Commute or Hotel

[jamesf]

Hi All,

I recently secured a Winter Vacation Scheme with a city firm and I am wondering if it is best to commute or stay in a hotel.

The commute would be

1. A 30 minute drive.
2. 30-40 minute train.
3. Then a 15 minute tube to the office.

Is this feasible every day or is it too risky? Does anyone have any experience with commuting for vacation schemes against staying in a hotel.

Thanks in advance.

 

[TCLA Community Assistant]

Hi All,

I recently secured a Winter Vacation Scheme with a city firm and I am wondering if it is best to commute or stay in a hotel.

The commute would be

1. A 30 minute drive.
2. 30-40 minute train.
3. Then a 15 minute tube to the office.

Is this feasible every day or is it too risky? Does anyone have any experience with commuting for vacation schemes against staying in a hotel.

Thanks in advance.

Hotels are going to be pretty expensive, but I can understand the logic of at least exploring it as an option thinking that it may save time.

However, unless you are staying close to the office/very centrally (which will be expensive), you’ll typically find commuting across London can take time anyway. I am in zone 2 and it still takes me 50 minutes to get into the city door to door (and that’s only 5-6 miles). When I travel from my parents, which is similar to what you have suggested it’s only an extra 30 minutes but is over 20 miles in total.

A lot of people do commute and it is reasonable to do so, especially for a short winter scheme. You could potentially connect with other vac scheme students to see if anyone has a spare room in their student house if they live/rent in London (it may be the case their roommates have gone home for the winter break).

 

[James Carrabino]

Hi All,

I recently secured a Winter Vacation Scheme with a city firm and I am wondering if it is best to commute or stay in a hotel.

The commute would be

1. A 30 minute drive.
2. 30-40 minute train.
3. Then a 15 minute tube to the office.

Is this feasible every day or is it too risky? Does anyone have any experience with commuting for vacation schemes against staying in a hotel.

Thanks in advance.

Congratulations on securing your winter scheme, that's a huge achievement! In addition to @Jessica Booker's points, I might personally prefer to commute from home just to avoid the uncertainty of being in a new environment whilst doing the scheme, but ultimately it has to be what you are most comfortable with.

 

[TC fiend]

Hi All,

I recently secured a Winter Vacation Scheme with a city firm and I am wondering if it is best to commute or stay in a hotel.

The commute would be

1. A 30 minute drive.
2. 30-40 minute train.
3. Then a 15 minute tube to the office.

Is this feasible every day or is it too risky? Does anyone have any experience with commuting for vacation schemes against staying in a hotel.

Thanks in advance.

I think it also depends on what time your last train home is. There may be opportunities after work to socialize / network with other vac schemers or people at the firm. Would be a shame to miss out because you have to catch the train home. That said, hotels are expensive. I guess ideally see if you’ve got a friend whose couch you can crash on if things go late!

 

[jamesf]

Hotels are going to be pretty expensive, but I can understand the logic of at least exploring it as an option thinking that it may save time.

However, unless you are staying close to the office/very centrally (which will be expensive), you’ll typically find commuting across London can take time anyway. I am in zone 2 and it still takes me 50 minutes to get into the city door to door (and that’s only 5-6 miles). When I travel from my parents, which is similar to what you have suggested it’s only an extra 30 minutes but is over 20 miles in total.

A lot of people do commute and it is reasonable to do so, especially for a short winter scheme. You could potentially connect with other vac scheme students to see if anyone has a spare room in their student house if they live/rent in London (it may be the case their roommates have gone home for the winter break).

Congratulations on securing your winter scheme, that's a huge achievement! In addition to @Jessica Booker's points, I might personally prefer to commute from home just to avoid the uncertainty of being in a new environment whilst doing the scheme, but ultimately it has to be what you are most comfortable with.

I think it also depends on what time your last train home is. There may be opportunities after work to socialize / network with other vac schemers or people at the firm. Would be a shame to miss out because you have to catch the train home. That said, hotels are expensive. I guess ideally see if you’ve got a friend whose couch you can crash on if things go late!

Thanks guys, I think I shall commute last train out of Euston is at 1:30 so if I wanted to socialize/network there would be plenty of late trains to get.

 

[123Law1234]

Hi All,

I recently secured a Winter Vacation Scheme with a city firm and I am wondering if it is best to commute or stay in a hotel.

The commute would be

1. A 30 minute drive.
2. 30-40 minute train.
3. Then a 15 minute tube to the office.

Is this feasible every day or is it too risky? Does anyone have any experience with commuting for vacation schemes against staying in a hotel.

Thanks in advance.

Congratulations on securing the vacation scheme and good luck!

When I completed in-person vacation schemes I commuted. The main issue I found was that the trains weren't always reliable. I left fairly early to leave time in case of delays and I often arrived home late.

If you are on a winter scheme then it may be more feasible as they are generally for a shorter amount of time. However, if I was going for a in-person vacation scheme again I would almost certainly stay in a hotel.

If you stay in a hotel then you should look at ones which are near a tube line rather than a train as the tube is much more frequent and in my experience a lot more reliable.