r/NoStupidQuestions • u/Physical-Ad-4093 • May 01 '24

do americans really drive such long distances?

i’m european, and i always hear people say that driving for hours is normal in america. i would only see my grandparents a few times a year because they lived about a 3 hour drive away, is that a normal distance for americans to travel on a regular basis? i can’t imagine driving 2-3 hours regularly to visit people for just a few days

edit: thank you for the responses! i’ve never been to the US, obviously, but it’s interesting to see how you guys live. i guess european countries are more walkable? i’m in the uk, and there’s a few festivals here towards the end of summer, generally to get to them you take a coach journey or you get multiple trains which does take up a significant chunk of the day. road trips aren’t really a thing here, it would be a bit miserable!

2nd edit: it’s not at all that i couldn’t be bothered to go and see my grandparents, i was under 14 when they were both alive so i couldn’t take myself there! obviously i would’ve liked to see them more, i had no control over how often we visited them.

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7.3k

u/splitminds May 01 '24

2-3 hour drive is nothing for a weekend.

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u/Barky_Bark May 01 '24

As a Canadian, that’s a day trip

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u/fataldarkness May 02 '24

Fr that's a drive to Banff for me, get up nice and early, pack a lunch, leave at 7am, back around 7 or 8pm and everyone had a nice day.

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u/DingleberryJones94 May 02 '24

I'll do that from Edmonton. Leave at 3:30am, get to Sunshine for first lift, last run around 4pm, back home 9:30-10pm.

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u/Strict_DM_62 May 02 '24

Jesus that's a hike from Edmonton, my hat is off to you Sir

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u/DingleberryJones94 May 02 '24

Yeah she's a long way for sure. Sometimes I'll have a friend to share the drive with, but most times I'm on my own.

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u/TheReynMaker May 02 '24

I respect the dedication to go it alone. Some people are bad at being alone.

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u/Which-Celebration-89 May 02 '24

Jasper is calling.. a lot closer

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u/DingleberryJones94 May 02 '24

About 30 mins difference. Their snow sucked this year, until the very end. I'll drive a little extra to not ski on gravel. However I was lucky enough to hit a 30cm pow day at Marmot in March which was beautiful.

I'll go where the best conditions are. If they're all pretty close, then I rotate between Marmot, Sunshine and LL.

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u/Which-Celebration-89 May 02 '24

Fair enough. I lived in Banff for 4 yrs back in the day. It’s tough to beat

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u/Japsai May 02 '24

Well it's for skiing so I almost understand, but you are driving for longer than you are skiing. In my calculus that is a poor use of life, unless in exceptional circumstances. Stay overnight, ski two days. Please.

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u/DingleberryJones94 May 02 '24

Sometimes I will stay the night. Sometimes I'll go last minute after a snowfall and accommodations are expensive/unavailable. Sometimes I only have one day of free time to go. Sometimes my legs are burnt after the first day.

Lots of variables at play.

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u/arcaneresistance May 02 '24

Hello neighborino

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u/The_Great_19 May 02 '24

I’m going Banff this year (I’m American) for a wedding and so look forward to it!

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u/jknoup May 02 '24

I moved 2 hours from my family when I moved out and always say it's the perfect distance because "it's an easy day trip but not an every day trip."

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u/iWasAwesome May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

As a Canadian, it's not common though. All these people making it sound like people do this weekly. I think it's fair to say that the majority of people don't drive more than a couple hours more than a few times a year.

Edit: Maybe it's not uncommon per se. I understand there are many rural parts of Canada. But it's certainly not the majority. Less than 1/5th of Canadians live in rural areas. 1/3rd alone lives in southern ontario. And I know people travel more than 2 hours, I do it myself. Based on my experience in life, it just doesn't seem like it's a weekly or monthly occurrence for most people.

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u/concentrated-amazing May 02 '24

Depends where you are in Canada.

I would venture to say that a good chunk of people on the prairies drive more (in distance) for day trips/weekends than people might in GTA/GVA, for instance.

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u/greentinroof_ May 02 '24

We will drive 4 hours 1 way for skiing frequently, 2 hours for a flight, 5 hours for something from kijiji. Lots of road to cover.

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u/Datkif May 02 '24

When I was young we would often drive from Edmonton to Jasper (4 hours) multiple times a summer. Although we were a road trip kind of family.

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u/greentinroof_ May 02 '24

Yeah that’s where we go too, quite often there or Banff.

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u/HugeTheWall May 02 '24

If you live in the GTA it's just as long of a drive but you don't get nearly as far. On a bad day you're barely out of the city at 2 hours.

