What is a "long way to travel" for you?

[BarensMom]

Well, Baren, my DH and I used to drive from the East Bay to South Lake Tahoe (170 miles one way) for pizza (it was really good pizza).  We've also done day trips to Reno (250 miles one way) for Street Vibrations.  As long as we take breaks, I could drive all day, because I enjoy driving.

My father was a truck driver, and could go from one side of the country to the other in 3 days with almost non-stop driving.  My mother finally refused to go on vacation with him, because he wouldn't stop for ANYTHING once he got behind the wheel.

[LTrew]

My "long way to travel" is going from where I live in the UK, to where my family lives in America.  It normally takes at least 24 hours, we split the trip by driving up from the rural area we live to the airport hotels the day before our flights and staying in a hotel, and then spend a very very long time in the air.  It is at least a two leg flight so layovers normally involve a few extra hours, and then it is a half an hour drive from the airport to my parent's house.  That bit takes no time at all!

When I was working in the "city" I had 40 minutes on the train and then a 10-15 minute walk to my office.  I used to quite enjoy it, I could relax and read.  I would probably love it now that I have a kindle, too bad the job doesn't exist anymore!

[Lynn2000]

I don't like driving/riding in the car for very long anymore--my parents and I generally stop every 1.5 to 2 hours to stretch our legs a little, use the bathroom, etc., and about 4 to 6 hours is the limit we're willing to drive in a day, like as part of a longer vacation trip when we're going to spend the night somewhere.

At Christmas we have to go visit extended family and it's a LONG 2-hour drive from our house to theirs. We might stay 3, maybe 4 hours max, then turn around and drive back home. It doesn't help that to me at least, I'm not really keen on going and it feels more like an obligation than a want.

I think that if I ever had the opportunity to move to another town, 2 hours would be the upper limit I would want to be away from my parents, unless I was able to have them spend the night. I.e., 4 hours round-trip would be the max I would ask them to do for a daytrip, and I would expect we would spend at least 4 hours and preferably more together. Right now they live about 30min away and can easily come see me for a few hours or even just a meal.

On the other hand, my friend Amy and her DH do the thing where you get up at the crack of dawn and drive for 10 to 12 hours with only carefully planned and timed stops, stay overnight, then get up and do it again to get to the next place on the route. They have family 20 to 25 hours away that they visit a couple times a year this way. Amy feels it's more cost-effective to drive than to fly and she tries to make the car trips more fun with music, food, etc., but the primary goal is to get from A to B, not to have a road trip. I just couldn't do it.

[mmswm]

I just made a 4500 mile meandering trip from Seattle to Miami.  After that, nothing seems particularly long.

Seriously though, 3-4 hours for a day trip is fine.  12 hours if there's an overnight involved is fine as well.

[cicero]

Well, Baren, my DH and I used to drive from the East Bay to South Lake Tahoe (170 miles one way) for pizza (it was really good pizza).  We've also done day trips to Reno (250 miles one way) for Street Vibrations.  As long as we take breaks, I could drive all day, because I enjoy driving.

My father was a truck driver, and could go from one side of the country to the other in 3 days with almost non-stop driving.  My mother finally refused to go on vacation with him, because he wouldn't stop for ANYTHING once he got behind the wheel.

Once when DS and I were on a vacation, we drove about an hour out of our way for ice cream.

it was seriously the best ice cream i ever had.

[Shotochick]

To visit my family I am looking at about 26 hours of flights, plus at least one stopover (London to Oz), then a 3 hour drive down the south coast of NSW to where they live.

To visit Hussybands family, we live with the MIL ATM, so that one is easy, have been to see her family in Ireland which was a two day drive and a ferry inbetween.

For fun - I like to limit it to about 5 hours in the car a day, or 8 if I take breaks. Can do 12 but then I am a right off the next day. Or the car will be.

