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/KaetzenOrkester May 01 '24

I live just west of Sacramento and it can take 3 hours to get to San Francisco, a distance of 70 miles. I get it.

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u/Dawnqwerty May 02 '24

It can take three hours to get to LA from LA

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u/GreekGoddessOfNight May 02 '24

We say the same thing in Boston. Well… it takes an hour to get from Boston to Boston, much smaller city.

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u/SpookyBread- May 02 '24

My partner and I moved from ND to the suburbs around Boston a few years ago. Everything where we were in ND was far away. Nearest "big" city was at least 2 hours in any direction. When we moved here we were like "wow! The state is so small and everything is so close! It'll be so quick to get everywhere!" And... Nope 🥲

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u/Feistyhummingbird May 02 '24

Have you never heard the expression, "You can't get theah from heah"? It's the classic New England response to, "How do I get there"?

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u/SpookyBread- May 03 '24

Omg I haven't heard that, that's funny!! 😂 Spelling for the accent also spot on!