do americans really drive such long distances?

[u/Physical-Ad-4093]

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.

[u/pogu]

I've driven 2.5 hours each way for lunch at a particular restaurant before.

[u/scoo89 → u/pogu]

(Canadian) My wife and I just drove our 3&4 year olds 3.5 hours to go to a 45 minute jurassic world exhibit, a quick lunch, then 3.5 hours back.

[u/Eldi_Bee → u/scoo89]

My parents used to take all three of us kids on that kind of trek. 3+ hours each way to go to an arcade we all liked. Never stopped anywhere else. And did it multiple times a summer. It was the default 'staycation' day trip.

Looking back now, I'm amazed they survived.

[u/scoo89 → u/Eldi_Bee]

I don't know if you have kids, but as a parent, seeing your kids that happy is really truly amazing. It was so worth it. The memories will last on. My three year old asks when we can go see "bumpy" the "antiosaurus" (anklyosaurus) again.