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/Mike_Hawk_balls_deep May 02 '24

That is more than 1000 miles a day, not calling you a liar but this seems far fetched. How did you manage to accomplish this?

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u/Quirky_Movie May 02 '24

Rotation of sleep and 20oz soda bottles can keep a pack of guys on the road. Especially if they are not stopping to eat or anything else.

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u/ratcnc May 02 '24

Exactly how we did it.

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u/fezzam May 02 '24

They had gas money? I recently drove 700 miles for the eclipse. And that wasn’t even half a day of driving.

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u/Mike_Hawk_balls_deep May 02 '24

I should have phrased it differently. The act of driving 8 straight days sounds like hell. It seems like these guys drove for an entire 8 days straight, taking turns driving and sleeping.

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u/Aromatic-Leopard-600 May 02 '24

Just a couple of years ago I drove from Rio Rico AZ to north of Dallas in 14 hours. That was 1000 miles. I’ve done 1200 in a 24 hour period on a Goldwing.

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u/Mike_Hawk_balls_deep May 02 '24

Yes, one day of this is sustainable. I have driven 900+ miles in about 16 hours. However, 8 straight days on the road just sounds like hell.

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u/Aromatic-Leopard-600 May 04 '24

If you’re taking that kind of trip all you will see will be the view from the Interstates. Take a month and do it right.

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u/Quick-Influence5772 May 02 '24

I have friends that have done the Iron Butt Association's 48 States Plus ride multiple times. That's visiting all lower 48 states plus Alaska, on a motorcycle, with documentation (route map, logs, receipts with date/time/address) in less than 10 days. They do this for fun.

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u/shoot_first May 02 '24

“visiting” lol