Professor who super-commutes from LI to Boston explains why it’s less stressful than going into NYC daily
She’s trained for this commute.
A professor who has super-commuted from Long Island to Boston for the past 10 years says she prefers the lengthy roundtrip Amtrak ride each week over the daily grind of going into New York City.
Suffolk County resident Leora Lanz, who teaches at Boston University where she’s also an assistant dean, insisted her 10 hours on an Amtrak train between the Big Apple and Beantown has been rewarding — as she broke down for The Post how she and her family have pulled off the feat since January 2015.
The married mother of three said when she’s shipping up to Boston, she gets on a Long Island Rail Road train on a Monday morning that gets her into Penn Station in an hour and then she boards an Amtrak Acela for the roughly four-hour ride.
By Thursday or Friday, she’s on another Amtrak back home. The cost for a roundtrip ticket is usually between $150 and $200 because she books several months in advance.
When Lanz used to go into the Big Apple every day for work in the hospitality field, between LIRR rides and bustling subways, it ate up a similar amount of commuting time over five days.
But the trips to the New England city have actually improved her quality of life.
“It’s funny because a lot of folks would be like, ‘Wait did you just say you work in Boston? That’s crazy,’” she said. “And I would say no, I think it’s nuts to go back and forth to Manhattan every day because I’ve done that for 10 years, too.”
Lanz said she’s more productive on the train to Boston, whether it’s grading papers, returning emails or preparing for classes at BU’s School of Hospitality Administration. She also treasures the downtime aboard Amtrak by watching movies, reading books and taking in the serenity of the Connecticut coastline.
Her one complaint: she wishes there was better Wi-Fi on the trains.
When she was first offered the job, her three children were 17, 15 and 10. It was supposed to only be for a semester, but the family impressively figured out how to make it work for a much longer time.
She and her husband would get a week’s worth of school lunches and snacks ready on Sunday before she left for Boston the next day.
She acknowledged her kids also had to become more self-sufficient and credits other family and friends for helping her achieve a job she loves.
Technology, including Skype, Zoom and FaceTime depending on the year, also helped keep the family connected.
“I love having my profession, something that’s mine, and by the time I come home at the end of the week, we’re really happy to see each other so it’s kind of nice,” she said, noting it’s easier with her three kids grown and on their own.
Before COVID-19, while Lanz still took the train to Boston, she flew home into JFK International Airport.
Lanz used to rent Airbnbs when she first started, but now has a friend in the hospitality field who helps her with housing.
Lanz is on sabbatical this semester, but is gearing up for fall in a position that gives her purpose even if the costs of traveling and stays can add up.
She was inspired to take the Boston University job because an old professor from Cornell University, where she went to college, had a lasting impact on her and was also a “super-commuter.” He would zip between Florida and upstate New York.
“If he did Orlando to Ithaca, I can easily do Long Island to Boston,” she quipped.
