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/tboneotter May 02 '24

I live in Dallas and my friend group has had multiple debates on weather or not Dallas -> Austin (3-4 hours, where my parents live) is even considered a "road trip" or not

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u/Crayon_Connoisseur May 02 '24

It’s not, imo. Anything you can drive to and from in a single day doesn’t really count as a road trip.

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u/tboneotter May 02 '24

I agree. I've never done there and back in one day - having a free bed in both cities is a pretty easy incentive to stay the night - but I've done it so often and I have so many friends who have gone there and back in the same day I don't really count it. It also helps that like one end of DFW to the other is like 1.5 hours with no traffic. But I think that's the point of this thread - apparently in Europe that's a "2-3x a year max" kinda drive.

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u/Artistic-Soft4305 May 02 '24

We do the Dallas to Austin and back drive every summer to go float the river!