I can understand but these things are different for each of us. I love my 20 minute low stress commute. I listen to podcasts or think about problems in an isolated day. It breaks work life from home life and helps with boundaries. Obviously some commutes are worse than others but we all have different needs.
People really ought to put the number on their post (like you did; thank you) so we know where they're coming from.
I was in the Bay Area, and one of the big reasons I left was the 3-4 hour commute. For a while, it was manageable, as the train provides some ability to work, but towards the end CalTrain was just falling over from lack of capacity. Packed to the gills trains, trains breaking down, hell, even derailments.
Moved, and cut the commute in half; it's only two hours now, and it feels wonderful. Somewhat hilariously, biking is the same speed as public transit. Sadly, my public transit still no longer really supports a working; too packed.
I'd love to have a 20 minute low stress commute. But I also don't equate "low stress" with driving, regardless of podcasts.
(Unless you have a 20 minute commute on public transit. I must spend ~30-40 minutes of my commute simply getting to public transit.)
Yeah, all these things are choices. I live an hour from Philadelphia. I could make more in a big city but I like my salary to cost of living ratio. I could also walk to work if I moved into the town center but would have to up my spending on housing and lose my yard. People have lots of choices they can balance. I lived in Cambridge for a while. My apartment was a 15 minute walk to the T (public transit). I could have been right on the line but my rent would have been 50% more at least. It was a choice of what I was willing to spend and what kind of inconvenience I would tolerate.
