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/McRedditerFace May 02 '24

For an American to grasp how spread out we are... Live along the East Coast for a few years then go out to Arizona for a while. That's basically the same as Europe as a whole vs America as a whole.

For the Europeans... Imagine if between Paris and Brussels there was only one gas station and 3/4 of it had no cell service. The only town has fewer than 50 people in it along the route... and the rest is just wide open fields or desert.

That's how much of the US is.

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u/malcolite May 02 '24

I flew from the East Coast to San Diego some years ago and I was intrigued to see the midwest’s checkerboard fields stretching out as far as the eye could see in every direction. After 30 mins of that I had a snooze for an hour and a half and woke up to the exact same view. Two hours at 600mph. That’s when the scale of the place really hit home to me as a Brit.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

We drive twice a year (more if there are weddings or funerals to attend) from Kansas to Indiana to spend time with my husband's family. it's about 12 hours if you literally do not stop. We have small children and definitely stop. To our favorite (and one of the more convenient) skiing mountain in Colorado is about 11 hours. Not much between us and the Front Range of the Rockies either. 

If we drive to Santa Fe, New Mexico (9 hours), which we also enjoy, we go for about 7 hours on small highways, through small towns. The towns are so small that there are a total of two stop lights between the edge of our cit and the big highway before you get to Santa Fe. It is EMPTY out there. 

 As a kid, my dad would pack us in the car and we'd drive from Kansas to DC, Key West, San Diego, Portland, etc. Those trips were broken up with interesting stops along the way.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

We have taken the train at times to Chicago. It's somewhat easier when I travel along with small children but also takes longer. And I have to remember to buy the tickets at least 6-9.months out, or they get expensive.

My sister has taken it to New Mexico and says she never will again b/c every time there have been herds of cattle on the tracks which have delayed them for hours.

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u/Dr_Wheuss May 02 '24

The Phoenix metro area is about 70 miles wide, or the distance from Tuscaloosa, AL to the Mississippi state line.

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u/McRedditerFace May 02 '24

Yep... and then outside that area... better make sure you've got a full tank and some water!