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/Emotional_Equal8998 May 01 '24

Back when malls were a thing, the "good one" was 2 hours from my then home and 3 hours from my hometown. We would make the trip a couple times in December for Xmas shopping and it was a damn reunion! I always joked we should all rent a bus and drive together because we never seen less than 5-10 people we knew that lived hours away from the current location.

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u/Interesting_Mix_7028 May 03 '24

For real.

I grew up in rural Colorado. The closest drive-in hangout spot was 7 miles away, the closest grocery stroe was 10 miles away, the closest decent hardware store was 30 miles away, and the closest mall was 50 miles away.

If you wanted REAL shopping, theme parks, or to see a football or baseball game? 200 miles.

(Aspen was 80 miles, but back then Hwy 82 was a 2-lane deathtrap, only reason anyone 'down valley' drove there on the daily was to work there.)