As more employers have embraced the return to office, workers across the country have rearranged their lives to accommodate policies that require them to be in the office every week. Some employees who moved to other states during the pandemic have been reluctant to uproot their lives, opting instead to become super commuters—driving across multiple states or even flying hundreds of miles to reach their office.
Workers who are reluctant to go into the office at all—let alone do a grueling commute across time zones—might be baffled by the concept. But some people have found their super commutes are worth the hassle, allowing them to save money or accommodate family needs. The rise of hybrid work policies also seems to have made longer commutes more palatable, since employees may only be expected to make an appearance in the office two or three days a week.
A recent study from Stanford University found that commutes of over two hours each way have grown far more common since the pandemic, leading to a 32% increase in the share of super commuters (defined as those who travel more than 75 miles to and from work).
Julia Gourley Donohue became a super commuter last year, when she accepted a new job out of state. At the time, Donohue—who had spent over a decade as the executive director of an art museum in southwest Michigan—was still reeling from the loss of her husband and struggling to cope with burnout, after overseeing a major fundraising campaign and weathering the pandemic. She realized it was time for a drastic change.
For the last year, Donohue has commuted almost weekly from a small town overlooking Lake Michigan to Columbus, Ohio, where she now works in fundraising at an art college. Despite the near-five hour commute, she told Fast Company that the unconventional arrangement has vastly improved her work-life balance. This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
‘My personal and professional life was very, very smooshed together’
I have worked in the art museum industry [for] my entire professional life. I came to this community in southwest Michigan for a promotion in the museum world and then was further promoted in the same organization to an executive director position quite a number of years ago. Museum work is innately in-person [work]. That particular organization was very, very small, so as executive director I wore a lot of hats.
The town is [also] quite small, and what that meant for most of my working life is: The second I stepped out of my door, I was representing the organization. If I’m repairing trim on my house and have to run to the hardware store, I’m thinking about what I’m wearing. When I run into a donor in the cookie aisle, I need to be prepared to talk about whatever the thing is that they’re supporting. So my personal and professional life was very, very smooshed together for many years.
‘I was able to think enough about what was mentally breaking me’
I [got] married in 2017. A month after my husband and I got married, he was diagnosed with nonoperative, non-curative cancer. We happened to be in the middle of a capital campaign then—and I was executive director, project lead, fundraiser, and all the things for this very public-facing project that was happening during the entirety of my husband’s illness. He was ill for just shy of three years before he passed away, a month before the pandemic started. Having just carried the weight of my husband’s illness and now his death, I [was] leading a small organization that is public-facing in a pandemic. So I was done—and frankly, I didn’t have the capacity to even step out of myself enough to think about how I could get out.
I was able to think enough about what was mentally breaking me about my work—which was most of it. The part of my job that didn’t give me anxiety and paralysis was fundraising. The connections to people still made me really happy, and I felt like I could do it. But I knew I had to not be the decider, not be the boss anymore, not bear the responsibility or the care of other people’s happiness or mental wellness. I just knew I had to get myself out of that.
This job just happened across my desk for a major gift position, which is fundraising—not a boss, not the head of the department, not a decider about anything. [It was] an organization that I knew wanted somebody in-person, [but] they were willing to let me [be] hybrid. It was [the] college my son had chosen, so I was able to take a pay cut because of the free tuition that he was offered.
‘My dog does this commute with me’
I do not deal with a lot of traffic [or] congestion, so leaving my town is very simple. Sometimes there’s a little bit of traffic in Columbus, but the second I’m outside of [the city], it’s a combination of country highways [and] two-lane roads. Sometimes I get stuck behind a tractor. I go through Fort Wayne, Indiana, and then there’s another section that’s a whole lot of stop-and-go through a bunch of little towns. But I’ve leaned into the diversity of the drive, which is probably better for me than just getting on an open road and driving the exact same route for five hours. I listen to audiobooks pretty much nonstop in both directions—so I’m well-read these days. My dog does this commute with me, and she actually comes to the office with me.
I keep an apartment in Columbus. And what a gift. I go to that apartment and it requires no maintenance; the trim never needs to be painted in my apartment. So I go there and if I’m not working, then I get to do leisurely things like read a book. There are no demands of me in Columbus. Typically I drive in on a Wednesday. I leave Michigan by 5:30 in the morning and I get to work around 10:30. I work Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then I drive home to Michigan after work on Friday. Sometimes it’s Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Usually I’m in Ohio two or three nights a week, and then I work from home in Michigan two days a week.
‘I was very, very motivated personally’
I did a lot of spreadsheeting and mathing to look at the overall financial investment that I was making. So I knew what I was going to ultimately be investing in making the decision to leave my job. I was in such extreme burnout, and this was a job that I was quite confident that I would love, [so] I was very, very motivated personally to just make it happen.
I work for a not-for-profit, private art college. So all of my expenses with the commute and living partially in Columbus are my own expenses. I’m selling my car, and I have a hybrid that’s coming next month, so that will be a cost-saving. Now that I’ve been in Columbus long enough, I’ve met somebody who has a spare room. They’re willing to rent their room to me—so when my lease is up, I’ll be moving into a room that I’m renting. That person also has a dog, so he’s fine with me bringing my dog to his house part-time. I’m finding ways to streamline my personal investment.
There were some little hiccups like: What is my primary domicile? And how does that impact taxes? Because [my employer] wasn’t really prepared for that. And frankly, I wasn’t prepared for that, either. I think I’m paying taxes in two states right now. But at the end of the day, it’s still worth it for me.
‘I go to Columbus, and I put on my work hat’
My town in Michigan is small enough that there are not many opportunities that would be relevant to my personal interests and professional experience. I couldn’t conceive of taking a job that was different enough that there would be a learning curve. I didn’t have the bandwidth for a learning curve; I couldn’t learn a new trade. And I was barely looking [for jobs]. I don’t even know that I applied for any other jobs in that window of time. I was just kind of aware of possibilities, and this one was right—and it worked.
Our associate vice president of development has just resigned, so I’m actually accepting an interim promotion. I’m committing to be at the college for another year and a half, and we’ll see what happens after that. All along, I have said to them: The lake has been very much connected with whatever grasp of mental health I was able to sustain. So I can’t not be near the lake. And they have very much respected that, even with this interim promotion.
I go to Columbus, and I put on my work hat, and I am the work person for the days I’m there. When I’m there, I can be pretty laser-focused on work-related activities, and I really block up my days pretty full with networking. When I come to Michigan, I’m still working from home—but when I go to the grocery store, I’m just a gal, just another person. I go to the beach, and I’m just a regular person at the beach. I don’t have the burden of carrying my business outside of my home in my community anymore. And that’s an unexpected, huge gift for this dual life I’m living.