This man commutes from Barcelona to London every day -- and saves money doing it
Like most Londoners, Sam Cookney was fed up with apartment prices in the capital. So the 32-year-old social media manager began to look beyond the North Sea for an affordable apartment.
Cookney now gets on a plane each morning in Spain, and is seated his desk in London by 9:30 A.M. He has tweeted and blogged his big move, which has gone viral as he begins his new commute.
Done the sums. Would actually be cheaper for me to rent 2 bed flat in Barcelona+commute to London, than get 1 bed here. Genuinely. Blog it?
— Sam Cookney (@Sam_Cookney) October 24, 2013
In an October 2013 blog post, Cookney posted proof of his number crunching, and evidence that a 713-mile commute was, in fact, worth it.
Cookney is able to fly from Barcelona's El Prat Airport to London Stansted, just north of metropolitan London, for about $37 each way, and in a little less than two hours. However, he told BuzzFeed that the flight prices were the most unpredictable part of his plan, and that they can climb as high as $150, or more.
"It's 6€ to and from Barcelona's el Prat airport (and I can walk to the airport train in 5 minutes from that flat)," he writes. "And then £14 return to Liverpool Street with Terravision [a bus service] (so 23€ in total on transfers each day)."
According to FlightAware, RyanAir flight 9811 was on time during a recent trip and has averaged early landings for a week.
For anyone not convinced, Cookney has kept us updated on his first few days of international commuting, posting pictures of boarding passes and even a selfie on the plane home.
Crazy day. Here's a return flight to Barcelona selfie. (PS I'm still single...) pic.twitter.com/Yk82yTJ2MR
— Sam Cookney (@Sam_Cookney) August 5, 2015
Business Insider has reached out to Cookney, and will update this story as we learn more about how the daily international trekking is affecting his lifestyle.
Do you have a marathon commute? Let us know about it the comments below, or shoot us an email.
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