The American way of expressing distances by drive time - what does that include?

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2Y

American here that does long haul drives rather frequently for dog shows…

When I give a time, it’s without breaks. “10 hours to the Fairgrounds” - 10 hours of straight driving with no problems.

I tell folks new to my methodology to anticipate around an hour of variance for every twelve hours, as I typically must stop 2x for gas at least. (My tank holds 400 miles / 12 gallons, and I try not to let it drop below 50 / 1.5 gallons.)

For the dog shows, I’ve got a varying number of dogs with me (8 was my max, 2-4 pretty common) and pottying them takes forever.

Edit for Clarification: I’m content to drive around 14-16 hours straight without stopping to rest. If the trip is longer than that, I do have to pull over to nap.

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12Y

Which character from Best in Show would you be?

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22Y

None! I haven’t actually watched it 😅 It does amuse me that it exists, but I spend waaaaay too much time training dogs to actually watch a movie about it.

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212Y

The time is usually an estimate, or the best case scenario in my head. If I have to stop and add more time, I do. But 10 hours is probably what google maps told me it is. I drove straight 9 hours or so once, I think I stopped twice to use the bathroom/get a snack. Got there at 2am. It was rough, wouldn’t do it again.

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92Y

I drove from Albuquerque NM to Tacoma WA in two days by myself. That one was pretty rough.

I generally go off of what the GPS says because time is a blur for me unless I take specific note.

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22Y

Do you get Highway Hypnosis on such long drives?

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22Y

Not who you asked, but toward the end of a long drive, absolutely. White line fever becomes a huge risk for me, personally, after 5-6 hours.

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12Y

For that particular drive I was on Adderall and smoking a lot of weed so hyper focused paranoia prevented that. However, when I was following tail lights at 70mph through the mountains in a downpour and the windshield wiper came off, the pucker factor was very high.

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72Y

Just depends on the person saying it. Could just be what their GPS says or the person could have included stops. Best to ask them as there is no definitive answer to this.

Zeppo
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262Y

People are not usually counting that, but it’s not as if it’s a standard. Sometimes they mean how long the overall trip takes, other times, simply the distance divided by the average speed limit.

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682Y

I usually say something like “10 hours, plus stops,” to avoid confusion.

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102Y

This is the way.

Not if you’re my dad.

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72Y

gotta make time! (in case there’s confusion, this doesn’t mean make time for breaks, but to get there as quickly as possible)

The Tiny Toons episode where Hampton and Plucky go to what was basically Disney Land is a perfect summary of what road trips with my family were like. lol

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52Y

Personally, that includes gas station stops, but not much beyond that.

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42Y

I always speak in drive time and i will note total time when applicable.

For example: drove my ex to DK. I drove like 9.5 hours overnight. Lol We probably stopped for an hour and a half or so total like ~11 hours.

AmidFuror
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12Y

Why are you taking your ex on long trips?

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22Y

Sure, but there are far fewer breaks than there should be, generally.

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2Y

It’s going to take all day either way with or without stops. You’ll have to eat either before, during or after the drive.

To me, anything more than 4 hours is a 1 day drive.

If someone said 10 hour drive, I’d assume that’s the time on the road without stops. The context being not about distance anymore, but about for long you’re going to sit in a car, to plan for breaks, hotels and splitting the drive.

Also flights. A two hour flight is from start to landing, even if the entire thing also includes two hours before checking in and half an hour to collect the luggage and finding a taxi out of there etc. The 2 hour is only for making the decision of when to eat and what to bring on board. Same thing with long drives.

DeepChill
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22Y

“To me, anything more than 4 hours is a 1 day drive.”

Wow, where do you live that 4hrs is such a big deal? To be fair, I used to work with a guy that had to pack a lunch and plan his trip days in advance just to “go into town” which was maybe a 45min (75km) trip each way on a 4 lane divided freeway.

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32Y

I just don’t like driving that much. If it’s more than 4 hours, I’d rather split it two and sleep in between, so I can also do other stuff on both days.

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32Y

Same. I hate driving as well, I can’t imagine driving somewhere for 4 hours, doing something, then turning around and driving back another 4 hours the same day.

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02Y

I’d say it does as driving for 10 hours straight without any stops doesn’t really sound healthy.

XbSuper
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552Y

I never realized how different people take this. For me it’s a definite no. A 10 hour drive is how long it takes without breaks, because it makes no sense to have it included, since everyone’s breaks would vary in length.

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222Y

Exactly this.

“How long does it take to get to x?”

“Four hours if you don’t stop” or … “it’s a four hour drive”.

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22Y

I usually refer to GPS time.

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222Y

As an Australian, not an American, we drive long distances too. We express in km/h and km, not mph and miles. Due to high risks of sleeping on long straight empty roads, rest breaks are taken seriously here. I’d consider a 10 hour drive as door to door including minimal breaks. It would be foolhardy to drive without breaks. However, if I was describing the distance without breaks, I’d say that. If I was taking longer breaks, I’d say it too, for clarity.

My in laws live near the border of the next state. It’s a 6 hour drive without stopping. I’d describe it as a 7 hour drive, door to door. We have done it in 9 hours with stops in playgrounds for the kids. If I was describing that I’d still describe it as a 7 hour drive that we took extra breaks, so it took 9.

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2Y

Similar to your “door to door with minimal breaks” - as an American, a ten hour drive is the minimum it could take. Yes we should take breaks more seriously

For example, I say it’s a 14 hour drive to my brother’s house. That means I grab breakfast on my way out of town, stop for gas and fast food lunch (perhaps to go), stop for gas and fast food dinner, then get there 14 hours later. If you take more than minimal breaks, it’s up to you to do the math

The 7 hour drive I had last week included one stop for gas, but that’s it. We usually refer to the amount of time the gps says it will take.

You went approximately 100 miles in seven hours. Thank you for driving safely.

Hmm well it was 430 miles but yes I did drive safely.

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