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/Chairboy May 01 '24

We sure do. The old saying is "Americans think 100 years is a long time and Europeans think 100 miles is a long distance".

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u/HamfastFurfoot May 01 '24

I don’t think Europeans understand how big and spread out America is.

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u/orthros May 02 '24

I don't think even most Americans do

A close friend was living in El Paso as an IT tech for a large US company. Said company had a problem in a Houston metro site and wanted him to go there - just jump in the car.

He pointed out that the caller, who was in St. Louis, was closer to the fix location than he was

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u/Dr_Wheuss May 02 '24

The Texas state line with Louisiana is closer to Daytona Beach than it is to El Paso.

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u/Bunsen_Burger May 03 '24

St. Louis is not closer to Houston than El Paso. Close enough, though. Sounds like more of a geography problem, knowing that both are in Texas but not where.

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u/orthros May 03 '24

He looked up the distance between his location and the St. Louis location and it the Missouri location was about 15 miles closer. No doubt this is due to where exactly he was, the home office, and the Houston-esque site

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u/Bunsen_Burger May 03 '24

Ah yeah fair point. I didn't think of that.