Work from Office is so much easier as a leader, I certainly understand some of the pull for that... My current team is 12 nationalities based in 7 different countries across 6 time zones. It's more like "'work from anywhere" or "work from everywhere" than work from home. It doesn't matter where people are... as long as they spend enough time with customers and at our offices to make the connections required for their functions, the rest of the time they are "anywhere". One guy who has a WFH contract actually rents office space because he cannot work with home distractions.
As a leader in such case, 8-10 hours a day are spent just connecting with people by phone and in meetings to provide the support that would be just a casual conversation if in the office. The money the company saves by having people "anywhere" and just traveling, vs. relocating them (and families) and providing an office, however, is substantial.
As for the commute: Drive 3.5 hours to ORD, fly somewhere for 10-20 hours, work, return.