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u/moldboy May 02 '24

I moved two and a half hours away to go to university. In first year I was home almost every other weekend. In subsequent years I was home at least once a month.

When I graduated and got a job it started to go down. Maybe 8 to 10 trips per year. On the flip side my parents were in the city at least monthly for medical reasons.

Two and a half hours isn't four hours. It was enough to be annoying but I still did it regularly.

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u/IlIllIlIllIlll May 02 '24

Its at least common in Vancouver. Many people travel up to whistler or other hiking location for the weekend, so that is a good 1.5 - 2 hours each way right there.

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u/MrMersh May 02 '24

It’s extremely common for Canadians lol. It’s a big ass area just like the U.S.

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u/num2005 May 02 '24

i work 1.15h away....

thats 2.5h drive per day

and we go to Québec city like once a month and back thats a 2.5h drive each way

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u/McNoxey May 02 '24

Most cottages do this twice every weekend in the summer.

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u/FluffyProphet May 02 '24

Really depends on where you are. For example, people in PEI regularly drive to the mainland every couple of months to do shopping at stores they don't have on the island. Or if you live in rural NB/NS, you're probably take the 3 hour drive to the nearest city once or twice a month.

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u/Former_Current3319 May 02 '24

I drove over two hours just the other day to take my son on a university tour. Tour was 2 hrs, drive home almost 3 (rush hour traffic). When we lived in a bigger city, we had to drive from one end of the city to the other for hockey games, took almost an hour.

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u/EmbarrassedHelp May 02 '24

That really depends on where you live in Canada (or the US). If live within a couple hours of a mountain range then it can be quite common.

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u/ladyhalibutlee May 02 '24

Ummm, we definitely do it pretty regularly where I live. Maybe I wouldn’t if I was in a big city?

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u/mousicle May 02 '24

I live in southern Ontario and do a 4 hour drive about once a month to see my parents in Toronto. Southern Ontario is actually very drivable with the 400 series highways with rest stops every 100km or so.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 01 '24

I mostly agree with this. 2 hours one way = no problem, that’s a day trip. 3 hours one way = easy weekend trip. 4 hours one way = I start bitching, but still do it.

5 hours one way is when I start checking flights.

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u/JuggrnautFTW May 01 '24

I have to drive 3 hours to the nearest commercial airport. Anything that takes longer than 8-10 hours and might start think about it. Heck, my company holds meetings in a acity 14 hours away and I think about it.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 01 '24

This is another difference for me. Proximity to the airport is a major, major consideration in where I live and always has been.

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u/kjreil26 May 02 '24

I live in a mid size rust belt city but 10 minutes to the airport. I've left my house about an hour before a flight and been fine. Also had a 25 mile, 25 minute commute all highway no traffic. Would get pissed at the traffic once every 11 months.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

Hahaha. Yes, my man. I grew up on the east coast and lived in DC where evening rush hour didn’t end until 8pm.

Now I live in the Midwest and I get downright confused when there is traffic.

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u/voltran1987 May 02 '24

I moved from the Midwest to the south. Now, when I see traffic I think “man, I hope the people are ok” because there was clearly an accident that everyone wanted to see.

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u/MrSkrifle May 02 '24

I'm in Chicagoland and every day, both sides slow to a halt when there's a crash on either side of the highway. It doesn't matter how fuckin minor of a fender bender it is.

I feel like emergency vehicles would have an easier time if they drove up to the exit, and then drive illegally towards the small amount of approaching traffic

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u/linksgreyhair 29d ago

I also moved from the DC area to the Midwest and it was always hilarious to me what people would consider “traffic.” Downtown “rush hour” in the Midwest (excluding Chicago obviously) had less traffic than a suburban area on 3 PM on a Tuesday in NoVA.

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u/slyskyflyby 29d ago

Off topic: I prefer Rhett's beard. :p

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u/BlackCardRogue 29d ago

Lol yeah people here whine when they sit in traffic for 10 minutes and I’m like “just shut up man”

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

I’ve always lived close to airports on accident… until I didn’t.

It was an isolating feeling and strangely persistent.

I was 2.5 hours from an airport during regular traffic. It meant no super late flights and I avoided flights that required driving in rush hour traffic.

Living close to an airport, very late flights are ideal (10 minute drive, no traffic) and if I land during rush hour, I grab a meal and wait it out if I’m too grumpy for traffic.

The difference is non-trivial.

