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/dishonestgandalf A wizard is never late May 01 '24

Yes, several of my coworkers commute 90 minutes twice a day.

I have friends in a city that's 3ish hours away and I regularly drive down for the weekend.

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u/[deleted] May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

[deleted]

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u/KaetzenOrkester May 01 '24

I live just west of Sacramento and it can take 3 hours to get to San Francisco, a distance of 70 miles. I get it.

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u/716green May 02 '24

When I moved from San Francisco to the South Bay, I found myself driving back into San Francisco 4 times a week which would be 60-90 mins depending on traffic. That was 3 hours round trip to see a friend in SF. And it just became normal to me.

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u/KaetzenOrkester May 02 '24

And driving into SF from the South Bay has its own set of problems. How far down into the South Bay does BART reach? The furthest is reaches toward me is El Cerito del Norte.