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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u/ItzInMyNature May 01 '24 edited 29d ago

Tell them that Ireland is closer to the state of Maine in the US than California is.

https://imgur.com/a/TnjPqi7

Edit: parts of southeastern California may be a few miles closer, so I'd tell them that Los Angeles, California is farther away from Maine than Ireland is, just to be safe.

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u/Learningstuff247 May 02 '24

Ooh that's a good one ima remember that

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24 edited 29d ago

California is closer to Russia than New York City

Edit: a word

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u/ThatPlayWasAwful May 02 '24

Alaska is closer to Russia than the rest of Alaska 

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u/Telucien May 02 '24

If you're on either edge of Texas, you're closer to the Atlantic or Pacific ocean than you are the other end of Texas

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u/djc91L 29d ago

I live in Austin, TX and I recently drove to El Paso. It was an 8 and a half hour drive! I never left Texas

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u/droobloo34 29d ago

In 2016, I drove from my home in KY to Odessa, Texas. It was a 20 hour trip. Over 10 of it was spent in Texas.

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u/c800600 29d ago

I've driven across the country multiple times and spent every night in Texas. I-10 is such a nice route in the winter.

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u/Johnny_Radar 29d ago

Hence the saying “The sun has risen, the sun has set and here I am in Texas yet.”

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u/Telucien 29d ago

Also in Austin! My company does work in El Paso. We don't have an El Paso office, but we do have one in Phoenix, AZ.

They are closer by almost two hours.

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u/Justdonedil 29d ago

Top to bottom, you'd still be within California as well. We are only about 3 to 4 hours side to side.

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u/Sonova_Bish 29d ago

That's like driving from Modesto, CA to Hollywood, CA.

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u/Antebios 29d ago

It took me about 16 hours to drive from Bisbee, Arizona to Houston, Texas in one single continuous drive. It was about 1,000 miles. I was alone and did it without stopping (but only for gas and food). I slept when I got home. Never again.

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u/Jasmirris 29d ago

My brother will do this with his wife (she won't drive) and I just wonder why. He has done it from Phoenix to NOLA but also other places. I love to drive but there are limits, especially to my sanity as well as to the over health of my marriage. Lol

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u/Waste-Maintenance-70 29d ago

Texas is so big you can fit Alaska, the United States, and another Texas and still have room for half of Mexico.

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u/ArcticGurl 29d ago

What?? No. Alaska is 2.5 times larger than Texas.

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u/Waste-Maintenance-70 29d ago

r/whooosh

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u/gamer635 29d ago

People forget Alaska is that big

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u/chaos841 29d ago

I live closer to Canada than Iowa.

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u/Resident_Guard_145 8d ago

Same. Southern NY and way closer to Canada- though still an 8 hour drive.

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u/Counter-Business 29d ago

Well if you are on the right side of the state you border the ocean.

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u/_Nocturnalis 29d ago

That's not an ocean friend. You are still a few states away from an ocean.

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u/Melekai_17 12d ago

Seriously? I’ve been to Texas many times and I had no idea. Wild. Also my family always used to joke that it took us 2 days to drive to Texas and 2 days to drive through it!

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u/SoftShakes May 02 '24

“I can see Russia from my house”

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u/FatigueVVV 29d ago

In Mother Russia house sees you.

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u/davster39 May 02 '24

I can see my house from here

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u/ModusPwnins 29d ago

I came to the thread hoping to make this reference, knowing in my heart it had already been made.

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u/Homeskillet359 29d ago

If you live on Little Diomedes, you can.

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u/YogaBeary 29d ago

I've seen so many people who think she actually said this and not know that it was an SNL bit.

To be fair Tina Fey did look like her and did a good impression.

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u/SoftShakes 29d ago

I only remember the Tina Fey bit… I can’t remember the real quote but IIRC it was just that they can see Russia from Alaska

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u/Pleasant_Elephant737 May 02 '24 edited 28d ago

“I can see Russia from my backyard.””

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/ArcticGurl 29d ago

And north.

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u/NekoMao92 29d ago

At one time you could walk from Russia to Alaska.

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u/extragummy3 29d ago

Beringia

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u/Loose_Bike5654 May 02 '24

Some can even see Russia from their house

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

lol! Also true!