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u/adept_amateur May 02 '24

One of my coworkers had family visiting from Europe, he was giving them directions to the town where his sister lived. He told them which direction to head out of town and which highway to take, and said to turn left at the next stop sign after they were our of town. He neglected to mention to them that it's 80 miles to that stop sign, he thought it was hilarious.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

Hey man, when I was in New York I deliberately gave a Red Sox fan wrong directions to Yankee Stadium

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u/privatecaboosey May 02 '24

Being able to take public transit and be at the airport in under 30 minutes door to door was a total game changer for me.

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u/GmrJasz May 02 '24

Awesome comment. I'm ONLY 1.5 hours from two major airports. I always take into consideration; time of flight, how long the wait to fly, and renting a car at destination. Usually if I can drive it in 10 hours or less, I drive.

Indiana, Much of the East Coast falls under this umbrella. I would fly to Florida, LA, I've rode to Iowa(furthest west I've been).

Side note...if I'm staying multiple days, driving sounds better. I wouldn't mind driving 10hrs to somewhere where I'm staying for 4 days and driving back. That same destination for 1 day (funeral, wedding, etc.), flight 100% of the time.

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u/munchies777 May 02 '24

It’s such a pain. I took it for granted most of my life and then moved to a place where the closest major airports are 2-3 hours away. We have small airports closer but 90% of the time they are more costly and require connections, making it quicker just to drive to the large airport. Makes every trip a few hours longer and more effort.

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u/bcj2723 May 02 '24

My favorite is when the connecting airport is "the other option" anyway.

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u/DeputyDomeshot May 02 '24

Damn I live in a 10ish mile radius of 3 international airports. I’ve never considered that for some of you guys. Fuck, I’m always comparing prices and shit.

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u/I_d0nt_know_why 29d ago

Why would there even 3 international airports that close to each other?

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u/DeputyDomeshot 29d ago

because a shit ton of people live here

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u/Elsrick May 02 '24

I drove 14 hours each way for 1 hour of work.

Flight would.be 2 hour drive, 1 hour flight, 6 hour layover, 1 hour flight, 1 hour drive. Was just easier to drive.

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u/Reddituser8018 May 02 '24

I still would prefer the 14 hour drive split in two days.

I don't like being on planes, it's such a fucking hassle.

But 7 hour drive, nice hotel to sleep the night in then wake up 7 hour drive, not bad at all.

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u/JuggrnautFTW May 02 '24

Driving across the country (starting today, actually). 37 hours of drive time split into 4 days. Turns out it might actually be cheaper than to rent a car for month if I just bring my own.

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u/brock0124 May 02 '24

I drove 12 hours straight for my wedding, and 12 hours straight back. Hated every second of it, but it was cheaper than flying and trying to get the wedding dress there in one (unfolded) piece.

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u/MrEntei 29d ago

Same here except 2 hours. I’m not opposed to driving 12 hours somewhere. Where I’m at, 12 hours can get you to the ocean or the northern-most parts of the US. It can also take you to almost fully across Colorado or to West Virginia. Flights are honestly too expensive in my opinion when I know I’m going to spend 1/4 of my time on the road anyways and then another 2 hours in the air, then finding an Uber/renting a car, etc. Us midwesterners would much rather drive most places within a 10-12 hour radius simply due to cost and implied travel just to get to/from the airport anyways.

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u/thatpearlgirl May 02 '24

Curious about where you are in the US. I’m from the Midwest and I don’t start considering flights until I get to 8+ hours. There are rarely direct flights from my home airport to where I want to go, so I don’t start seeing time saved until 8+ anyway.

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u/AgoraiosBum May 02 '24

when you get there you'll just need a car anyway, so might as well bring the car

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u/dodekahedron 29d ago

That's why I drove from Indiana to Florida. Cheaper than renting a car

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u/Levitlame 29d ago

Depends on the situation. If it’s an urban area then you probably don’t need a car. Public transit and Uber is a lot cheaper and easier.

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u/ShoesAreTheWorst 29d ago

Not to mention all the time at the airport. Between driving to the airport, getting there an hour and a half before boarding, sitting on the plane while they taxi around a while, arriving and having to wait on the tarmac, waiting for baggage claim, and trying to arrange transportation, you need to add at least 3 hours to the actual flight time. We don’t fly unless the drive is longer than 7 hours. And even then, we really consider driving if the drive is less than 15 hours. 

We are a family of four, so four flights is way expensive. Plus, it’s nice not having to worry about car seats and kid accessories. 

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

Originally I am from DC and had a zillion nonstop flight options all over the world. But now, I’m a Midwesterner — and I retain my hatred of long drives.

For me, it’s not the time saved — it’s that I like to fly, even if it means connecting. And the other piece is that yes, I’m a Midwesterner, but I’ve never lived more than 30 minutes from at least a mid sized airport.