[Bijou]

Anywhere you cannot drive comfortably there and back the same day, leaving around 8am and getting back home around 9pm is too far to me.  Once in a blue moon (maybe a couple of times a year) we don't mind a trip of about 150 miles one way (300, round trip).  It would take us about 3 hours each way (freeway and some winding roads) and give us about 6 or 7 hours there before heading back.
Ordinary everyday stuff, going to parties and such?  I wouldn't want to travel more than about 20 to 30 minutes each way and may not even want to do that.

[Winterlight]

Flying from the east coast home to Alaska. You're going to spend all day travelling. Anything else? Short.

[GratefulMaria]

We do everything in our small city, so my day-to-day limit is within fifteen or twenty minutes.  DH's job, my mother, kids' schools when they still lived at home, all my groceries and household purchases are easy enough to reach locally.  For a fun day, DH and I will occasionally just go for a drive.

Our "too long" gauge goes in reverse for airport decisions.  Major City is a ninety minute comfortable bus ride away.  More Convenient City is a half-hour away, but the half-hour feels longer to me because it's my problem.

Even when we're visiting DS1 or DS2, the tendency is to keep things local and we prefer to just use public rather than drive whenever possible.  We have recently been renting a car, though, because both of them got kind of campus-bound and were very grateful to get an airing and change of scene.

[katycoo]

An hour is about my max when I'm staying within the city in which I live.  Longer than that is a long way.

Travelling to other cities - 3 hours is easy, more than 10 is a long way for a 1 day trip.

[Sharnita]

the country i live in is teeny so it's very relative here.

from the northernmost point to the southernmost point, it's about 500 km, about 5-6 hours driving. cross country, is about 2-3 hours driving. of course, this depends on traffic, and public transportation can be a pain. I don't have a car.

so - to my fav vacation spot, I drive about one hour each way. the beach is also about one hour. about once a year, DS and I go up north for vacation , that's about 2-3 hours each way, but we usually spend a day or two there.

my commute to work is about 50 minute walk and anywhere from 20 -60 minutes by bus.

to visit my family - a 12 hour flight across 7 time zones...

Yeah, that is pretty teeny, north to south and east to west in just my state takes longer, and that is in good weather, low traffic. And the availablility of publict transportation is really hit or miss. 

[kherbert05]

My sister mentioned that the 10 hour drive east to Florida seemed much shorter than their trips to NM. You only cross 1 state line going to NM. Going to FL they crossed 4 state lines and that made if feel like they were making progress.

[mmswm]

My sister mentioned that the 10 hour drive east to Florida seemed much shorter than their trips to NM. You only cross 1 state line going to NM. Going to FL they crossed 4 state lines and that made if feel like they were making progress.

I have to agree with your sister.  California and Texas seemed like they would never end, but the smaller states seemed to go by in a flash.

[Lynnv]

My sister mentioned that the 10 hour drive east to Florida seemed much shorter than their trips to NM. You only cross 1 state line going to NM. Going to FL they crossed 4 state lines and that made if feel like they were making progress.

I have to agree with your sister.  California and Texas seemed like they would never end, but the smaller states seemed to go by in a flash.

Me too.  I drove from Daytona, FL to San Diego for work and found my first two days of driving felt faster than the time crossing TX.   

[Ceallach]

For Work: anything more than a 30 minute commute each way (although where I live many people commute significantly longer than that - sometimes up to a couple of hours each way!).  I just can't stand being out of the house that long, so I need to be close enough to get home at a decent hour after work.

To visit family:   DH and I used to regularly drive 8 hours each way to visit his family, we'd drive Friday night, then back on Monday.  So 16 hours of travelling for a weekend.   To visit my family we'd drive 1 hour each way, day trips or overnight trips no worries.   We live overseas now so fly thousanda of miles to visit family so it's a bit different!

Day trips:   We'd drive 40-90 minutes each way to the beach for the day, or for shopping etc.  But we don't take big trips lightly.   Generally we prefer to shop locally - I hate sitting in the car for long!   We're kind of homebodies so I'd rather be at home than traipsing around the city.