To an observer, the crowds that pour from platforms and parking garages during rush hour on a weekday all seem to have a similar story.
But take a closer look: some are wiping the sleep from their eyes, others are hastily packing makeup bags, and a few may be unrolling a travel pillow around their neck.
These are the long-distance commuters: those who wake up in the dark and consider their car or train their second home.
And like the journey.
Unsurprisingly, average travel times fell during the pandemic.
In 2019, one in ten employees traveled an hour to work, while only 3% traveled longer than 90 minutes. But according to the US Census Bureau, the number of people traveling longer than an hour fell to 7.7% in 2021, with the average commute falling from 27.6 minutes in 2019 to 25.6 minutes.
When COVID hit, some of the world’s largest companies vowed to go remote—or hybrid—for good.
About two million people moved out of America’s major cities between 2020 and 2022, thinking their commutes would be less frequent when the world reopened.
About a year later, however, companies are recalling their employees and the mandatory commute has returned with a vengeance.
Still, veterans of the ultra-commuter say there are positives to be found, and they’re tired of the whining from newcomers.
‘Commuting gives me an advantage’
Jonathan Walters has traveled long distances for most of his working life.
Before COVID, he commuted from Chicago to Naperville to work — a 45- to 75-minute drive, depending on traffic — and in 2021 he moved to the smaller city to be closer to work. The only problem was that his job changed and he eventually had to travel back to Chicago.
For some people, this seemingly unavoidable commute may be a nightmare, but for the vice president it has become welcome at a transport company.
Walters said Fortune he calls his 5 a.m. start “windshield time” — a chance to get his thoughts in order.
“When I come in, I’ve had over an hour where I’ve been pretty focused, I’ve had time to prioritize my day and think about the first two or three things that are going to be on my list,” he explained. “Especially when it comes to client or internal meetings, I can make sure they are more concise because I’ve already had time to think and plan.”
Previously, Walters, like millions of other people, viewed his commute as a “necessary evil.”
He decided to try to change his way of thinking and view the travel time as a positive, saying that people should “take advantage of that instead of whining about it.”
“Complaining about it won’t change anything,” he said. “You might as well turn it into something that – if not productive – is at least positive.”
On the other side of the Atlantic, 25-year-old Melissa Howard’s day also starts at 5am. Twice a week she goes from her home in rural Cambridgeshire, England, to her office, taking two trains to travel into and around London.
At 8am, the PR manager is at work – an hour before most of her industry colleagues log on – and has already drawn up an action plan for her day: she says it gives her an ‘edge’.
“I feel pumped for the day, especially coming in first,” Howard said. “It gives me an extra hour to relax, I get more things done without anyone distracting me.”
The financial benefits
Howard’s commute costs her £180 (about $219) a week, although half of the amount is covered by her employer.
She is one of the lucky few: most employees are footing the bill for a 31% increase in their travel costs compared to pre-COVID. The average American spends $8,466 annually on commuting, according to calculations from various government data from Clever Real Estate, the real estate agent matching service.
In Britain it’s a similar story: the average person reportedly spends around £17.23 ($21) getting to work every day, although that increases when traveling to major hubs like London, Manchester and Birmingham.
But while Howard sometimes misses the convenience and social aspect of living in London, she has no plans to move to the metropolis.
“When I look at the prices versus the benefits, I don’t think there’s enough,” Howard said. “It’s not even just about the rent. It’s almost everything that comes with it: eating, drinking.”
Likewise, Walters’ travel compensates him about $6,000 a year, but he mentally compensates for this with the “constant” pleasant surprise of how much more affordable life is in Naperville compared to Chicago.
‘For a bottle of wine we pay a third, or two-thirds, of what we would pay in Chicago, even at the same restaurant chain. “The city is messing up everything these days: whether it’s parking, tolls, on-street parking, city stickers – just the luxury of having a car adds a lot of extra costs,” he said.
His two-story, four-bed home also offers more space for his eight- and four-year-old children – and he believes they are safer and more independent outside America’s third-largest city.
Commuting may be necessary for your career
Every long-distance commuter Fortune those I spoke to agreed that regular trips to the office are necessary – whether it’s for that all-important conversation with the boss, or to exchange ideas with colleagues.
Micah Shepard is the president and regional CEO of Schaeffler’s Asia operations, leading 1,600 employees across 10 offices and factory locations.
Although Shephard lives in Pattaya in eastern Thailand, he spends half his working year not only commuting, but also on long-distance travel: in the next month alone he will visit Germany, Australia, Vietnam, China and the Philippines.
Without this sacrifice – Shepard is the father of two sons – the CEO said he “absolutely” would not have achieved the same level of career success.
“The visibility that comes with traveling or commuting to different locations puts you in a limited group of employees,” he said Fortune. “I also advise younger employees to learn from the seniors who normally come to the office.”
As a manager herself, Shepard said those who work completely remotely are sometimes “out of sight, out of mind,” but the recognized flexibility doesn’t hold staff back if they perform well in a remote or hybrid role.
But once he got back on the road, Shepard saw a difference in the company’s success.
“When I look at my team’s performance over the past year and the fact that I have traveled and re-entered the market – compared to my peer companies – we have changed the fastest, the medium-term growth has been faster and product development releases, customer engagement and marketing activities have all increased significantly,” he said.