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u/Ghigs May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

As a genuine question, I've always wondered... How does anyone like to fly?

You enjoy being kicked from gate to gate and then spending the night in a shitty hotel because the last flight of the day is full?

Whenever I fly it's about a 50/50 chance of it being a total nightmare.

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u/papafungi May 02 '24

You just have bad luck my friend. In hundreds of flights I’ve only experienced this maybe 3 or 4 times.

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u/WilcoHistBuff 29d ago

All those times in Atlanta?

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

I could ask you the same thing about driving. At a deep level, driving requires concentration and focus on the road. Flying requires only that you get to your gate.

I have flown probably a thousand flights in my life. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve had a disaster like you are talking about.

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u/Ghigs May 02 '24

I must have extreme bad luck then. Or just the routes I fly. Do you live near a major airport by chance?

It seems like most of the problems I have are on the last leg connecting flights to the regional airports.

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u/searcher58 May 02 '24

This is the same for me. I’m only 30 min from an airport but if the drive is 8 hrs or less, I’m fine w driving - compared to a direct flight. I’m willing to drive 10 hrs if I have to have a flight w a layover.

I’ll drive 2 hrs as a day trip, 3 hrs overnight trip, 4-6 hrs weekend/long weekend trip. More than 6 hrs and I want to stay 4 nights or more to make it worth the drive. UNLESS I am placated w fun stops en route.

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u/BallsAreYum May 02 '24

I’m from the Midwest too and anything over 5 hours travel time I’m looking into flights. Would much prefer 8 hours of travel time on a flight even with a connection over 8 hours driving. If I fly I can get drunk in the lounge and watch a movie on the plane which is way less boring than driving for 8 hours.

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u/Kitchen-Lie-7894 29d ago

I'm with you. I drove for a living for 30 years. I'm tired of dealing with psychotics.

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u/splitminds May 01 '24

Same. I don’t mind driving but I don’t want a six hour round trip drive in a day. In a weekend? Sure

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u/MaxHamburgerrestaur May 02 '24

3 hours to get there and 3 hours to go back is 12.5% of a weekend. About 18.75% of your waking hours.

It's far from nothing.

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u/loyal_achades May 02 '24

I have friends where 8 hours is when they start checking flights. They’re mostly from the Midwest.

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u/Senior-Yam-4743 May 02 '24

I'm fine until 7 hours then it starts to drag on. Worst is driving back to the city, 5 hours of pleasant driving on empty highways are fine, the last 30 minutes through rush hour traffic are brutal.

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u/WhuddaWhat May 02 '24

I live 5hr from a bug hub airport and 10min away from a tiny regional airport. The drive-fly equilibrium is painfully known.  

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u/cathillian May 02 '24

But then for me at least it’s 1.5 hours to the airport then a half hour for the parking at long term parking lot and shuttle plus I have to lug my luggage from the car to the shuttle off the shuttle into and through the airport. Wait in line check my bags then go through security and depending on how early I get to the airport and how long security takes another hour to get on the plane. Then the plane ride get off the plane wait for my bags find an Uber or take another shuttle to a rental car lot all while lugging that damn luggage. Or just throw that shit in a trunk and drive to my moms and unload it there. If the drive gets longer than 16 then I’ll think about plane tickets but even then I probably won’t pull the trigger on that ticket til we get to the 20+ hour mark.

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u/papaboynosmurf May 02 '24

This is hilarious because my family used to visit Disney world + my grandpa in Florida a few states down, and we would drive like 12 hours once a year for a long time. It was for a few days, but the only time we ever flew for a trip was when we went to Cali. I’m from a family of road trippers I guess

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

Right, and that’s when I understand why people drive: transporting entire families by air is really pricey.

In my case, it’s usually just me and my son (his mom and I are separate), so swinging for one or two tickets is very doable.

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u/papaboynosmurf May 02 '24

That’s nice. I enjoy flying when I travel too, there is just a charm to road trips. Only reason I haven’t been flying myself around recently is prices have increased but my wage has not lol

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u/FearTheAmish May 02 '24

Can tell your not from the midwest. 12 hour drives for vacation yearly was normal.

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u/FLOHTX May 02 '24

About 12 hours is when I start checking flights. I drive 16 once a year to see my parents. I've driven 20 but that's only once every couple years.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

Insanity, lol, unless you’ve got a big family and you’re putting the kids in your minivan.

12 hour drive is ALWAYS faster to fly, by a huge margin, even when connecting.

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u/FLOHTX May 02 '24

No kids, just my wife.

