Greetings!I'm due to start working at a consultancy in London shortly, but i'm currently ~1h20m away by train. Do i move closer or is 1h20m doable? Do the long commuters here have any useful advice? ta!

What type of work will you be doing?If you are likely to be spending a good deal of time at client site (outside of London) then I would have thought where you actually live is much less relevant. I know partners who work in London and live in Yorkshire because where they actually base themselves doesn't matter.If you are likely to be in the office each day, then I imagine the difficulty of maintaining the commute will depend on:(a) what the standard hours in the office will be?(b) what is the commute like (e.g., can you work on the train?)If you are doing 70 hour weeks, in London and are unable to work on the commute (or have a team/company who aren't flexible enough to let you work on the commute) then I would think doing an added 2-3 hours of travel per day would be very difficult.

The key thing is whether or not you are going to be pretty much 100% based away from the office, ie. staying at hotels near the client site and therefore not having to go to the London office more than once or twice a month.If you establish that almost all the firm's consulting staff are based away from the home office the majority of the time, then this commute would not be an issue.If on the other hand you discover that you could expect to be based in the London office for 50% of your assignments then this commute would be a disaster. Most consultants regularly work beyond 8pm so you'd be consigning yourself to a life of misery on the trains. And you will not be cut any slack when problems on the trains put you behind with work. You'll just have to work through the night and through the weekend to make up for this...Personally I made sure I had a central London apartment and a scooter so I could get to and from the office in 15 minutes. Finishing work and knowing I'd be home shortly was a massive morale boost - can't imagine having had to face a long commute each evening I'd had to work late. Ouch!Hope this is helpful.Tony RestellTop-Consultant.com

you also have to think how do you plan to get to client sites. Plane, train Car. If you plan to use any form of transport but car then being closer to london can only be a benefit

Tony's idea about getting a scooter so you can get home quickly after a long day in the office is an EXCELLENT one. There's nothing quite like the feeling of freedom you get when you whizz back home on a scooter with no hassle whatsoever. The only problem is finding somewhere to get changed, esp. if you're whizzing around London to client sites (turning up at reception soaking wet and wearing full leathers doesn't usually make the best impression!!).

Excellent! Thanks for all the useful advice!I know i'm due to be working in the London office for the first 2-3 weeks, but i'm sure i'll be shipped off to a client site after that (could be anywhere...). Just not sure what balance of london/other makes the commute worth while. I guess i should be asking my employer/colleagues these questions :)I also liked the scooter idea!