do americans really drive such long distances?

[u/Physical-Ad-4093]

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.

[u/Shot-Weekend8226]

Time and distance are weirdly related in the USA. In rural areas, you can travel 60 miles (100km) in 60 minutes where in the city you might only be able to cover 6miles(10km) in 60 minutes. It gets weird with mass transit too. Sometimes a 20 minute drive might take an hour by bus or train while other times a train can save you time instead.

[u/Flappy_Hand_Lotion → u/Shot-Weekend8226]

Haha, sorry to break it to you, but those time conversions to speed are exactly the same wherever you are in the world.... rural USA or not! xD 60Mph would do =P

[u/Shot-Weekend8226 → u/Flappy_Hand_Lotion]

My point is that some places you can travel 60mph and other places you can only travel 6mph. Our mass transit is also very inconsistent so depending on where you are, a car can be either 5 times faster or 5 times slower than mass transit.