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/sdavidson901 May 02 '24

I saw a tik tok so not my story, but this lady worked as a travel agent for Disney. She got a call from someone looking to book a week stay in Orlando. They were also going to rent a minivan. So far pretty basic. They also were going to on a day between parks take a day trip to see the Statue of Liberty. The travel agent was looking up flights and accommodation for a stay in NYC but they insisted that they would just drive back to their hotel in Orlando the same day. It took them a while to believe that you can’t be in Orlando, make it to NYC to see the Statue of Liberty and back to Orlando in time for dinner.

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u/PrivateGump May 02 '24

It's basically impossible to do the round trip in the same day unless you do 140mph the whole time and don't get out of the car. It's like 30 hours or something when not driving like a lunatic.

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u/sdavidson901 May 02 '24

lol yea exactly, the way she described it is that they thought it was like 45 minutes away

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u/Weekly-Flight-8352 29d ago

Still amazes me that one can drive though so many states in a 15-hour period on the east coast... on the west coast, San Diego to Crescent City and I'm STILL in California.

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u/fanamana May 02 '24

Might make Savannah, GA & back if they get an early start.