News
34-year-old supercommutes between Atlanta and Philadelphia via bus, train, plane
Daniel Rodriguez typically takes three modes of transportation to get from his home in Philadelphia to his work in Atlanta 800 miles away.
The 34-year-old project manager at an urban design firm splits his time between the two cities each week, usually taking a bus, a train and a plane to get to work.
Rodriguez began supercommuting in May. He’d been living in Philadelphia full-time with his wife, but after having a hard time finding work there, he took a hybrid role where he does some work locally but also works several days a week in Atlanta, where his primary team is based. The couple considered moving to Atlanta but decided against it because of cost-of-living expenses.
Now, Rodriguez typically makes his supercommute once a week, usually staying 2 to 3 days a week in Atlanta at a time.
He alternates between flying out in the early morning the day he has to be in the office and catching an evening flight the day before. Rodriguez travels light, taking only a personal item holding his laptop, food and a change of clothes.
Each way typically takes him anywhere from 4 to 6 hours, door-to-door. Rodriguez passes the time brainstorming or editing content, catching up on work, reading, or studying for licensure exams he plans to take soon.
“I’m working from the airport, I’m working from the plane,” he says. “I try to fit as much life into this as possible.”
While his co-workers think his commute is “curious,” Rodriguez hasn’t run into any travel mishaps yet.
“My boss says, ‘For some reason, it works,’” he adds.
Factoring in costs
Heading from Philadelphia to Atlanta, Rodriguez wakes up around 3:30 a.m. and walks under 10 minutes from his apartment to the train station. For $8.75, he takes a regional train line to the airport. He often takes a 5:30 a.m. flight, which costs around $90 one-way and takes 1.5 or 2 hours. After landing in Atlanta, a $2.50 train and a 10-minute walk usually bring him to the office around 8 or 8:30 a.m.
On his return trip, he’s basically retracing his steps, with a few tweaks. He wakes a little later, around 4 a.m., in Atlanta, and usually books a ride-share to the airport, which costs around $20 and takes 15 to 20 minutes. After his flight and a half-hour regional train ride, a short walk gets him to work, whether it’s his Philadelphia office or a cafe, around 9 a.m.
Rodriguez usually spends up to $240 a week on transportation costs for his back-and-forth.
On housing, he and his wife spend $2,000 combined on monthly rent in Philadelphia. Rodriguez is currently staying with a friend when he’s in Atlanta, for which he pays $400 a month, though he plans to get his own place there soon.
He also spends $200 a year for a CLEAR+ membership to get through security checks at the airport quicker.
Adjusting to his supercommute
Rodriguez says adjusting to his supercommute was “easier than a lot of people think,” partly because he’s used to relying on public transit after selling his car several years ago.
He thinks his commute is “less stressful overall than committing to driving to work every day, stuck in traffic, angry.”
A lot of modern life in America feels like “you’re on autopilot,” he says. “You wake up, you go to work, you clock in and you clock out, and you repeat.” Rodriguez finds that his commute “forces you to be intentional,” whether that’s in how he spends his time in transit, or how he and his wife make time together despite being physically apart some days of the week.
“Everything needs to be thought out in advance,” he says. “Everything you value and prioritize in your relationship, and how you live your life, it can’t be by accident.”
Rodriguez views a commute as “a form of a third place,” referring to the concept of a place that’s neither work nor home.
“They’re not just these pain points to get you to the next place,” he says. “They’re places” too.
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