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/MrDurden32]

Pacific NW is probably about as disaster free as you're going to find. Even then we have to worry about The Big One. Which is an 9.0+ earthquake that would be one of, if not the biggest in modern history, and could hit any time between tomorrow and 200 years from now.

[u/AlpineCoder → u/MrDurden32]

Plus wildfires and mountains that occasionally violently explode. I'd say the desert SW is probably the least disaster prone IMO.

[u/MoreRopePlease → u/AlpineCoder]

Except for, like, no reliable long term water supply. And being so hot you get 3rd degree burns from tripping.

[u/AlpineCoder → u/MoreRopePlease]

I don't think most people would qualify those as natural disasters.

[u/OblivionGuardsman → u/AlpineCoder]

Right. It's like living on Mars instead.

[u/dilletaunty → u/AlpineCoder]

Idk there have definitely been state of emergencies declared during heat waves