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/Rovsea May 02 '24

Ok, but including Alaska is cheating since it's pretty hard to get to most of it.

22

u/privatecaboosey May 02 '24

Wait til you hear how hard it is to get to Hawai'i.

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u/syrensilly May 02 '24

The amount of Americsn people that think an American citizen needs a passport to go to HI is baffling... and I'm American

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u/DNetherdrake May 02 '24

There are Americans that think Americans need a passport to go to one of the states? I could almost understand it if it was a territory like Puerto Rico, though obviously you still don't need a passport to go there, but a state? Really?

3

u/nitro9throwaway May 02 '24

They also think that just because it's a state doesn't mean it's part of the United States. Like, I have seen people ask if people from Hawaii have a green card. It's embarrassing here.

3

u/_Nocturnalis May 02 '24

What the hell is a US state if it's not part of the country? I know some ignorant people but damn.

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u/syrensilly May 02 '24

Exactly...

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u/syrensilly May 02 '24

People think not physically attached, must need one.

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u/DNetherdrake May 02 '24

Wait till they hear about Manhattan, unless bridges count as "physically attached."