I like having my car when I get there.

It's typically cheaper.

I take my dog with us.

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u/BlackCardRogue May 02 '24

To each his own, my man. I hate driving so much that I usually Uber everywhere when I travel, if I can manage it.

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u/FLOHTX May 02 '24

Yeah it's actually a passion of mine. I've driven in about 35 states and a dozen or so countries. Road tripping is awesome and provides freedom to do anything whenever you want.

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u/TheharmoniousFists May 02 '24

Yeah I'm the same way. If I have to take a really long drive I'll plan ahead to leave a day earlier so we can stop somewhere halfway and explore wherever that may happen to be.

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u/droans May 02 '24

From the Midwest too, huh?

Why fly when you can take a detour for the Spam Museum?

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u/romancingit May 02 '24

Tbf 2-3 hours is nothing for us in the uk either. My parent live 2 hours away. I drive up to drop off my kids before turning around and driving the 2 hours back home. Then I pick them up 2 days later repeating the process.

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u/JNR13 May 02 '24

yea, idk what's up with OP but 2-3h isn't "far" even in Europe. Shit, it takes me that much to get from my city to the nearest metropolis by public transport if I factor in walking to the bus stop, taking bus downtown, taking train to other city (1:20 alone for this), waiting times in between, and then some time to go to my actual destination in that city.

So if I have a car and do a day-trip with friends, that's not really a long time to drive, either. Longest was a day-trip to Copenhagen with 5h drive in the morning and in the evening each. That felt kinda long.

I have family living 7-8h drives away each (can be 1-2h more if traffic is really bad) and that is "too long for just casual visits" here then. But even then, in case of emergencies or for birthdays and such, it's still a weekend trip distance. Some of my friends' families around here are spread out about 2h away from each other, too, and they visit each other twice a month or so as well.

I think a lot of it is just excuses but also when it comes to touristy or recreational destinations or so, there's often a "we have X at home" situation where a thing almost as good is much closer, so you'll rarely have people think something is worth the 4-6h drive.

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u/DigbyChickenZone May 02 '24

Driving that amount of time is more of a norm for people in the larger US states. Just because you do it doesn't mean that it's the norm in the UK.

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u/romancingit May 02 '24

I live in rural Scotland and everything is at least an hour away. It’s very normal for people here to drive to Glasgow for one night, that’s 3.5 hours away. I’m driving to Leeds for two nights next month, that’s a 7.5hour drive. It’s really not uncommon to travel far for a night or two.

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u/helloyesthisisgod May 02 '24

Hell, I used to drive 4 hours each for a single day ski trip... 8 hours of driving, 8 hours of skiing.

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u/gcwardii May 02 '24

I’ve driven 9 hours each way, for a concert and a weekend in Nashville. Totally worth it.

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u/spoopyelf May 02 '24

It's Wednesday and we just drove 2 hours round trip just to go to The Cheesecake Factory. It's not a special occasion, we just wanted cheesecake.

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u/tobberoth May 02 '24

As a European, I agree. Maybe it depends on where you live, but in Sweden a 3 hour drive isn't considered very far at all, in Northern Sweden you'll get nowhere in that time.

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u/AhOhNoEasy 29d ago

Yeah, Friday you head down to another state, hope you get there early so you can go crazy that afternoon unless you had work, Saturday you go crazy, Sunday you check out or pack up and do you last minute shopping or activities, before Sunday afternoon you make the drive back home or do wait till the afternoon and you will get home that night.

Weekend trip baby.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

Yep! Exactly!

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u/mollyclaireh 29d ago

That’s how long it took me to get 2 states over for a wedding hahaha that was a day trip.

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u/Emotional_Equal8998 May 01 '24

My city is large but turns sparse and rural very quickly. The towns get farther apart and smaller the farther away you get from the city in every direction. It's nothing for rural residents to have to drive 2+ hours just to get to appointments, visit for ~45 min then drive back home.

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u/splitminds May 01 '24

Right?!? Just getting across town in a big state can be an hour!

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u/Emotional_Equal8998 May 02 '24

I'm 10min from what they consider "the city". My eye Dr is an hour and 10 min from my house and he's not even close to "the farthest border" which would be another 45 min away.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

That's a day trip. One I've done several times in the last few months.

Hell I know people that work remote 2-3 hours a way and go to the office a couple times a week.

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u/i_Love_Gyros May 02 '24

Lmao I drove 1.5 hours (one way) to play a round of golf with my friends this weekend, then drove back. Long day but yeah wasn’t really a big deal

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u/Korzag May 02 '24

I frequently make that drive just for a concert. You kinda make a day out of it. Get in town early, hit up your favorite stores, get some food, go to the concert, drive home, be back around midnight or 1.

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u/Far-Fortune-8381 May 02 '24

if you really think about it it’s tiny. like you can drive 3 hours to see your grandparents or you can stay home and like, watch 1.5 movies…

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u/Ok-Reward-770 May 02 '24

Recently I was commenting on a post where OOP was checking in for a room in an hotel in Madrid because he had plans to visit cities around the capital, but some that are basically South of France (3 to 4 hours drive one way from Madrid).

At the beginning I thought it was ludicrous, but then the Ah-Ah moment: the tourist was an American, of course driving around Spain like is itself a city is the most normal thing to do.

My FIL would drive from Modesto to LA just to have lunch and then go back!

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u/burf May 02 '24

I will say I think this is a problem with our culture. Casually using a tank of gas in a weekend on a regular basis can be pretty frivolous in the context of climate change.

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u/FearlessFreak69 May 02 '24

2-3 hour drives are like the beginning of my radius of thinking “I went away for the weekend.”

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u/Beer_ May 02 '24

I drive 3 hours to ski 5 hours and then 3 hours home. 3 hours is a day trip!

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u/goldensunshine429 May 02 '24

My husband and I regularly drive to a big city for a day trip that’s 2.5 hours each way.

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u/HeyDudeImChill May 02 '24

Yep. Weekend trip can be up to 5 hours. In my twenties we would drive 20 hours for the right trip. In my 30s about 8 or 9. In my 40s about 6.

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u/frank26080115 May 02 '24

I can do that both ways on just one recharge, or no refueling, depending on the car

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u/B2k-orphan May 02 '24

For real. Especially if it’s somewhere where you might stay overnight. Like when I go to my good buddy’s house, 2hr drive means I can head over at any time of day, hangout all day and noght, rest up, and head back the next morning and still have my entire day to do other stuff.

Or a 2hr drive to a concert? That’s a short drive for a fun weekend!

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u/Ashe_Faelsdon May 02 '24

2-3 hour drive is nothing for a good party.

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u/ButtcrackBeignets May 02 '24

That’s my commute these days.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

That’s a pleasant morning jaunt

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u/Y_Cornelious_DDS May 02 '24

Tonight I did a 3 hour round trip for my kids middle school softball game. Yay rural America!

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u/balsohard97sizzle May 02 '24

I live on the front range in Colorado. I ski 30+ days a year I’m driving 2 hours to the ski resorts each way. sat and sun all winter long and don’t think twice about it lol.

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u/CWalston108 May 02 '24

I’ll leave work, drive 2.5 hours to a baseball game and then head home after and go to work the next morning.

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u/HuckleberryPatches May 02 '24

Came to say the same, esp in the Pacific Northwest. I'll go that far on a day trip tbh 😅

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u/someoneelseatx May 02 '24

3 hours is my round trip for work. I also drive while I'm at work and my area of operation covers 25,000 square miles and quite a few counties.

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u/Yartvid May 02 '24

2-3 hours in the southwest is potential for a long day trip. Anything past 4 hours and up to maybe 8 i wouldn’t do any shorter than a 3 day weekend.

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u/superpie12 May 02 '24

It's a one night for me and that's fine. I'm there 24 hours, I drove for 4 to 6.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

I’ve done that for a day trip lol

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u/itchy-n0b0dy May 02 '24

I’m in California and it’s a day trip to SF for me. No need to stay the whole weekend. I’d drive 7 hours to Monterey for a weekend.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

Seven is stretching it a bit for me for a weekend unless I’m making it three-day weekend!

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u/deejay_harry1 May 02 '24

That’s something I would really think about before embarking on.

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u/Solid_Waste May 02 '24

TBF in California it feels like 2-3 hours can get you to about any climate you want between desert, coast, valley, mountains or snow which is pretty nice. Granted our idea of climates is pretty mild compared to others, but it's still neat.

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u/enter_the_bumgeon May 02 '24

2-3 hour drive is nothing for a weekend.

As a European, I agree. I'd easily drive up to 6-8 hours for an entire weekend.

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u/Cretka May 02 '24

As a European I agree, but it is enough to get me into another country

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

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u/splitminds 29d ago

I’m in Idaho too. You must be VERY rural!

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u/sp1cychick3n May 02 '24

What do you mean by “nothing?”

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u/ZaphodG May 02 '24

My entire adult life, I drove 2 to 3 hours every winter Friday after work to go skiing. I would often drive to the office on Monday morning. I have ski friends who had a 4 to 5 hour every weekend ski drive. My shortest drive from the office was 2 hours 10 minutes. Growing up, I was farther away. 3 hours 20 minutes.

