I have a 1.5hr commute each morning and night which adds a lot onto my day but I also living in a quiet village and work in central London. Being able to take refuge in the village on evenings and weekends makes the noise in London bearable.
There is also the additional side effect that I have a reasonably large house for the same price that I would have paid for a small room in London.
Travel does cost me a lot but it’s more than made up for with the size of property in a desirable neighbourhood.
There’s no right or wrong answer here though. Some people might prefer a shorter commute and I can’t blame them for that. For me, I’d rather have a longer commute but live in a larger house in nicer neighbourhood; somewhere quiet to bring my family up.
The added bonus is most IT jobs these days offer remote working so I don’t have to travel into London five days a week if I didn’t want to. Though sometimes the commute itself can be enjoyable because it’s a good chance to catch up on reading or personal programming projects (etc) since it’s 90 minutes of uninterrupted time away from the family.
There is also the additional side effect that I have a reasonably large house for the same price that I would have paid for a small room in London.