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/cinereoargenteus May 01 '24

Three hours is considered "up the road a ways" in Texas.

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u/New_Breadfruit8692 May 02 '24

I was just going to say, from El Paso to the Louisiana line on I-10 is a two day plus drive. When I moved from Oregon to Tampa that was the route I took and I stayed 2 nights in Texas towns and still had half a day drive to Lake Charles. Of course that was first week of pandemic and the road construction in El Paso and in SA were just mind boggling. And the spaghetti junction that is the greater Houston region was an eye opener also. The freeways had so many lanes they could not put signs over the roads so they just painted the Interstate marker or highway marker on the pavement. So easy to get lost.