Hybrid-working intern claims she is saving thousands by flying to New York one day a week for work

Since the pandemic, everyone has become so used to working from home that people often find it a waste of time and energy to even commute to their offices in the same city. So when a TikTok user Sophia Celentano (@sophiacelentano48) shared that she would be traveling to New York one day a week to work from the office, people were utterly perplexed.

The TikTok user begins the video by explaining why she is up at 3 am for a 9 to 5 job. She is seen applying make-up while talking on camera. "I'm actually going to be commuting one day a week this summer. I'm going to be a corporate marketing intern for an advertising agency. The office I'm working for is in New York, New Jersey area. Because I have to be in the office one day a week," Celentano explains.

Celentano states that it is cheaper for her to stay in Charleston as she stays with her parents. "It is cheaper for me to stay in Charleston and just pay for plane tickets than live in New York full-time," she says in the video. The intern clarifies that she was at her boyfriend's place on that specific day and that she would be flying from Richmond to Newark and then taking an Uber to her office. "I have a full day orientation from 9 to 5, then Ubering back to Newark airport and flying back to Charleston," she says, adding that she was flying on a Monday on that one occasion as it was the first day of her internship, but usually, she will have to be in the office on Wednesdays.

According to Celentano, the bigger problem she faces is not commuting but choosing an outfit for her office. "No one prepared me for how hard it is going to be to find business casual clothes that suit my personality and don't make me feel like I'm playing dress-up with my mother's clothes," she says in the video. It concludes with her taking an Uber to the airport and then flying to Newark. She reaches pretty early for her work and decides to wait till 8:35 to enter the office.

The video went viral with about 551.7k views and 48.5k likes. It is captioned, "Super commuting slay." Many in the comments section did not really agree with Celentano's plan to fly to New York once a week. @katebevec commented, "Commuting? Babe, that's a business trip." @rachel_m59 wrote, "Not a single job in the world is worth this." @emelizabethe expressed, "I would cry if I finished my shift and realized I still had to get on a whole plane to get home." @leximagedanz shared, "Babes, there is no way that flying once a week is cheaper than renting a place with roommates outside of the city." @albm.s said, "Babe, I say this with respect that I wouldn't even do this commute for a full-time position. I hope they hire you full-time."

Celentano created another video to respond to the negative comments. "I understand it is a very untraditional thing to do, but it works for me and here is a little bit more on why that is." In the video, she clarifies that the decision to fly in to the office once a week was her own and that her company is not forcing her to do this. She adds that she is very transparent with her managers about the commute.

Celentano also breaks down why it is financially better for her to stay in Charleston than in Parsippany, where her office is situated. She said it would cost her about $4250 if she lived in a rented place there with overall expenses. Meanwhile, it would cost her about $2250 for commuting for her 10 weeks internship if she lived with her parents during this time period.