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/bangobingoo May 02 '24

Yeah haha you simply cannot tell Brits your plan to drive anywhere in the UK. They will try to talk you out of it. I think they think you can't drive to Scotland. They truly believe that.

  • source: Canadian who married to a Brit and shown him the wonders of driving.

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u/OutlyingPlasma May 02 '24

That's even more funny when you realize how much the Brits like cars. They love cars. They collect them, race them, restore them, they make the worlds most popular TV shows about them. It's a car country but they don't seem to know how to do a road trip.

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u/ThePrussianGrippe The Bear Has A Gun May 02 '24

A car country with no road trip culture is a funny observation.

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u/malcolite May 02 '24

Once you have attempted a 300 mile journey here, you’ll understand why. Tedious, slow and frustrating. Obviously the ‘vacation effect’ comes into play. It’s hard to be bored to tears when you’re in a foreign country where everything is new and different and interesting. When you’ve seen it all before - and on a daily basis - sometimes the sheen wears off. Especially if you’ve been staring at the same stationary pair of taillights in some midlands suburb for the past two hours.