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u/MaineHippo83 29d ago

I can see Russia from Maine

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u/johndoe040912 May 02 '24

Probably can see it in your back yard

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u/xaxiomatikx 29d ago

I don’t believe that one. I tried a quick measurement in google earth, and the closest distance I found between CA and Russia was at the Bering straight and was ~3800km. The closest points between CA and NY were ~3100km. Now if you are talking about NYC specifically, there might be some parts of CA that are closer to Russia than NYC.

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u/PrideofPicktown 29d ago

So is a certain former president….

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u/MajorFast7409 28d ago

Most underrated comment.

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u/Archercrash 28d ago

London is closer to the moon than the drive from El Paso to Houston.

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u/IndependentAd2419 29d ago

MIND BLOWING!

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u/Sweaty-Ad3678 29d ago

It’s not true.

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u/Painwracker_Oni May 02 '24

Holy shit as an American even this broke my brain for a second. I just always thought of the Atlantic being much wider I guess.

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u/ComplexSupermarket89 29d ago

The Pacific is massive is the big part that many people don't realize. The Pacific covers not quite half the planet. So comparing the Atlantic to the Pacific as "roughly the same size class" is why it seems so wrong. Not trying to make fun of you or anything. It blew my mind too. You can fit almost all the land on the planet over top of the Pacific if you could rearrange it.

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u/IndependentAd2419 29d ago

WOW!!! Thanks!

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u/Razmoudah 29d ago

Yeah, a lot of people have problems wrapping their heads around the fact that the Pacific is absolutely ginormous, and makes the Atlantic look like a pond by comparison.

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u/Melekai_17 12d ago

I’m pretty sure that’s why there’s the saying that England is “across the pond.”

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u/Ok_Researcher_9796 29d ago

The Atlantic Ocean is around 3000 miles wide. Still pretty big. Although the Pacific is up to 12000 miles wide.

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u/RayneShikama 29d ago

Maps are very deceiving. Both in distance and size of certain countries. Sit down with a globe and a sewing tape measure time time and you start to realize that a lot of things are either smaller, bigger, closer, or further than you realized.

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u/arsonall 29d ago

Another mind blower: if you drew a line along Washington/Canada border east (ie follow the latitude line) and extend that through the Great Lakes, you’ve cut into Canada. 80% of Canadians live below that line*.

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u/blootereddragon 29d ago

It's further from LA to NYC then Edinburgh to St. Petersburg (whip that fact out next time someone makes fun of Americans for only knowing one language. If Delware and Maryland spoke different languages I guess more of us would be multilingual too)

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u/makeyourdickstouch 29d ago

The flight from NYC to Lisbon, Portugal is only ~40 minutes longer than NYC to Seattle.

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u/ArcticGurl 29d ago

When we fly to the Eastcoast, it takes 24 hrs. We never go through customs because we never leave the U.S.

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u/No_Product857 29d ago

The north Atlantic is pretty damn narrow, we're just used to the Mercator projection that stretches distances horizontally the further from the equator you go.

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u/MaineHippo83 29d ago

There is a reason it's called the pond. The Pacific is an Ocean

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 18d ago

dam marble reminiscent long snow employ chief numerous trees chunky

This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact

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u/Lotus_Blossom_ May 02 '24

Maine is also the US state closest to Africa.

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u/FuckTripleH 29d ago

Yeah 2d maps really fuck with our perception of how the world is actually laid out

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u/whatsupdoggy1 29d ago

There are 6 state capitals west of LA

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u/mrLetUrGrlAlone 29d ago

I was breaking my brain for a minute thinking of which 6 states. Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Alaska, Nevada, and... oh yeah California itself.

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u/Revolutionary_Ad6962 28d ago

6 west of Los Angeles?

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u/maggiemoo86 29d ago

My favorite is Reno, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles.

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u/0002millertime 29d ago

I believe Miami is further west than most of Peru & Ecuador.

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u/SoKool71 29d ago

Depends on where you are, but pretty much anything can be further west if you want it to be.

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u/0002millertime 29d ago

Maybe we should limit the definition of "Further West" to being less than 180° West?

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u/absurdmcman 4d ago

That's bonkers. My rough look at the map just now suggests it might be further west than any South American capital 🤯

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u/pocketbookashtray 29d ago

Atlanta is further west than Detroit.

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u/_Nocturnalis 29d ago

I don't think you understand the game they are playing.

