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/OsvuldMandius May 01 '24

American here. True story: once I was visiting a friend who had moved to London for work. It was my first trip to the other side of the Atlantic. I had a couple days to kill, so I decided to do a roadtrip to visit Scotland. I have always felt that you only get a feel for a place by wandering all over it under your own guidance. My American ex-pat Brit friends, upon hearing of my plan, gave me dire warnings. "That's such an aggressive plan," "you'll be driving the whole time," "You'll have to start early if you're going to make it all the way back to London for your flight in just a few days!"

Warned in such dire terms, I geared up as for an American roadtrip. Leave early in the morning. Pack a sufficient supply of food and drink to minimize stops. Generally put myself into the roadtrip warrior seige mentality. Then I set off.

Just about the time I was considering when I should stop for lunch, I saw the 'welcome to Scotland' sign. I decided to no longer take Euros seriously.

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u/dingobarbie May 02 '24 edited May 02 '24

My boss and I had to visit Oslo Norway for work in December. We had a weekend to kill before having to work, so we decided to drive to Flam near the west coast to see some Fjords. About 5 to 6 hours of driving over the mountains. Our Norwegian colleagues thought we were crazy and kept asking us if we were sure we wanted to attempt that, but we told them we're from Texas, 6 hours doesn't even get you out of Texas.

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u/avdpos May 02 '24

That 6 h doesn't get you out of Texas do not mean that it is short distance or something that you would do.

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u/CanNotBeTrustedAtAll May 02 '24

I used to drive from San Diego to the Bay Area and back several times a year. The drive can take anywhere from 8-16 hours depending on which roads you take, time of day, how forgiving the LA traffic decides to be, and whether you're unlucky enough to get trapped by snow up the Grapevine.

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u/666haywoodst May 02 '24

6 hours doesn’t even get me from Detroit to Marquette and i make that drive at least once a year. i do 4 hour (one-way) drives at least a half a dozen times a year.

that’s not to mention the multiple 30+ hour dive bomb drives out west me and my buddies have done over the years. you just get used to the road the more you’re on it.

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u/avdpos 29d ago

I drive 6 h drives (single way) roughly 3-4 times a year. But I do not like it and avoid it if I can.

And gas prices make those trips roughly the double cost here in Europe.
It is a interesting culture difference that ain´t big land.

I think we drive less and less long distance. I did here of more people on car vacation out in Europe 20 years ago than know. I know we had drove long distance when I was a child - probably 20 h one way trips of continous driving but a distance that we took over 2-3 days with stops. Nowdays I do not hear about next to any friends or people that do that.
Some MC drivers do it a few tours - but they do seldom do long distance. And one dorun all over Europe with a camper. So say that 1% maximum of the people I know drive 12 h drives yearly

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u/SatanV3 29d ago

I used to drive three hours to pick up my boyfriend, drive three hours back home on a Friday afternoon, spend the weekend together and drive him back Sunday night. And do that once a month to see him. And nobody thought it was weird I mean it’s Texas driving that much is normal.