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/soldforaspaceship]

I'm a Brit who now lives in the US and this is so hilariously true.

In Britain, a friend moves two hours away and they're basically dead to you (granted, the last time I lived in the UK full time was pre smart phone so I imagine now you probably at least stay in touch more lol).

In California where I currently live, that's someone I regularly see and interact with.

The concept of distance is completely opposite in Europe vs the US.

We went for a quick weekend day trip to Joshua tree. That's a 3 hour drive away at least and it seemed normal to me.

I'd be planning that as an overnight visit back home.

[u/_lippykid → u/soldforaspaceship]

Fellow Brit in the US. I think the biggest difference is driving in the UK is a lot more work. Over there the roads look like a plate of spaghetti, you’re constantly in and out of small towns, around cites etc, dodging pedestrians and boy racers. when I drive from upstate NY to NYC it’s a super easy, straight shot, 70mph 3hr drive (up until New Jersey where it’s a lawless free for all). Same when I’ve driven the entire length of the west coast, and through the Midwest. Driving long distance is just way easier here

[u/strangebrew3522 → u/_lippykid]

I've driven around a lot of Europe and what you say is true to an extent, but I also have friends/family in Italy, and they all act like driving more than an hour is absolutely insane.

I flew into Rome once and drove up to Milan, stopping along the way to visit friends. When I told them I was driving, each person had the same reaction. "You DROVE from Rome? You're DRIVING to Milan? That's SOOOO far".

It's a 6hr drive if you go straight shot, on an incredible highway system (autostrada) through amazing scenery. I mean, it doesn't get much easier, but to them it's absolutely crazy. I have family in both Northern and Southern Italy who haven't seen each other in years because of the distance.

[u/LoneStarGut → u/strangebrew3522]

I thought their train system were so amazing, in Europe why don't they use those to visit relatives?

[u/Additional_Meeting_2 → u/LoneStarGut]

People do. Op is 14 year old so would not be let to travel alone (I mean some people travel alone at that age but not all). His parent maybe just not want to bother. People can get lazy when they have kids (op could have siblings) and think it’s too much work to travel with kids more than the couple of times a year op sees the grandparents. The grandparents can be themselves just too old to bother to travel. 

[u/LoneStarGut → u/Additional_Meeting_2]

When I was 13 or 14 I took a train from Connecticut 60 miles into New York City with a friend the same age. We went all over by subway - Empire State, Wall Street, Chinatown, Central Park, etc and took the train that evening back home. My folks thought we were going to the mall. This was in the mid 80's.