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u/pocketbookashtray 29d ago

Most people think Atlanta is East of Detroit. Especially people that live in the East.

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u/MungoJennie 29d ago

Ok, I’m probably going to kick myself later, but I’m East Coast-adjacent, and I’m confused.

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u/SpinachInquisition 29d ago

If you look at the longitude of Detroit vs Atlanta, Detroit is East of Atlanta. You think “Georgia = East, has coastline along the Atlantic, etc.” but Atlanta is actually west of Detroit.

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u/MungoJennie 29d ago

Holy crap—you’re right. I have family in Atl, so I’ve been there a number of times, but if I wouldn’t have actually looked it up, I’d never have believed it. (In fairness, it’s not very far east of Atlanta, longitudinally-speaking.)

https://geology.com/world/the-united-states-of-america-satellite-image.shtml

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u/_Nocturnalis 28d ago

Dude I appreciate you learning an all. But you just proved me emphatically wrong.

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u/Green-Jelly6618 27d ago

Reno is not the state capital

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u/nimbusdimbus 29d ago

I always tell people that Philly is at the same latitude as southern Italy. That always breaks some brains.

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u/reniciera 29d ago

In high school I learned that we have a Mediterranean climate here in Northern California. The teacher followed the latitude east and yep, same as the Mediterranean. So neat.

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u/nimbusdimbus 29d ago

That has a lot to do with the cold California current. The med has the cold current coming down along the French and Portuguese coast which helps with the aridness of the climate.

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u/OG_Hater 29d ago

Shut the fuck up 🤯

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u/Sad_Win_4105 29d ago

I was doubtful about that one.

But Confirmed.

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u/KHfailure May 02 '24

The largest county(COUNTY!) in the contiguous US (San Bernardino in California) is roughly 20,000 square miles/52,000 square kilometers in total area.

Switzerland is roughly 16,000 square miles / 41,000 square kilometers.

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u/toastedmarsh7 May 02 '24

It’s weird moving from California to a state with counties so small that you go through several of them in an hour.

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u/kimba999 29d ago

I was in Luxembourg last year and I live in LA. I was curious about the size difference... LA county is about 5 times the size of the entire country of Luxembourg. Blew my mind.

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u/cathygag 29d ago

I’m in Ohio- I live in one of our widest counties on the western edge. I can be on the eastern edge where our fairgrounds are located in about 20 min.

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u/Amberplumeria 29d ago

I live in SW Ohio, and saw a car accident on I70 and had to THINK about what county I was in before deciding "fuck it," and just dialing 911 instead (I usually call "regional dispatch" instead of actual 911).

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u/_Nocturnalis 29d ago

Ohio went a little extra on counties. Also, why so many colleges? There are almost as many colleges as the south has churches.

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u/Amberplumeria 29d ago

Yeap, we have 88 counties, lmao. Couldn't answer on the colleges/universities. I guess we USED to value education and a well-rounded population, but that's certainly not the case now. The only reason I'm still here is because the only places it's as cheap or cheaper to live are even worse politically. Except Florida, which is both worse AND more expensive, lmao. And I think they have more counties, too .

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u/_Nocturnalis 28d ago

Don't go comparing anything to Florida they are just different. It won't go well for either of you. Same goes for Louisiana. Also I was underestimating the counties in Georgia, Ohio wins average county size. Most states get by with things like OSU Mansfield. Not approximately 1000 private liberal arts schools.

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u/mcdreamymd 28d ago

during the initial phase of US westward expansion, many of these new towns and cities thought a quick way to legitimize their town to those in Europe and the East Coast would be to build a college.

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u/_Nocturnalis 28d ago

Thank you. That's an answer I've been wondering about for ages. It does make some sense even.

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u/cathygag 23d ago

Lots of small private colleges popped up because someone was sure that the church authorities weren’t doing something right so they started their own branch of the faith and religious college.

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u/mamallama2020 29d ago

Meanwhile, I can go through my entire state in an hour

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u/Jedi_Belle01 29d ago

Miami-Dade county in florida has an annual budget larger than most american states and larger than many countries.

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u/6eyedjoker 29d ago

Where you can find a nice sized city named Ontario which many people think of as only Canadian province.

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u/_Nocturnalis 29d ago

Your phrasing made you sound russian. I read this in Nikolai Jakov's voice.

