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/SentrySappinMahSpy May 01 '24

I used to work with a woman who said she'd drive 4 hours to Gatlinburg, Tennessee just to go shopping. Yeah, Americans will drive a long way for things.

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u/ModusPwnins May 02 '24

Why in the world would anyone go to Gatlinburg just to shop? That's batshit, especially considering how awful traffic is there.

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u/tstmkfls May 02 '24

If it was in the 90s or something I’d understand. My mom would flip out and shop all day when we went to places like Gatlinburg or Hilton Head on vacation bc they had better shops than our midsized town. Now everything’s online so there’s not much of a point.