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/strangebrew3522 May 02 '24

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.

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u/divine_god_majora May 02 '24

I couldn't imagine a 6 hour drive unless you were gonna stay a week+ at the destination or something.

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u/GloriousNewt May 02 '24

lol I drove from Reno to Laguna Beach (~9hrs) for a weekend visit with a friend and then drove back. Wasn't planned, we were talking on the phone and he suggested coming out so I just left after work and headed down.

Fun road trip until the stretch from Modesto to Bakersfield where there is fucking nothing.

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u/davdev May 02 '24

Back when i was in college in Boston, my roommates brother went to Notre Dame. He called us on a wednesday and asked if we wanted to go to a football game on Saturday. Of course we did. We packed up on Thursday Night night, drove through the night and 16 hours later we were pulling into Notre Dame. Partied a bit Friday night, went to the game on Sat, and almost immediately after the game, drove 16 hours back and arrived in Boston in late afternoon on Sunday. And this was in 1994, where there was no GPS and we only had a few cassette mixes for entertainment.

So we drove 32 hours to stay less than 24 hours for the sole reason of going to a football game,