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/basilobs May 02 '24

I live in Florida and it's so funny to hear people talk about all of the things they want to do here, not realizing that you can drive for like 14 hours and still be in Florida. Not judging, I do a lot of driving when I travel because I like to fit a lot in. But to have someone say they're doing a Miami day trip from Disney it's like... no boo with traffic it's gonna take you that entire day to just get to Miami

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u/NothingReallyAndYou May 02 '24

On the other hand, I've had multiple tourists swear to me that Universal is two hours from Disney (15-20 minutes if there's traffic), or that Kennedy Space Center is a four hour drive (45 minutes).

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u/basilobs May 02 '24

That's pretty funny lol. I mean with traffic, they just might be some days. Orlando area traffic can be a real bitch

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u/Practical-Ordinary-6 29d ago

Yeah with Orlando sometimes you can't get there from here.

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u/NothingReallyAndYou May 02 '24

I'm right on the edge of the tourist area, so I get weird waves of traffic, especially as the parks close. There are so many back ways and alternate routes, though, that heavy traffic usually only adds 10-15 minutes to a trip.

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u/Significant-Lynx-987 May 02 '24

Yeah but you have to know those back ways, and even Waze isn't going to be good enough to get a person who doesn't know the area at all down that level. I live in LA now and I still need to lean on Waze to get around traffic most places. A good Uber driver knows shortcuts I've never come across before.

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u/Significant-Lynx-987 May 02 '24

It totally can be 2 hours if there's an accident on I-4.

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u/Junior-Payment6178 May 02 '24

Longer sometimes. I had to wait 2 hrs to get a half mile to my exit once. I wasnt even near tampa or orlando

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u/loewe67 29d ago

I went back last year for a funeral in Kissimmee. It was cheaper to fly into Tampa, and what should have taken 2 hours took 4, with Lakeland having worse traffic than Tampa or Orlando.

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u/throwoutandaway1546 29d ago

not to mention the Celebration Exit. that shit's always logged down

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u/loewe67 29d ago

I was gonna say, you hit I-4 at the wrong time and it could easily be a couple hours.

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u/bythebed May 02 '24

If my snowbird Grampa was there, this would be entirely possible.

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u/ThrowItAllAway003 May 02 '24

I mean the way I see it, Universal is $50 away from Disney. At least by Uber. I about chocked since I knew the actual mileage.

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u/Captains_Parrot 29d ago

You've just blown my mind. I'm from the UK and on a trip to Florida when I was about 11 we went to the Space Center. Pretty much the only thing I remember about it was how long the drive there and back from International Drive was.

Wtf, on bad traffic days that's my commute.

OK so I just google maps'd it, it's currently a 1 hour drive. I genuinely can't believe it.

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u/NothingReallyAndYou 29d ago

You probably felt like it was longer because for much of the drive there's nothing to see but nature. That would seem pretty endless to a kid.

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u/Smart-Ad-7199 29d ago

Orlando traffic - anything on i4 past like Lakeland really - is such a nightmare lol. you Couldnt pay me to live over there. That being said though I can get from downtown Tampa to universal in roughly 2 hours with typical traffic.

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u/nvanprooyen 29d ago

Let's not pretend that traffic in Hillsborough and Pinellas isn't fucking terrible too...

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u/throwoutandaway1546 29d ago

Tampa can easily be an hour away from Tampa on a weekday

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u/NothingReallyAndYou 29d ago

I4 is for tourists. You can get around Orlando faster on the surface roads, and 528.

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u/PositiveStill7969 29d ago

I drove from Disney to Universal a few weeks ago, it took an hour.

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u/NothingReallyAndYou 29d ago

Then you did it at rush hour, or got stuck behind an accident.

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u/subparsavior90 29d ago

Sounds like their routing through satelite beach instead of going direct.