Thanks for your reply Robin. We were considering this possibility but the cumulative expenses for the season tickets from e.g. Reading (or any other town in between) to Oxford and Reading to London were way more than the 5000£ season ticket from Oxford to London while at the same time we would live in a town with less going on compared to either London or Oxford (I think).

On 10/10/2017 14:35, GeorgeK wrote:
Thanks for your reply Robin. We were considering this possibility but
the cumulative expenses for the season tickets from e.g. Reading (or any
other town in between) to Oxford and Reading to London were way more
than the 5000£ season ticket from Oxford to London while at the same
time we would live in a town with less going on compared to either
London or Oxford (I think).

Surely it all comes down to what you will accept - the three hour
commute by bus/coach is likely to be more than that unless you live and
work at either end of the bus route. If you have to commute further in
London, don't forget the cost of a travelcard can easily be another
£1000 per year or more.

Whilst it's convenient to live somewhere where things are going on, how
often are you really going to take advantage of that, and if those
places were 30 mins away to save even 5 mins each way on your commute if
you only did them once a week.

At the end of the day, trains work but cost money - I've also no idea
whether you'd be likely to get a seat or not, with standing for an hour
not being the most pleasant of things. Buses are subject to the
vagaries of traffic - the advertised 90 minutes can be an awful lot
longer on bad days.

Given you just don't know, I'd suggest trying some options at typical
commute times - if you don't like it one day, you're going to seriously
detest it after weeks and months.

One thing to consider, is that whilst Oxford isn't particularly great
traffic wise, if your wife was to commute there and you lived in London
(or its outskirts), at least she'd be going against the majority of the
flow of traffic for a lot of the journey.

Someone Somewhere wrote:
One thing to consider, is that whilst Oxford isn't particularly great
traffic wise, if your wife was to commute there and you lived in London
(or its outskirts), at least she'd be going against the majority of the
flow of traffic for a lot of the journey.

A friend of mine did that - living in Victoria (so just round the corner
from Victoria Coach Station) and taking the buses to Oxford a few days a
week. It wasn't too bad apparently - but I dread to think what the rent for
living in Victoria was!

Another option of living halfway is to consider the Chiltern route -
Kidlington, Bicester, High Wycombe, etc, possibly even Banbury. I don't
know how that works out in terms of times and costs.

Also worth working out what you're pay in rent/mortgage for each place: pay
1Kpa extra on the season ticket but save 2K on rent?

OP: Where in London is your job? That could make a big difference. For
instance, if you work in Canary Wharf you might want to be near Crossrail.
That either implies Reading or getting the X90 or Oxford Tube to Marble Arch
and walking to Bond St for Crossrail.

Theo

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well. Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?

In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford Friday
night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week
--
Bryan Morris

On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford Friday
night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.

It's been decades since I did it but there was a time in my life when I
found myself (not through choice, thanks to my employer being taken over)
working in Cowley despite living in south London. For what it's worth, I
found the "Oxford Tube" and the X90 buses were viable for commuting
(reliable enough etc.) - but I could only manage it for 6 months before I
found another job and quit.

In message , Clank
writes
On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford
Friday night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.

I did it for a while though staying in a hotel owned (as a part of the
business) by my employers . My wife and 2 kids in London I worked
(though based in the London office) in Kent mainly.
--
Bryan Morris
Public Key http://www.pgp.uk.demon.net - 0xCC6237E9

"Clank" wrote in message
news
On 11.10.2017 8:36 PM, Bryan Morris wrote:
In message , GeorgeK
writes

My job is at St Thomas hospital so I have to get to zone 1 (Waterloo or
Westminster). I'll check the places along the Chiltern route as well.
Would you recommend any of those places over the other for living?




How does staying at a Travelodge 4 nights a week on the outskirts of
London, travelling by car Monday morning and returning to Oxford Friday
night compare with the cost/time of commuting 5 days a week

It sounds like a pretty wretched life.


yep

It's bad enough doing that if you don't have a family back home

awful if you do

tim

In message , at 18:27:22 on Tue, 10 Oct
2017, Someone Somewhere remarked:

One thing to consider, is that whilst Oxford isn't particularly great
traffic wise, if your wife was to commute there and you lived in London
(or its outskirts), at least she'd be going against the majority of the
flow of traffic for a lot of the journey.

The killer, however, is the last four or five miles where she won't be.
And where to park??
--
Roland Perry

On 11/10/2017 10:36, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 18:27:22 on Tue, 10 Oct
2017, Someone Somewhere remarked:

One thing to consider, is that whilst Oxford isn't particularly great
traffic wise, if your wife was to commute there and you lived in
London (or its outskirts), at least she'd be going against the
majority of the flow of traffic for a lot of the journey.

The killer, however, is the last four or five miles where she won't be.
And where to park??

I was sort of thinking she would catch the bus - live in Hillingdon or
similar, so he could catch the tube into London and she could get the
bus to Oxford.