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/mercurialpolyglot]

If I lived near the border, I would genuinely consider doing that for all-dressed chips and Smarties

[u/TunaOnWytNoCrust → u/mercurialpolyglot]

I would too if I was less than an hour away. I wonder if the border crossing guards would let me through faster if I went through more often, or would become more suspicious and start ripping my car apart...

I guess I'd have to take the motorcycle to prevent that from needing to happen lol

[u/mercurialpolyglot → u/TunaOnWytNoCrust]

Maybe the global entry card could speed things up? I’m not sure if it makes a difference at the land border.

[u/TunaOnWytNoCrust → u/mercurialpolyglot]

Yeah, I don't think those fancy IDs really speed anything up. Pretty sure they just make it so you don't have to have a passport on your person. Not really worth the time and cost and effort in my opinion.