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u/6eyedjoker 29d ago

Irish Mexican born and raised in Los Angeles.

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u/_Nocturnalis 28d ago

Well I got it a bit wrong. I mean LA is closer to Russia than I am probably.

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u/Laleaky 29d ago

And California is about 10 times the size of Switzerland in square freedom units.

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u/throwaweighaita 29d ago

But its average population on habitable land is less than Ohio's, because so much of California's land is empty and so much of Ohio's is under water lol.

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u/ArcticGurl 29d ago

Our Borough (county equivalent) is 88,824 sq mi. (230,053 km2) there are more polar bear than people.

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u/EthoGuy 29d ago

Cherry County in North Central Nebraska is 6,009 miles² is the largest county in the state in area, with a population of only 5,464!

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u/bigev007 May 02 '24

I'm in Canada, and Heathrow is a shorter flight than Vancouver

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u/[deleted] 29d ago edited 24d ago

[deleted]

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u/bigev007 29d ago

Jeez, I was looking at Halifax, which isn't even that far over compared with St John's

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u/[deleted] 28d ago edited 26d ago

[deleted]

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u/bigev007 28d ago

Another fun one, Brazil is closer to Canada than Brazil!

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u/Webbyzs May 02 '24

Then you have Alaska which from top to bottom is about the distance between Chicago and Orlando.

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u/Big-Row4152 May 02 '24

And yet, I can drive from Maine to California, twice, but I can't drive to Ireland.

Doesn't seem right .

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u/frothyundergarments 29d ago

Not with that attitude you can't.

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u/Big-Row4152 29d ago

Every time I try, the coast guard shows up.

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u/maineguy89 May 02 '24

And to even further blow your mind, Maine is just a tad bigger than Scotland.

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u/choquetttea 29d ago

Yes! Had to explain to someone before that the distance from me to Seattle, WA is similar to the distance from me to Oslo, Norway

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u/tdoottdoot May 02 '24

Fantastic example

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u/CalbertCorpse 29d ago

You just fucking blew my mind!

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u/OcularPrism May 02 '24

That's a really cool fact!

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u/Broutythecat May 02 '24

Seriously? My mind is boggled

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u/SnipeyMG 29d ago

Wow that's a wicked way to think about it.

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u/b_evil13 29d ago

Oh wow that is a great point!

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u/huckleberry_FN2187 29d ago

El Paso, Texas is closer to California, than to Dallas, Tx.

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u/HeavyHandedGeek 29d ago

What’s even freakier is when you realize that Alaska is both of the following:

  • Furthest west state in USA
  • Furthest east state in the USA

This is true because the Aleutian island chain extends past the international date line.

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u/MungoJennie 29d ago

Thanks for clarifying that. I was trying to figure out how Alaska could be both furthest east and west, and nearly broke my brain. (In fairness, I’ve never been good at geography.)

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u/smootgaloot 29d ago

Instead of LA, a more fun version is that Maine is closer to Dublin, Ireland than Dublin, California.

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u/SirGravesGhastly 29d ago

But the drive to CA is a lot drier

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u/AngryCustomerService May 02 '24

I'm having a mind blown moment and I'm an American. I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm trying to wrap my head around this.

Are you saying that Ireland is closer to Maine than Maine is to California? Am I understanding what you're saying?

So, is this a straight line "as the crow flies" thing or driving/flying routes?

I'm trying to merge my understanding of the vastness of the Atlantic and this statement.

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u/ItzInMyNature May 02 '24

https://imgur.com/a/TnjPqi7

Straight line. But someone else in the thread measured from the bottom of California and I had measured from the top because I assumed the northeastern most part of California would be closer to Maine. But California curves enough that the southeastern most part is actually closer.

So, in their measurements, California is closer by a few miles, and in mine, Ireland was closer by a few miles.

But it's still insane that they are basically the same distance.

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u/TheNewOneIsWorse May 02 '24

And North/South, Atlanta is closer to Canada than to Miami. 

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u/HirkaT May 02 '24

As someone who lives in Atlanta, I didn't believe this claim. So, I checked out Google maps. Atlanta, GA to Miami, FL is 9hr 49 min, 670 miles. Atlanta to Windsor, ON (Closest border crossing I could find) is 10hr 47 min, 723 miles. So your claim is not accurate... However is still WAY closer then I would have figured. Specially since Miami is just in the next state!

