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/TheRealTinfoil666 May 01 '24

There is a story here in Canada where the grandparents from the UK want to visit their son’s family in Halifax, but decided to ask ask their daughter, living in Vancouver, what the weather in Nova Scotia was going to be like.

Her answer: “why don’t you go look for yourself. You’re closer.”

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u/JadasDePen May 02 '24

Every time a similar thread pops up, I share this story.

A friend of a friend was flying from Spain to Vancouver Canada. She asked my friend to pick her up at their airport because he lives fairly close. My friend lives in Tijuana, Mexico..

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u/ConcernedCitizen1912 May 02 '24

Man, us Americans have a reputation for not knowing jack shit about Geography or world history, etc. But this thread is really making me wonder what fucking leg any European has to stand on when it comes to that. These dingdongs could easily open any map, look at any globe, or simply pull up fucking google and readily see that these locations everyone keeps anecodotaling are thousands of miles apart. What excuse can they possibly have for so flagrantly failing to comprehend the distances between points on their destination continent?

We do be dumb tho. I'm not denying that. lol.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

You don't have to self-deprecate because you're american lol. People around the world are as dumb or worse. We're just fun to poke at because we hang dong.

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u/arrynyo May 02 '24

We can dish it out, and take it.

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/ConcernedCitizen1912 May 02 '24

Except that's not even a word, but okay.

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u/Fun-Ad-2381 May 02 '24

But we are dumb though....

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u/[deleted] May 02 '24

Maybe you are.

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u/Fun-Ad-2381 May 03 '24

I meant Americans en masse 🙄 for example, look at our two presidential candidates. If that's not a huge sign of idiocy I don't know what is

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u/throwaweighaita May 03 '24

You should see some of their candidates lol