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'Super-commuter' Google techie spends ₹2.8 lakh/month flying from Seattle to California every week
Google engineer Hong Wi tells HT.com he spends ₹2.8L monthly to "super-commute" by flight between Seattle and California to balance career and love.
For most, the morning commute involves a car or a train, but for Google software engineer Hong (Jason) Wi, it involves a boarding pass. Living in Seattle while working at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, Wi has embraced the life of a "supercommuter," flying back and forth almost every single week. Working on Google Flow, an AI image and video generation product, Wi balances two rents and a gruelling travel schedule, spending approximately $3,000 (approximately ₹2.8 lakh) a month to ensure he can enjoy the best of both Washington and California.
Wi, who originally hails from South Korea, moved to the US when he was just 16. He said that since his relocation, his life has been about “choosing growth over comfort”.
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What does he do?
Wi told HT.com, “I am a software engineer at Google Flow, which is an AI image/video generation product like ChatGPT Sora (that got shut down lol). Apart from that, I have my own side project (newsletter$ that I am working on in my free time, which has roughly around 500 subscribers.”
What is his schedule?
Explaining his travel schedule Wi shared, “My travel schedule is usually Mon/Tue - Thur/Fri. So, Mon/Tue, I take a flight from Seattle to San Jose, and Thur/Fri, I take the flight back to Seattle. I do this ‘almost’ every week, unless I am sick, need to run some critical errands in Seattle, or vacation.”
How much does he spend?
Wi told HT.com, “On average $3k a month, including everything such as rent, flight, Uber, etc.”
Why does he fly every week?
Recalling the beginning of his journey, Wi said, “I joined Google in 2022 and spent three and a half years on a team that was stable, comfortable, and fine. My partner is working at Amazon's Seattle office, we were settled in, and everything made sense on paper.”
At one point, he considered leaving Google to start his own company. However, things changed when he found Google Flow. He gave up on the idea of leaving Google and found inspiration in working with this new tech.
Though everything looked good on paper, there was one problem - Flow was in the Bay Area. Wi shared, “The obvious answer is we both move to the Bay, but she's killing it on her team in Seattle. And moving teams at Amazon in this climate is the last thing you want to do, especially with all the layoffs.”
“I needed a way to chase my own growth, support her career, and keep our relationship together, all at once. So I made a decision that doesn't make sense on paper: I fly from Seattle to the Bay every week. Two homes. Two states. California taxes on top of it all. The financial sacrifice is real, but what I'm getting out of this is worth far more than what it costs.”
Wi said, “I also have accomodation (1 bedroom) near the office. I have two rentals in both states and fly back and forth.”
