Philadelphia man who commutes 800 miles to Atlanta for work shares cost breakdown
How long do you think is too far to travel to work? 800 miles might be up there, but according to one Philly man, it was a better option than working in his own city.
The Proclaimers once sang about walking 500 miles, but flying 800 is a totally different kettle of fish.
Daniel Rodriguez, who is considered to be a ‘super commuter’, lives in Philadelphia, but decided to get a job in Atlanta because it was easier than finding something locally.
So that led to an expanded job search, which meant he was able to find a job in Atlanta.
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You might be wondering the obvious: Why didn’t he just move his family to Atlanta?
However, it turns out Rodriquez landed a hybrid role, meaning he was in the office for part of the week, and worked from home for the rest.
Because of this, he and his wife calculated the costs to move versus the cost to commute and found that it was the cheaper option.
When speaking to CNBC, he explained his cost breakdown, and why it makes sense.
He revealed that he spends two or three days in Atlanta for work, and then the rest of the week will be spent in Philly.
To do this, he needs to commute via a bus and train each way, and a flight too.
Here’s what it looks like when traveling to work at the start of the week:
- Wake up (3:30 am)
- Board plane (5:30 am)
- Get to the office (8:30 am)
- Stay in Atlanta until the last day of in-office work
- Catch the evening flight home
However, Rodriguez says he also works ‘from the airport’ and he’s likely to be ‘working from the plane’ too.
He added of his four-to-six-hour commute: “I try to fit as much life into this as possible.”
To travel to work, it costs him $240 per week, and while you might think the hotel costs are where things get messy, he actually doesn’t have to worry about that as he pays a friend $400 a month to stay with them.
This is broken down as $8.75 for his train to the airport, a $90 one-way plane ticket for the two-hour journey, a $2.50 train after landing in Atlanta, to work, and then his 10-minute walk to the office.
To return, he books a ride-share to the airport for $20, gets the reverse train to the airport, and so on.
On housing, he and his wife spend about $2,000 on monthly rent in Philly, on top of what he pays his friend.
However, he says he has future plans to get his own place in Atlanta.
On top of those costs, he spends an additional $200 a year on a CLEAR+ membership to fast-track airport security wait times.
It’s a strange set up, and one that he says his co-workers have called, ‘curious’, despite him saying it’s ‘easier’ thank you might think.
However, he told the outlet: “My boss says, ‘For some reason, it works.’”
Britt Jones