A journalist who commutes from Ohio to NYC every week after being told to return to the office says he's not sure how long he can keep it up

• Wall Street Journal reporter Chip Cutter is a supercommuter.
• He flies from Columbus to NYC once a week to spend three days in the office.
• He blew his budget and burned through air miles, but says it's worth it for the cheap rent and time with family in Ohio.

A Wall Street Journal reporter says his weekly commute from Ohio to NYC drains him but that it's worth it because of the cheaper rent and extra time with his family in the Buckeye State.

Chip Cutter wrote in The Journal that he flies from Columbus to JFK Airport once a week, staying in hotels and leaving spare clothes in the office. He's been commuting like this for more than a year.

"What began as a postpandemic experiment of flying to and from New York each week has turned into what I am hesitant to call a lifestyle," he wrote.

Cutter moved back to Ohio, his home state, during the pandemic. When The Journal asked him to return to its Manhattan office three days a week, he was "underwhelmed" by the properties he could afford in NYC, he wrote.

So he latched onto the idea of becoming a so-called supercommuter.

"Using back-of-the-envelope math, I thought I could keep my expenses—rent in Ohio, plus travel costs—at or below the price of a nice New York studio, or roughly $3,200 a month," Cutter wrote. "The challenge felt oddly thrilling."

On Mondays Cutter wakes up at 4:15 a.m. to catch a 6 a.m. flight, and if there are no disruptions he can make it door-to-door in three hours.

When he first started commuting between states, Cutter burned through his hotel-loyalty points by staying in luxury hotels. He also "repeatedly" had to rebook flights and stump up for an extra night in a hotel to meet work deadlines, he wrote.

So instead, he started looking for cheaper accommodation.

"Sometimes I sleep in a different New York City hotel room every night," he wrote in the Journal article. "When hotel prices are high, I property-surf to find a lower rate."

He wrote that hotel room prices fluctuate even on the check-in day, "so instead of booking in advance, I'd wait to pull the trigger until 10 p.m. some days after the rates fell." Sometimes, he stays at friends' apartments, too.

Despite this, he still ran low on air miles, and blew his budget by 15%, he wrote.

"Working in a city without a permanent home took a toll," he wrote. "I came to dread the go-to question asked at parties and work events in New York: 'So where do you live?'"

Staying in hotel rooms without kitchen facilities means that he has to rely on easy late-night dinners he can buy from a 24-hour store, like yogurt and fruit, Cutter wrote. And so that he can pack light, he keeps shoes under his desk in the office and spare outfits on a coat rack.

But despite this, his commute means he can spend more time with family and avoid paying New York rent. "It has been worth it," Cutter told Fox Business in an interview.

"I still enjoy having one foot in the Midwest and one on the East Coast, though I'm not sure how long I can keep it up," he wrote in the Journal article.

Have you tried supercommuting? Contact this reporter at gdean@insider.com.