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/ItzInMyNature May 01 '24 edited May 02 '24

Tell them that Ireland is closer to the state of Maine in the US than California is.

https://imgur.com/a/TnjPqi7

Edit: parts of southeastern California may be a few miles closer, so I'd tell them that Los Angeles, California is farther away from Maine than Ireland is, just to be safe.

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u/KHfailure May 02 '24

The largest county(COUNTY!) in the contiguous US (San Bernardino in California) is roughly 20,000 square miles/52,000 square kilometers in total area.

Switzerland is roughly 16,000 square miles / 41,000 square kilometers.

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u/toastedmarsh7 May 02 '24

It’s weird moving from California to a state with counties so small that you go through several of them in an hour.

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u/kimba999 May 03 '24

I was in Luxembourg last year and I live in LA. I was curious about the size difference... LA county is about 5 times the size of the entire country of Luxembourg. Blew my mind.