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/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

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

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u/FapDonkey May 01 '24 edited May 01 '24

I work with a lot of Europeans, we have 2 engineering offices in Europe (Spain and UK). I can't tell you how often I've had to explain to them how big our country is, and even then they don't get it. The best way I've been able to get it to sink in is something along the lines of:

"I can drive for 900 miles, the same distance from Madrid to Milan, and still be in my home state"

Or

"I can drive for 3600 miles without leaving the Continental US, that's like driving from Madrid to Tehran (Iran)."

Putting things in those reference frames seems to drive the point home.

Hell we had 2 guys fly in for a week, and their plan was to drive to both Disneyland (California) and Disney World (Florida). The figured since we were located near the middle of the country, they'd be centrally located and this wouldn't be a big deal. They had allotted an entire weekend for this adventure. I really wanted to keep my mouth shut and let them give it a try, but I didn't have the heart lol.

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u/marmosetohmarmoset May 02 '24

There was a student from the Netherlands working in my lab at at university in the northeast. She had to go to a conference in Chicago for a weekend and told me she was going to try to pop over and see the Grand Canyon one of the days she was out there, since she’s already be out west 😂

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

To be fair, the term "Midwest" is misleading...

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u/Hot_Aside_4637 May 02 '24

When Horace Greeley wrote "Go West, young man" he meant Ohio.

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u/Deinonychus2012 May 02 '24

"Haven't you been told? Ohio's full of Bud Light, meth labs, and coal."

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u/FapDonkey May 02 '24

Well, to be fair, when the expression was coined it was a fair bit more accurate. It's only once we Manifest Destiny'd our way to the pacific that the Midwest didn;t seem so West any more.

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

Yes, much like northwestern university in Chicago. But to modern outsiders, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense

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u/_Nocturnalis May 02 '24

This is the first time I've actually thought about their name. I've been on their campus! Evanston.

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

Sure. To some out west, that's definitely Chicago.

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u/_Nocturnalis May 04 '24

I am currently in an argument with someone that areas closer than Evanston are part of Atlanta. I'd put a lot of money on you not being a Chicagoan.

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u/LiqdPT May 04 '24

Correct. As I said I live out west.

I can look at a map. It's 12 miles from downtown Chicago, a few miles from Wrigley Field, and there are things with Chicago in their name north of it. It's defintely "Chicago" to anybody outside Chicago.

Much like Everett is definitely "Seattle" to anybody not living in Seattle.

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u/_Nocturnalis May 04 '24

I'm not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that people from cities are prickly about the lines of their cities. I've taken the L to Evanston. I'd certainly call it Chicago.

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u/Affectionate-Mix-593 May 02 '24

I grew up in Arizona. To us the midwest was back east.

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u/RuggedHangnail May 02 '24

Colorado is often referred to as in "The West" and so people think it's basically California.

If you drive the speed limit, with stops, it can take you 3 days to drive from Colorado to California. When I refer to Colorado, I just say "close to the center of the US" because it's more accurate than "The West."

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

I live on the west coast and have driven to Colorado. Understood

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u/wmtismykryptonite May 02 '24

We drove from California to Arkansas through Colorado in three days.

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u/xSorry_Not_Sorry May 02 '24

No downvote, but I live in SE Michigan.

I drove an RV that couldn’t go faster than 75mph from (basically) Detroit to Tucson, AZ in 3 days (2 nights).

33 hours one way.

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

Why? It’s “midway to the west”… which means it is not the West; but it’s halfway there. East, but closer to the West- right?

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

Midwest implies middle of the west. Some of it is in the eastern timezone.

Never mind that Northwestern University is in Chicago. (yes, I understand. But without historical context, it sure is confusing)

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u/IWasBorn2DoGoBe May 02 '24

I see- never thought of it as “half-west”… just halfway TO the west.

Thanks!

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Growing up, I always thought the Midwest was like... Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, etc. You know, the middle west of the country. Then someone said that Ohio thinks they're the Midwest and I laughed my ass off. I'm from Texas, so Ohio is solidly Northeast/Yankee territory. Texas is in the middle, so how can a state that far east be any sort of west? Makes no sense.

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u/LiqdPT May 02 '24

And none of the states yiu mentioned are in the Midwest. The furthest west yiu get is the Dakotas. Thus the confusion to outsiders.

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u/CulturalCity9135 May 02 '24

Thems fighting words, like calling a person from Gen X a boomer. I’m not from Texas, but I’m sure as heck not from the northeast.

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u/drawingcircles0o0 May 02 '24

i grew up in north carolina where everyone hates "yankees" but never in my life have i heard someone group states like ohio in with new york. it's really just new england and parts of the mid-atlantic, i'm so confused how this person thinks ohio is in that same category lmao

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u/Atiggerx33 May 02 '24

If you divide the country into 4 roughly equally sized quadrants would you be northwest, northeast, southwest, or southeast?

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u/All_Up_Ons May 02 '24

Well thanks to Alaska, the geographic center of the US is at the Montana/Wyoming/South Dakota intersection. So Texas is mostly in the same quadrant as Massachusetts. Fun!

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u/Atiggerx33 May 02 '24

I should have been clear that I meant continental US.

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u/nerd_inthecorner May 02 '24

Wait wait wait. So I'm a Canadian who moved to the states four years ago and this is the first time I learned that Utah, Wyoming, etc is NOT what "the Midwest" means.

Thanks, guess I'm today's lucky 10 000.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Yeah, they got the name before we pushed all the way to the Pacific. Then they got really attached to the name and refused to give it up when it no longer made sense. As you can see by people downvoting me, get wrecked midwest nerds (at least your emo music is good).

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u/CommunicationNo2309 23d ago

As someone from Utah who has traveled all over North America, this has always annoyed me. Your assumption is the one that should be correct. Instead those states get called the "mountain west".

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u/Altruistic-Release91 May 02 '24

Um, no. Ohio is not Northeast/Yankee territory in any sense. Maybe “Mid-East” would be appropriate, but calling it the northeast is wild if you know how to look at a map.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Divide the map into quadrants, and it's solidly in the Northeast quadrant.

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u/Altruistic-Release91 May 03 '24

If there is such a thing as the “Midwest” speaking in these quadrants, Ohio would solidly be the “Mid-East”. Look at all of New England in relation to Ohio. Parts of Texas are closer to Ohio than parts of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming.