For most people, the morning commute involves a car or train, but for Google Hong (Jason) Wi, software engineer, involved in boarding passes. Wi lives in Seattle and works at Google’s Mountain View headquarters, where she lives the life of a “supercommuter,” flying back and forth nearly every week. Wi balanced two rentals and a heavy travel schedule while developing Google Flow, an artificial intelligence image and video generation product, for about $3,000 (approximately $280,000 per month to ensure that he can enjoy the best life in Washington and California.
Wi, originally from South KoreaMoved to the United States when he was 16 years old. He says that since moving to the United States, his life has been about “choosing growth over comfort.”
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Wi told HT.com, “I’m a software engineer at Google Flow, an AI image/video generation product similar to ChatGPT Sora (which has been shut down, haha). Besides that, I have my own side project (a newsletter I work on in my free time$, which has about 500 subscribers).”
Explaining his travel schedule, Wi shared, “My travel schedule is usually Monday/Tuesday – Thursday/Friday. So, Monday/Tuesday, I take a flight from Seattle to San Jose, and Thursday/Friday, I take a flight back to Seattle. I do this ‘almost’ every week unless I’m sick, need to take care of something important in Seattle, or on vacation.”
Wi told HT.com, “The average monthly salary is 3k, including rent, air tickets, Uber and other expenses.”
Recalling the beginning of his journey, Wi said: “I joined Google in 2022 and spent three and a half years with a stable, comfortable, and great team. My partner worked in Amazon’s Seattle office and we were already settled and everything made sense on paper.”
At one point, he considered leaving Google to start his own company. However, that changed when he discovered Google Flow. He gave up on the idea of leaving Google and found inspiration in using this new technology.
While everything looks great on paper, there’s a problem—Flow is located in the Bay Area. Wi shared, “The obvious answer is we’re all moving to the Bay, but she’s making a killing on her team in Seattle. In this environment, moving a team at Amazon is the last thing you want to do, especially with layoffs.”
“I needed a way to simultaneously pursue my own growth, support her career, and preserve our relationship. So I made a decision that didn’t make sense on paper: I’d fly from Seattle to the Bay every week. Two houses. Two states. California taxes mattered most. The financial sacrifice was real, but the value I got out of it far exceeded the cost of it.”
“I also have accommodation (one bedroom) close to my office. I have two rentals in two states and need to fly back and forth,” Wi said.
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