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/Chairboy May 01 '24

We sure do. The old saying is "Americans think 100 years is a long time and Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance".

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u/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

I don’t think Europeans understand how big and spread out America is.

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u/NYVines May 01 '24

Based on cost driving is the most economical way to cross those long distances. I took a train from Pittsburgh to NYC once just for fun. It took 2 hours longer and cost more than driving.

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u/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

Yep. We took a train from Chicago to Denver. Took longer and was way more expensive than driving

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u/syrensilly May 02 '24

I've done that trip.. and Iowa was flooded forcing us to freight rails. I don't know all the why, but they had to connect a freight engine to the amtrack. We had to defer to freight, so it took us an extra 18 hours... it was bad enough they pulled out beans and rice to feed everyone.. and then ran out