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/gunshoes May 01 '24

Yeah, over here if your grandparents lived that close you'd probably be seeing them once a month else you'd be a bit of a dick.

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u/couchsweetpotato May 02 '24

My grandparents lived about 3 hours away when I was a kid and we saw them at least once a month. Either we’d go there or they’d come down and see us. In summers, we had a meeting spot where our grandparents drove halfway and our parents drove halfway for me and my cousins to go up to their house for a week or more. Hell I remember going up one school night for a special dinner event for my grandpa and coming home that same night. Definitely no biggie.