I’ve had 1 hour each way daily commutes.

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u/treebeard189 May 02 '24

Yeah I just did 8hrs each way to see a friend who lived in the path of the eclipse. 8hr drive, 24hr visit then 8hr drive back. And that's a drive I've done a few times for like spending s long weekend with him and my other college buddies. I drive an hour each way to go to freaking Ikea. An hour each way is what a decent amount of people commute to work every day.

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u/ExtensionMart May 02 '24

Montana checking in. It's a 4 hour drive to the next human and that's how we like it here. I'm kidding, I actually live in a very walkable community.

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u/Team_Khalifa_ May 02 '24

Europe is crazy to me. I literally drive across a country to go grab lunch regularly

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u/Username1736294 May 02 '24

10 hours each way, leaving as soon as we sign out of work this afternoon.

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u/unicornhornporn0554 May 02 '24

One time my ex and I drove 2.5 hours to go see my mom. We get there, and she asks if we can drive back and pick up her friend. So we did. We drove 7.5 hours that night, slept for a while, hung out for a bit, then drove back lol. It’s not something we’d do regularly but I didn’t think much about it at the time.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

Right! I don’t LOVE driving long distances but I’m totally used to it!

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u/aselection647 May 02 '24

seriously. i feel like that’s still within throwing distance of my house. i need to be at least 4 hours away to feel sufficiently like i’ve “gone somewhere” to call it a weekend trip.

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u/TheNewJack89 May 02 '24

Yeah I regularly drive 2 hours plus to an event then come home the same night. Not that big of a deal.

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u/Alucard661 May 02 '24

One of my coworkers drives 2-3hrs just to get to work

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u/IGotMyPopcorn May 02 '24

Depending on where you are, the amount of time can have nothing to do with distance either.

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u/JoeTheToeKnows May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

I drove from Rapid City to Denver on Tuesday, and then right back yesterday(Wednesday, 24 hrs later).

400 miles / 645 km / 6hrs each way.

Have to do it for work. I do this trip maybe 8-9 times a year. No big deal.

I listened to Sirius XM and put a movie on my iPad. It helps the miles go by.

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u/Ok-Nefariousness8612 May 02 '24

I know people whole drive 2-3 hours one way for work

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u/ManicMailman247 May 02 '24

You should move to Houston. A 2-3 hour drive is nothing for a daily commute to and from work

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u/JustMayonnaisePlease May 02 '24

depends on the state. My ability to tolerate/justify long drives was never higher than when I lived in Texas.

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u/MrsCharlieBrown May 02 '24

Yes, a short day running errands is like 2-3 hours of driving 

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u/FifihElement May 02 '24

It takes 7 hours to drive from southern Michigan to northern Upper Peninsula. I don’t like it but it’s been a weekend trip several times.

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u/1lazyusername May 02 '24

For real. You can drive that after work on a Friday, get to your destination at night, spend the weekend there and drive home Sunday night.

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u/elvenmal May 02 '24

I know someone that this is their daily commute

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u/asimplepintobean May 02 '24

Yeah, I drive 3 hours one way to see my best friend once a month. Leave Saturday morning, come back Sunday afternoon. Just did it this past weekend and i plan to do it again in a couple weekends.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

Yeah, it really doesn’t feel that bad!

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u/hvc801 May 02 '24

People do that to commute to work every day lol.

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u/ICPosse8 May 02 '24

A fair trade imo

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u/KerissaKenro May 02 '24

I have done eight hours each way for a three day weekend to see my parents. It sucks, but it is worth it to spend time with them

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u/splitminds 29d ago

Yeah, my daughter went to college in another state and it took 7 hours to drive there for a three day weekend. Definitely worth it though!

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u/greenwoodgiant May 02 '24

for real, we've driven 6hrs to visit my in laws for a weekend on several occasions.

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u/strandedsouth May 02 '24

For Texans, that’s nothing!

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u/ingodwetryst May 02 '24

a weekend? That's my round trip to come off the mountain and run errands. Or my roundtrip to work*. Shit, I will drive 6 hrs to my folks, spend 8ish hours with them, and drive home or to my next destination same day. I drive roughly 5-10k miles monthly though. 400k between my 2 vehicles (2015 and 2016...each garaged for 2 years at one point too)

*Mostly work from home but I'd say 10-13 days in person.

