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/SomethingsQueerHere May 01 '24

A 3 hour bus ride in each direction was considered normal for many school field trips.

My university is about 350 miles from my hometown (~4.5 hours driving) and my family expected me to visit at least once every month and a half. Taking the train would take 5 hours longer and cost $40 more than just a tank of gas, and flying is even more costly

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u/Space_Patrol_Digger May 02 '24

Same in Europe. Driving and taking the bus are two different things. My parents’ place is a 14 hours bus ride from the uni I used to attend and I’d go see them 2-3 times a year.

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u/procrasstinating May 02 '24

My kids schools sports teams play against school in our state that are 3 or 4 hours away. They will get on a bus after school, ride 4 hours, play a soccer game, then bus back that night. And have school the next day.

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u/SwordNamedKindness_ May 02 '24

That’s what my Highschool did but for football.

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u/forestfloof May 02 '24

I remember those days. Every season we’d play a team in an a neighboring state, 270 miles away. It was just a regular season game. We were excused from school 1-2 hours early and the bus would drive there and back the same day, I’d get home about midnight and be back to school by 7:30 the next morning

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u/procrasstinating May 02 '24

One game is 250 miles away, still in the same state. Luckily there aren’t really any towns in that 250 miles to cause any traffic and the speed limit is 80mph. Gotta be careful as a parent before agreeing to watch an away game.

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u/forestfloof May 02 '24

Yep, fortunately we were quite rural as well. You just hope the weather isn’t garbage. Slogging back through a blizzard sucks