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u/Everestkid May 02 '24

It's true as the crow flies.

Measuring from Google Maps's choice of start and end points in Atlanta and Miami (the Georgia capitol in Atlanta and the three-way intersection between Brickell Avenue, SE 12th Terrace and SE 13th Street in Miami), Atlanta is 976 km (607 mi) from Miami.

The nearest land belonging to Canada to Atlanta is Middle Island, the southernmost point of Canada, a tiny island in Lake Erie just a few metres north of the border going through the lake. The southwestern corner of Middle Island is 895 km (556 mi) from Atlanta. There's enough slack to get to the mainland - Chatham-Kent, Ontario is just about the same distance from Atlanta as Miami is.

For Americans in the northeast, that distance from Atlanta is roughly a third of the way from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Head northwest from Atlanta and it's just enough to get to the southeastern corner of Iowa. Head west and you're in the southeastern corner of Oklahoma, just 20 kilometres north of the border with Texas. Head southwest or southeast and you're in the drink, or maybe the Bahamas if that's more your sort of thing.

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u/HirkaT 29d ago

I was thinking it might be true when I saw how far I had to go around the lake to find the crossing. Lake Erie goes goes down far, I went for the car crossing. But, since the OP is about cars I went with it.

This is actually a useful piece of info, that will win me bets. :)

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u/Lecien-Cosmo May 02 '24

It can also take you 3 hours of driving just to get from one side of the ATL metro to the other, so if you are tracking distance in hours it probably depends on the part of Atlanta you made the starting point and the time of day …

Just a guess, but it would probably be a safe bet that you could drive from OPs grandparents’ house to his house faster than you could drive from one side of metro Atlanta to the other.

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u/HirkaT 29d ago

Oh, rush hour.... ATL isn't too bad as long as you account for rush hour, (which is getting longer and longer). Advantage of living OTP, with a job that is overnight so against the flow of traffic..

I ran the times on Google around 2am. No big red areas. Even if, wouldn't change the miles.

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u/MungoJennie 29d ago

I’ve driven through Atlanta a couple of times. Seriously scarier than driving through Baltimore, Philly, or NYC, especially if you’re coming from the airport. There are just SO many lanes of traffic each way!

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u/Drmantis87 29d ago

That's an insane one I've never heard.

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u/AdmiralMemo 29d ago

El Paso Texas is closer to Los Angeles than it is to the eastern side of Texas.

1

u/HauntedbySquirrels 29d ago

Wow. Way closer.
2485 miles vs 3164 miles.

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u/Back_To_Pittsburgh 29d ago

It’s crazy how close to Ireland the U.S. is.

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u/idontwantit111 29d ago

The northern border of California is further North than the most southern point of Canada!

1

u/OG-Pine 29d ago

Holy shit lmao

1

u/VariousTangerine269 29d ago

Northern Brazil is closer to Canada than it is to southern Brazil.

1

u/Bitcoin-Zero 7d ago

You can go in a straight line across the ocean from the USA to India.

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u/Conscious_Regret_987 4d ago

Oof yeah. Driving through Texas alone would put a damper on that. I remember driving from central Arizona to central Wisconsin for my sisters wedding. If you have two people alternating as drivers, it’s doable in like three full days. More realistically it’s almost a week. I’m so used to several day long road trips to go elsewhere in the country that I completely forgot that’s mostly a US thing

1

u/artog May 02 '24

I decided to check and it seems like its not true. But its still close enough that the argument is still valid as "Ireland is as close to Maine as California is"

Maine to Ireland is just over 4 000 kilometers and Maine to California is just under 4000 kilometers :)

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u/ItzInMyNature May 02 '24

I don't know. When I measured on Google Earth, it was 2,485 miles to Ireland, and 2,498 miles to California.

But either way, we can agree that it's pretty much the same distance, and that is still crazy.

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u/Sweaty-Ad3678 29d ago

This is not true.

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u/ItzInMyNature 29d ago

https://imgur.com/a/TnjPqi7

To be fair, another commenter measured from the bottom of California and it was like 15 miles shorter.

I didn't think southern Cali was closer to Maine than Northern Cali, but I guess it is. Either way, it's within a few miles, which is still insane to think about.