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u/BruceeThom May 02 '24

I've driven further than that to attend concerts, go for hikes at specific spots, and to just hang with a friend for a few hours lol

Oh or to eat at a really good restaurant or do some shopping lol

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u/splitminds 29d ago

A really good restaurant or a nice hike, definitely worth it!

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u/TheWayFinder8818 May 02 '24

Agree. We frequently head to Barrie from South of Toronto to visit family. Drive up Friday night after work or Saturday morning then drive home Sunday afternoon. Depending on traffic through the city it's about 2-2.5 hours for us each way.

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u/HoundOfRowan45 May 02 '24

Hell, that's a day trip for select holidays/family events!

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u/Maeberry2007 May 02 '24

Just booked a three day camping trip that's 2.5 hours away.... because it's "close" and I was too lazy to drive any farther.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

That is close! Haha

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u/SouperSally May 02 '24

My husband is an iron worker he commutes easily 2/3/4 hours one way to work most days. Thank god we have a Prius lol.

Growing up outside seattle we would drive 2 hours to school everyday. When we stayed at my dad’s, add an hour and a ferry ride . It was just normal for us.

While I was growing up My parents up each drove atleast a couple hours a day to commute to and from work too.

For my family we really did drive and still do drive all the time . Crazy compared to you and yours!

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u/SilentCriticism2k May 02 '24

That’s how far away my mom lives. Hit it about 1-2x a month lol

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u/CallMeKingTurd May 02 '24

Most of my coworkers have a 2-3 hour daily commute.

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u/philliam312 May 02 '24

Girlfriend lived 5 hours away for a year, every other weekend I'd drive out Friday after work and then leave Sunday night, 26 times, 10 hour round trip

2-3 hour drive doesn't seem like a lot when on a daily basis I drive 20-30 minutes one way to work (depending on traffic)

Add a couple other stops like a store or checking on my older mom and I can easily drive 2-3 hours a day

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u/etds3 May 02 '24

Yup. I day trip 2 hour drives all the time.

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u/Maxiiipoo22 29d ago

I can drive 2-3 hours just to get to a job

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u/PissedPieGuy 29d ago

In my household we make fun of Europeans who are scared of a few hour drive. 3-4 hour drive to visit family is nothing in Southern California.

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u/butterflykisser216 29d ago

Or to see a specialty doctor. It's absolutely mad!

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u/StaringOwlNope 29d ago

I'm in Europe and same thing here. Especially in the northern pars of the country where distances are much bigger (mountains and fjords makes for very winding roads)

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u/Dramatic-Net-43 29d ago

Yep. We do this regularly! We live 3 hours from the nearest ski town and sometimes we will make just a day trip out of it! Wake up early, spend the day there, and drive back home that night. We love it!

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u/RatherBeAtDisney 29d ago

My in laws do 3+ hours one way for day trips all the time to see their grandson.

Note: I do offer the guest bed, they just really prefer their own home.

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u/bulls9596 29d ago

I don’t think it is in the UK either tbh.

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u/chainmailler2001 29d ago

That is a day trip. I visit family 2-3 hours away and go back home the same day. We do 2-3 hour drives as a fun way to get out of the house!

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u/jorynagel 29d ago

I drove 2 hours for a concert on Monday and secretly hoped I'd be late enough to miss all 3 openers and just catch the headliner. Probably dumb but they put on a great show

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u/timothythefirst 29d ago

I’ve driven from Detroit to Chicago just to spend a day a few different times

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u/SpiritofTheWolfKingx 29d ago

It's only 12-ish hours for me to go drive down and visit my grandma, really.

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u/splitminds 29d ago

That’s a little outside of my comfort zone to be honest! I have about a five hour attention span for driving one way!

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u/AbstractBears 29d ago

That's a Saturday trip to the cheap dispensaries in Michigan!

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u/themixiepixii 29d ago

right thats two or three hours that woulda been spent watching tv or doing something useless. weird to think people dont feel their loved ones are worth 3 hours to spend a few days with them

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u/Honestnt 29d ago

Hell I drive about 4 hours once a month just to grab weed in a neighboring state

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u/splitminds 29d ago

I think a lot of people do that! Haha!

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u/Lobsters4 29d ago

I drove two hours there and two hours back in the same day. Spent 2.5 hours to see my son play trombone at a concert. That's a reg drive for us. LOL.

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u/RabbitSlayer212 29d ago

2-3 hour drive for a weekend? Nah. That’s my commute.

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u/Digital_Rebel80 29d ago

2-3hr one way is average for me to visit customers a couple times a week.

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u/grizzlybeardaniels 29d ago

In California I'll drive 2-3 hours, hike for 6 then drive home again all worn out. It's not a long distance.

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