So, Americans are all about road trips, right? Is that still as popular as it used to be?
August 15, 2025
So, Americans are all about road trips, right? Is that still as popular as it used to be?
37 comments
In my circles, it seems to be making a comeback since everything’s expensive.
Last year there were almost 2 *billion* road trips. So… yeah.
The fun bit that’s going to be argued is ‘what defines a road trip?’
Even if people don’t call it that as much anymore, lots of Americans are driving several hours to vacation destinations, yes.
Most of the vacations my wife and I take are road trips to state and national parks.
“Americans” encompasses 347.5 million people. But me personally, yeah. I’ve gone on road trips my whole life and still do. Camping isn’t too expensive and this country is beautiful.
Yep, the average American can tolerate and even enjoy long car rides (greater than an hour or two) more than the average citizen of other parts of the world.
i’d say so! i’ve found they’re even more popular after covid. cheaper, safer, and more fun than flying in my opinion. but i live in the midwest, so road trips are never going to be *un*popular lol
My family takes a road trip every year. The distance to our destination varies from a couple hours to a day’s drive.
It depends on what you mean by “road trip.” Most people aren’t driving clear across the country, but within a day or so’s drive.
Done across country twice and am planning another soon. I would much rather camp then sleep in a hotel bed that thousands have before me. We have nature here that must be experienced properly.
>Is that still as popular as it used to be?
Probably (I’m sure someone will drop some statistics in the thread).
More generally, Americans road trip because it’s a pretty easy way to get around the US.
Gas is cheap. Everyone’s got a car. You probably need a car where you started, and where you’re going.
With our highway system, if your goal is to get somewhere fast, 500-600 miles a day is a reasonable traveling distance.
For instance, from where I am in Georgia, if I were going to Disney in Orlando, if I drive it’s 7 hours door to door (allow for 8.5 to include gas/bathrooms/a lunch stop). It’s less than $100 for gas and tolls.
Compare that to a family of 4 flying. $250 round trip (at best) each. $200/week for a rental car. Leaving the house 2+ hours before the flight and allowing for an hour on the Florida end to get bags/rental car/get to the hotel.
Driving – 7 hours, $100 in costs (ignoring wear and tear, as most people do).
Flying – 5 hours, $1200+ in costs.
Why would I do anything except drive?
Yes…some also include last minute flights
i’ve gone on many many road trips. in December I did a road trip by myself. I started in CA, drove through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and back to CA.
I’ve driven from the East Coast to New Mexico, about a 2,100 mile (3379 km) journey, in a VW Vanagon.
I’m the only person I know who has done something like that. I don’t think many people do road trips anymore, especially when it requires so much time and flights are so relatively cheap.
I had fun overall, but it really is just a bunch of driving for driving’s sake and a little panicking when a 30 year old van is struggling to make it up the Rockies.
I take one every year with my family.
Last year we went on a road trip that took a total of ~seventy-eight hours driving and right under six thousand miles. Took a little over two weeks. I drove the entire route.
I love road trips. Drove from Minnesota to Washington last year to hike a National Park.
I don’t do long road trips, but a 6 hour day driving through the mountains and stopping to look at shit, walk around and eat is pretty common.
I personally hate them and haven’t driven over about ~4 hours since pre-Covid. I did fly 36 times last year though.
It’s not really that practical living in a big Northeastern city. I’m fairly sure a trip to Europe would cost less than renting a car for two weeks and going up to New England or whatever.
I do think they’re a bit out of fashion with young people–and seen as a very 20th century thing. Most of my peers are a lot more interested in a trip to Europe, Japan, or Southeast Asia than they are in driving to the Smokies or Las Vegas. We’ll rent cars if practical to drive up to Yosemite, Zion, etc.–after flying into the closest airport–but I don’t know anyone who wants to drive 1,500 miles.
Domestic travel–beyond weekend trips to New York and Miami–seems a lot less popular than it used to be when international travel costs just the same. I think I spent more going to California for 8 days than to Thailand for 16, including flights.
