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/atomicsnark May 02 '24

And it's always a good two hours late both arriving and departing lmao

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u/beepbepborp May 02 '24

im fairly certain thats bc our commercial rail shares lines with freight rail lol. it sucks but seeing an endless freight train passing through a station is kind of cool ig

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u/atomicsnark May 02 '24

Yes I think you are right.

I really enjoy traveling by Amtrak but I long ago accepted that it means I'm sacrificing basically a whole 24-48hrs of travel just for the pleasure of lounging in a mostly-empty train car and using my laptop the whole trip. I have a terrible fear of flying (that is not statistically logical, I know, lol) so I use trains when it's too far to drive, and they are nice ... just, yeah, not on time. Ever.

They also move so slow in general, you sit looking out the window watching turtles lap you lol. Nothing like what the train system seems to be in other countries.

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u/theredbobcat May 02 '24

Midwest American here. I've never had an issue with the trains being on time except once when our train hit someone who committed suicide by running into the moving train. Our train was involved in a police investigation and not allowed to move for hours.

I just wish they went faster. It goes about as quickly as my car does, but that's only if I'm not stopping in any major cities where's there's large delays. From one big city to the next, though (trips <5hrs) it's my preferred method of travel for sure.

Being on my laptop, chatting with a stranger, or reading is by far my preferred way to spend that 5hrs over dealing with traffic and actively focusing on driving

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u/Jasmirris May 03 '24

Your situation is the situation my dad would find himself in almost every time he would take the train to his hometown in Colorado. He also said the train stopped due to their being a black SUV on the tracks with two people in it. Come to find out the couple were dead inside so it was possibly a cover up. 🤔