I spent 7 years working 2.5 hours away from home, spending half of every week at work or in an apartment near work. I went to lunch quite often with coworkers, or we would go for a few drinks after work. I didn&#x27;t realize it, but my circle of friends were all in Virginia, while my family was in PA (including my fiancee, now wife, and later my son when he was born).<p>Two years ago, I took a job that let me work from home. And it&#x27;s pretty awesome. I have my office in a detached building from the house, all my colleagues are also remote, so I don&#x27;t have that disconnect where everyone else is planning things in person and I&#x27;m catching up later. I get to spend more time with my family.<p>The downside is that I&#x27;ve been realizing that I don&#x27;t have much in the way of friends locally. None of my coworker friends, past or present live near me. I have some friends in my radio club, but most of them are over twice my age and retired. I don&#x27;t know how to make new friends. The way I made friends when I was younger was through people I worked with, people at college, and then people they knew. I don&#x27;t think I ever hung out at a bar and made a friend that way, I don&#x27;t think that would work today.<p>My situation may be atypical, but I could imagine others in such situations. Lots of people commute to work and would jump at an opportunity to work remotely. Some people will move &quot;out of the city&quot; when they get a remote job.