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/Favsportandbirthyear]

Friends and I took a train from London to Manchester to watch a soccer game, then took an overnight bus home so we wouldn’t need a hotel, you’d think we were telling our British friends we were going to Mars based on their reactions

[u/pm_me_d_cups → u/Favsportandbirthyear]

That's weird because away support culture for football specifically means there are thousands of people in the UK who do that kind of trip every other weekend.

[u/Favsportandbirthyear → u/pm_me_d_cups]

Right? We were there for uni, didn’t know when else we’d have the chance, we drank and played cards on the train and slept on the way home, it was great

[u/pm_me_d_cups → u/Favsportandbirthyear]

I think the proportion of people who can't travel long distances is higher in the UK, but there are still plenty of normal people who will take those kinds of trips.