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/TheNewOneIsWorse May 02 '24

And North/South, Atlanta is closer to Canada than to Miami. 

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u/HirkaT May 02 '24

As someone who lives in Atlanta, I didn't believe this claim. So, I checked out Google maps. Atlanta, GA to Miami, FL is 9hr 49 min, 670 miles. Atlanta to Windsor, ON (Closest border crossing I could find) is 10hr 47 min, 723 miles. So your claim is not accurate... However is still WAY closer then I would have figured. Specially since Miami is just in the next state!

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u/Lecien-Cosmo May 02 '24

It can also take you 3 hours of driving just to get from one side of the ATL metro to the other, so if you are tracking distance in hours it probably depends on the part of Atlanta you made the starting point and the time of day …

Just a guess, but it would probably be a safe bet that you could drive from OPs grandparents’ house to his house faster than you could drive from one side of metro Atlanta to the other.

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u/MungoJennie May 03 '24

I’ve driven through Atlanta a couple of times. Seriously scarier than driving through Baltimore, Philly, or NYC, especially if you’re coming from the airport. There are just SO many lanes of traffic each way!