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The rise of 'conspicuous waiting': The 19th-century economic theory that explains why Gen Z posts their place in line

2

Tim Cook signed off on his final Apple earnings call with a warning about a ‘100-year flood’ in memory chip pricing

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He worked 100-hour weeks to save a nearly bankrupt boat company. At 83, he’s just turned down $400 million for it—and gave it all to charity instead
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This millennial nurse commutes 5,000 miles from Sweden to work at a California hospital. She works eight days in a row and rakes in over $100 an hour

Preston Fore
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Preston Fore
Preston Fore
Success Reporter
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Preston Fore
By
Preston Fore
Preston Fore
Success Reporter
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September 26, 2025, 11:13 AM ET
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Supercommuting isn’t just for ambitious interns or Fortune 500 CEOs, one millennial nurse flies across the world—and she says it actually boosts her work-life balance. Catherine Falls Commercial—Getty Images
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From interns to CEOs, supercommuting has long been a way to make work fit life. But one millennial nurse is pushing the trend to the extreme.

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Courtney El Refai may call Sweden home, but every six weeks the 32-year-old commutes some 5,300 miles away to work at a San Francisco hospital as a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurse.

While some may call it crazy, El Refai said it’s all worth it for her dream job. Making over $100 an hour on a per diem schedule, she only has to work four, eight-hour shifts every four weeks. By stacking those shifts—working at the end of one schedule and the beginning of the next—she can knock out her hours in just a few days, spending about 10 days in California before heading home.

“The commute is absolutely outrageous, but imagine having six weeks off after working 10 days on a repeated pattern,” she said in a TikTok video that’s racked up over 500,000 views.

Because the cost of living is lower in Sweden than the Bay Area, she said her paychecks cover her bills—plus the $450 roundtrip plane ride to and from work, she told Business Insider. Moreover, since her husband and daughter made the move to Europe in December, she says she’s been enjoying an enhanced work-life balance.

“It basically feels like I am a stay-at-home mom, but I’m still a working mom…” El Refai said. “That is something no 9-to-5 job will ever give me.”

RTO and ‘job-hugging’ may fuel a rise in supercommuting 

Supercommuters—typically described as people who travel more than 90 minutes for work—aren’t new. But as workers weigh stability, family, and cost of living against the daily grind, the phenomenon is only growing.

During the pandemic, many people moved to cheaper, more spacious areas. However, with return-to-office mandates in full swing, some are unwilling—or unable to uproot their families again. Instead, they’ve accepted long commutes by train, plane, or car. Research from British train travel company Trainline found that the number of people in the U.K. spending more than three hours commuting doubled since before the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a tighter job market has made workers more cautious about quitting—what some call “job hugging.” That reluctance to change roles can also keep people tethered to a faraway office, even if it means grueling travel.

For El Refai, the trade-off is worth it. And judging by the traction her videos are getting, she doesn’t believe she’s alone: “I think that there are a lot more people doing it than the average person realizes.”

Fortune reached out to El Refai for further comment.

Are you a supercommuter? Fortune wants to hear from you. Send your story to preston.fore@fortune.com.

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.
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Preston Fore
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Preston Fore is a reporter on Fortune's Success team.

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