a.m. During the day, he works remotely for his public relations job. He then teaches two courses in the evening, stays overnight at a hotel, works remotely for his PR job the next day, teaches two more classes in the evening, and then drives home Wednesday evening.

"It's well worth it to keep a great job and it keeps my wife and I close to her family," said Grant, 50, when referring to his teaching position.

Grant is among the supercommuters who are defined by traveling more than 75 miles to work. The share of supercommutes in the 10 largest US cities was 32% greater between November 2023 and February 2024 than between the same time period four years prior, per a study from Stanford University that was published in June.

The researchers said this increase was likely driven by the uptick in remote working arrangements. For example, some Americans who moved away from their offices — in part for lower housing costs — decided they could stomach a long commute when their employers rolled out return-to-office policies after the pandemic.

Driving several hours is worth it for the job and pay

Grant said he earns between $80,000 and $100,000 annually from teaching, depending on the number of courses he teaches — which can vary based on student interest, among other factors. Grant estimated that he dedicates about 30 hours a week to his teaching job, which includes 12 hours of lecturing and additional time spent in meetings, conducting office hours, preparing for classes, and grading.

Grant said that his round-trip commuting costs typically include between $40 and $50 for a full tank of gas, roughly $80 for one night at a hotel, about $25 in tolls, and $36 to park at the school — a total of about $200 per round-trip.

Before he committed to driving as his preferred mode of transportation, Grant said he tried taking the train and flying. However, he said the train can take up to six hours if there are delays, and that flying — which can also come with delays — typically doesn't save any time.

Looking ahead, Grant said he plans to keep supercommuting for the foreseeable future. He said the biggest downside of the commute is that he has to be away from his wife two days a week. However, he said he enjoys teaching and that working with students helps him stay up to date on what's popular with younger wine and beer consumers — which can also give him a leg up at his public relations job. He said he's considered looking for teaching jobs closer to home, but only a few schools offer similar courses.

Ultimately, he said the teaching job's pay — and the limited travel costs — are what's made his commute sustainable. In the future, he said the job could bring about another financial benefit: discounted college tuition for his children.

"Financially it still makes sense," he said of the commute. "I'd love to say I would do it even if it wasn't but that's not realistic."

Do you have a long commute to work? Are you willing to share your story with a reporter? Reach out to [email protected].

• Josh Nichols commutes from Michigan to Chicago weekly for his analyst job at United Airlines.
• Nichols benefits from United's flight privileges, allowing standby travel for his commute.
• Supercommuting enhances Nichols' work-life balance, enabling him to live in Michigan.

This is an as-told-to essay based on a conversation with Josh Nichols, a 25-year-old from Ann Arbor, Michigan, who regularly commutes to Chicago for his job as a senior analyst at United Airlines. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I live in Michigan and my office is in Chicago. I work on customer strategy and innovation as a senior analyst for United Airlines, and our department is hybrid. For the most part, we are in office Tuesday and Wednesday, and sometimes on Thursday, every single week. It's really nice to have that bit of flexibility.

When I first started the job I lived in Chicago for two years. But I hate Chicago with a passion. There's so much traffic, it was expensive, it was noisy.

I had heard several colleagues were doing supercommuting. Just thinking about the quality of life that I have back home in Michigan versus the quality of life that I had in Chicago, the decision was pretty clear.

After talking with my management and coming to a mutual understanding that they would give me the green light to leave the city but that I would still need to come into the office, it was a no-brainer.

I'm very thankful that our team is flexible in that regard. My leadership team is very understanding and very accommodating. But I also think that it might be a different story if I weren't a hard worker or if they had to keep close track of what I'm doing.

Flying from Detroit to Chicago

I normally take a 6 a.m. flight from Detroit that lands at Chicago O'Hare also around 6 a.m. due to the time difference. After boarding, I usually fall right to sleep and wake up in Chicago.

I have a United Club card, so on arrival, I will go there and have some breakfast, and then take the subway into downtown to our office at Willis Tower.

I'll work in the office all day Tuesday, spend the night in Chicago, and work all day in the office on Wednesday. Then I usually take the 7 p.m. flight from Chicago back to Michigan. Sometimes I'll stay another day and catch the same evening flight on Thursday.

As for where I stay, it's a good balance between friends and just getting hotel rooms. I have some very, very generous friends that I am very thankful for who allow me to be their local couch potato. Often I'll buy them dinner or we'll just hang out. If I stay in a hotel I usually get one by the airport because it's cheaper and then I'll commute back and forth on the train.

I use my flight privileges as a United employee

Because I am choosing to live outside of Chicago, I can't use our company-provided flights to commute in, and the company does not pay for my hotel stays or transportation to and from the airport.

Instead I fly standby with our flight privileges, which is where employees can fly for free if there's a seat available and you're senior enough to get it. On Monday night I have a general idea of how the flights look for the next morning.

If they don't look great, I might decide to take the train in or do the four-hour drive, and potentially leave Monday evening. Thankfully, my track record for getting on the Tuesday morning flight is pretty good.

When I show up in the morning, I have to wait to see if I get cleared and receive a seat assignment. If I don't make the 6 a.m. flight, there's a 7:30 a.m. flight as well.

I can also buy a ticket as a normal passenger. I try to avoid buying tickets as much as possible, but I certainly have purchased a ticket to get to the office, especially around the holidays. That's just what I have to do to be responsible and hold up my end of the bargain.

I don't think I would be willing to do this commute if I had to self-fund my flights or drive or take the train every single week.

Better work-life balance

I've been doing this for almost two years now. Sometimes it's a challenge because it's not a guarantee I'll be able to catch my flight or which return flight I'll be able to get on. But I would rather deal with those small challenges than live in Chicago.

Getting to live in Michigan, where I'm originally from, is so worth it.

I get to see my parents and my grandparents on a regular basis. I'm able to see so many more of my friends. It's really helped me maintain a healthy social life.

Supercommuting allows me to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I still maintain very strong relationships at work. I maintain the quality of work that I put out and I'm not missing my in-office days.

For others interested in supercommuting, I think taking stock of what you want out of your life is really important and knowing if you're willing to make certain sacrifices for the quality of life that makes you happiest.

I think the most important thing is, you cannot slack. You can't take virtual work as an opportunity to be mediocre. And if you know yourself, if you're someone that likes to not work as hard when you're not being managed, maybe it's best not to do it.