‘A new breed of commuter’: This North Carolina woman ‘super commutes’ 500 miles to work every other week to save $2K/month — what’s driving this emerging trend

North Carolina woman ‘super commutes’ 500 miles

Oh, the extremes folks will go to keep the Big Apple from taking a big bite out of their bank accounts.

Take hairstylist Kaitlin Jorgenson of Brooklyn. Well, once of Brooklyn.

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Yes, Jorgenson still working her same job at the Scott J. Aveda Hair Salon in the Upper West Side. But now she commutes in from North Carolina and she brings her social media followers along on her days.

For 12 months now, Jorgensen has made the 544-mile round trip from Charlotte to her NYC job, commuting by plane to and from LaGuardia airport every other week. As super commutes go for someone who isn’t a corporate executive, it may qualify for one of the longest in the U.S.

“I feel like I’m the happiest I’ve ever been,” Jorgensen told CNBC’s Make It. Yes, but we wouldn’t blame you if you questioned the practicality of it all, let alone the sanity. Regardless, it’s one fascinating case to examine for breaking down the pros and cons.

Pros of a super commute, close up

While the geographic expanse of a Charlotte-to-New York flight could easily overwhelm Joe or Jane Commuter, the truth is that, under certain circumstances, it can actually save time.

For example: Any Chicago denizen will tell you that driving from the city’s northern to southern border via the main thoroughfare of Western Avenue can easily take two hours. But flying from O’Hare airport to LaGuardia? Nonstop, it’s 2 hours, 10 minutes.

In Jorgensen’s case, runaway expenses were also a major consideration. The cost-benefit analysis isn’t hard to grasp: flights, Ubers, parking her car at the Charlotte airport and crash privileges at a friend’s NYC apartment run about $1,000 a month. Add another $1,000 to rent in Charlotte, and as Jorgensen shared with one of her followers, she’s still paying half the $4,000 she paid to live in Brooklyn. (And racking up the frequent flyer miles, too.)

Like many who relocated during the pandemic, Jorgensen enjoys living in a bucolic locale far from big-city headaches. And trends in cities such as San Francisco may correlate to the rise of aerial super commutes, as in 2022 100 people moved out for every 63 people who moved in, according to analysis by Move Buddha.

Commuting cons over the long haul

But it doesn’t mean by a longshot that super commuting is a no-brainer. If you miss a bus or train in New York City, another one comes in five or 10 minutes. Miss a flight, though — or have it cancel on you — and you’ve gone from super commute to super calamity. A train from Charlotte to New York’s Moynahan Station typically takes 12 or 13 hours.

You’ll also need a boss of the most understanding order to agree to a super commuting arrangement. Calling in late from an airport terminal halfway across the country isn’t exactly good form and filling in last minute for your sick co-worker approaches a near impossibility.

The super commute also takes on a different tenor if you make the haul by car. Gas, tolls, and wear and tear on the car add up. And depending on your route, the aggravations of fighting traffic, dealing with construction backups, or waiting out accidents could increase — a physically and mentally draining proposition. A pre-pandemic study contended that sedentary commuting was a chronic activity “with the potential for stress and a time use that can compete with other health-promoting activities.”

This is also not a tactic for workers in a small town who suspect that their big-city business is in trouble. One study concludes that if the business falters, workers in larger markets are unemployed for much shorter stints and lose less income than those in smaller markets.

The ‘hybrid’ super commute?

As a stylist, Jorgensen can’t phone it in from home. But as many people found out during the pandemic, working hundreds of miles away from HQ is a feasible option that allows people to relocate without racking up commuter miles.

Thus another possibility arises for those who can pull it off: hybrid super commuting. Assuming you’re called back into the office from a long distance — as many companies are demanding these days — it’s not out of the question to work out an arrangement that still allows you to work from home part of the week.

Or you may choose to do it that way, as increasing numbers have done; the Wall Street Journal calls these hybrid travel warriors “a new breed of commuter.” And who knows? Should Jorgensen take on a haircut side hustle in Charlotte, or her boss open a satellite salon there, she could work at home (or very close to it) several days a week, too.

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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.