'I got sick so many times': After 10 Months of Weekly Flights, IT Engineer quits 'supercommute' for lower-paying local job

Andrew Rendon, a 31-year-old DevOps engineer, endured a grueling 10-month “supercommute,” flying weekly from North Carolina to New Jersey for work. His routine involved waking at 2 a.m., driving 2.5 hours to Raleigh airport, boarding a 1.5- to 2-hour flight, and staying overnight in a hotel before returning. Rendon says the long commute took a serious toll on his health, as reported by CNBC.

Rendon and his wife had previously lived and worked in central New Jersey but relocated to North Carolina within the past year after she secured employment there. His in-laws had also moved south. He says buying a home in New Jersey would have been too expensive. “The same square footage, the same type of house that we get down here would be easily twice the cost in New Jersey,” he says.

Most of Rendon’s co-workers, hired during the pandemic, still work remotely. But since he joined later amid return-to-office mandates, he lacked that option and expected the weekly travel. To save money, he departed by 3 a.m. for Raleigh, choosing cheaper flights despite a closer airport. “I love to drive, so I try to find the best of it,” he says. “I listen to a podcast, so that kind of gets me by.”

Arriving in Newark between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., he took a short train to the office, worked two full in-office days, stayed in a hotel overnight, and flew home in the evenings. “I used to love flying as a kid, so being able to get on a plane every week—that part is really cool,” he says. However, he says he “got sick so many times.” “The lack of sleep takes a toll, it does kind of catch up,” he adds. “The driving adds to some exhaustion in waking up early.” Monthly travel costs began at $1,200 and rose to nearly $2,000.

After 10 months, Rendon joined a new North Carolina–based role requiring five in-office days weekly, eliminating the flights. He calls the outcome “insane” after an extended job search. Although he appreciated his previous role, he had been “dying to find something closer” amid rising expenses and family priorities. “There was just too much competition” in the market, he says.

“The job market has been insanely brutal; even for someone with 10 years of IT experience, it’s really bad,” he says. “Everyone’s looking, between layoffs and AI.” At times, supercommuting felt easier than job hunting. “I had so much burnout that I would rather do that and just not have to worry about constantly doing the whole spiel—doing the resume, the interview prep,” he says. “Employers are expecting a lot more out of you now than they did 3 years ago for the same job. The ball is in their court.”

A recruiter eventually reached out with an offer, which he accepted despite a $40,000 pay cut. “I wouldn’t second-guess this if I had to do this again tomorrow; I love where we’re living now compared to New Jersey,” Rendon says. His commute is now just 15 minutes by car. “I get to come home to my wife every single day,” he adds. “I will miss the travel, but for now I can live my life again.”