All the posts have been very helpful thank you. We were looking at property closer to Honiton to use SWT^▸ (South West Trains) into WAT as it is closer to my office but haven't found anything we really like. I agree with the comments on some of the customers - I have encountered a few when boarding the service at Basingstoke. I smile sweetly and think "bless". NAT into PAD^» (Paddington (London) - next trains) looks do able with all the usual caveats applied and a degree of common sense applied to my diary - but I have to do that with my current commute as not giving myself 30 to 45 mins of slack to get to an appointment leads to being late for meetings today. Are doing a second viewing on a property that was 10 mins from NAT station on a Saturday with racing going on so am sure that at "0 -dark thirty" it will be an easy trip. So we shall see.........

Thanks all - this is a helpful discussion.

Am looking at some rural properties within 10 mins of Newton Abbot station so can be in Paddington in 2hrs 40 mins and the tube would be about 25mins. So door to door could be 3hrs (compared to about 2.5hrs currently). The key thing is productivity - currently I get home about 6pm or 7pm but then have to put my laptop back on and work for another 2 or 3 hours after supper because I can't work on the commute home. To/From NTA^» (Newton Abbott - next trains) or EXD^» (Exeter St Davids - next trains) I could work both ways so get home and be done for the day.

Looking at cost - yes it is an issue but I'm in a role that is home based and spend my time travelling to customer sites so my employer pays. While a season ticket, either monthly or weekly, depending on my diary, would give me more flexibility of trains, buying advance tickets would greatly reduce the cost and only increase my admin for expenses slightly while being responsible towards the company's costs. My current expenses are ^1000ish a month so if I'm careful my employer shouldn't see much of an increase.

It all feels very do able - unless I'm something obvious......

Hi All - first post on here so apologies in advance for any etiquette gafs or if I have posted this in the wrong forum.

Does anybody travel up to London daily from the South West or am I barking to be considering it? Currently live in the Thames Valley and we are considering a move to the South West to be nearer ageing parents and for a life style change. My current commute into the City takes just over 2 hours door to door (car, train, tube and walking) and it looks like I'd be no worse off living in and around Newton Abbot or Exeter as FGW^▸ (First Great Western) to Paddington is just over 2hrs. Also the time on the train would be more productive as I could work for pretty much the whole journey. Would only need to do it Tuesday - Thursday as Monday and Friday I typically work from home.

Just trying to work out logistics and feasibility before we commit so would appreciate knowing whether anybody does the same sort of journey. Thanks in advance!