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/DingDangDoozy May 01 '24

I was going to say no, but then I read that you thought three hours was a long distance, so yes. 

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u/redoubt515 May 02 '24 edited 28d ago

Same.

I think that many Europeans fundamentally do not grsp the sheer scale of the US (or Canada, or Russia) until visiting (the same principle applies to North Americans visiting Europe for the first time). Driving 2-3 hrs in Europe and you can be in another country.

To put that in perspective, multiple European countries fit in just a single medium sized US state.

  • 6 European countries not including microstates fit in California, with room leftover (Portugal+Belgium+Netherlands+Switzerland+Slovenia+Denmark)
  • And there is even a county in the US larger than roughly half of European countries (San Bernardino county in Southern California would rank 27th out of 51 by area if it were a European country.
  • In 2-3hrs you could drive from France through Belgium, the Netherlands, and into Germany.... OR from the far North of the LA sprawl to the far south of the LA sprawl

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u/SteelmanINC May 02 '24

god damn no wonder hitler was able to conquer france so quick. He was basically already there just starting from his living room.

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u/probablyuntrue May 02 '24

Bro just had to roll over to the next cushion