Maybe there’s a slight decline in popularity, but it seems to me that road trips are still a common part of American culture. Just recently returned from a road trip that was about 3500 miles roundtrip (two weeks spent at destination, the 3500 miles was the two days out and two days back).
Any place that is over a 6 hour drive I’m probably flying to.
I have no real desire to do a road trip for the sake of doing a road trip.
I would say so. I’ve put 50,000 miles on my car in three years with a bulk of them being 150+ miles at a time, and the longest trips being from Stillwater OK to Macon GA and back for a friend’s wedding, from Newton KS to Boone NC and back for another wedding, from Newton KS to Corpus Christi TX and back twice (once for leisure, once for a wedding), and to Galveston TX and back.
I wouldn’t say we’re “all about it,” but it’s just easy and common to do them in a way that is pretty totally foreign to Europeans. Some people are all about them, but it’s more just a constantly available option and fact of life.
I would say the newer generation doesn’t do them as often, but they are still a large part of our culture. I converted a van, and still enjoy driving many places others would normally fly because I love road trips. I’m not against flying, and fly when traveling for things where driving isn’t possible, but even my last trip to California from the Midwest, I took an extra 2 weeks off and drove there and back spending time in places all along the way.
2020-2021 seemed like a big roadtrip renaissance. We did several in those years and still like doing an occasional roadie.
National parks are obviously super popular but lots of states have a really good state park system with cabins, hiking, and other things national parks have but with far fewer crowds and less need to book a year in advance.
I LOVE a good road trip. Stopping at gas stations to refuel and get all types of junk/fast food is part of the fun. So are long playlists that annoy everyone else in the car.
We’ve done both long-hauling to destinations (last year my best friend and I drove 16ish hours each way for a WDW/Disney Cruise combo, then turned around the next weekend and drove 14 hours round trip in one day with my husband to pick up my elderly stepfather and my brother for Christmas). Next year, we plan to fly to Los Angeles and spend 2 weeks roadtripping the Pacific Coast Highway in California, with multiple overnight stops (some 2-3 nights).
Check out r/roadtrip and you’ll see its pretty active.
Yeah pretty much
Yesssss! We love them!
I mean a lot of us kind of have to be. My entire family lives 8.5 hours away by car.
Yeah, most of my vacations are roadtrips. I rarely fly and try to avoid flying as much as possible.
Almost anywhere you go is a road trip. My son decided to take a day trip to Nashville yesterday. It’s a 6-hour round trip and he lives in TN. 😂
The best trip I ever went on was a 3 month road trip around the US and a few parts of Canada. The second best trip I ever went on was a 2 week roadtrip up the coast of Australia.
Can’t speak for all Americans, but I enjoy a well planned roadtrip. It’s not practical for regular vacations though which are usually just a drive to the destination of choice where we stay for either a long weekend or full week.
Road trips are fun when you take a good route. Sometimes it’s awful because you need to transport your whole family from the Chicago area to Colorado for a summer vacation and the option is to go through the entirety of Kansas or Nebraska.
If I had the freedom to do so right now, I would be taking road trips all over the country. I’ve done quite a few during my life and love them. It’s the best way to see this country.
I absolutely love road trips if I have the time. It’s hard to do a longer road trip when you’re working, but many retirees do them especially if they’re snowbirds (people who’s permanent residence is in the north, often the Midwest, who go south for the winter). My grandparents did this, they didn’t have a second home in the south but they’d spend the entire winter driving to visit relatives in California and Texas and sight seeing along the way. I’ve done cross country trips while I’ve been moving states and you definitely see a lot of old people, sometimes you see them more than once if you happen to be traveling in the same direction!
Sometimes its a road trip, sometimes its just a 22 hour drive to see my grandma across a third of the country.
One time I told my boys we should go on a road trip to different national parks. I made like a rough plan and then me of the guys said he didn’t want to go anymore because it was “too much driving.” I was like uhhh yea that’s the road part of a road trip.
37 comments
In my circles, it seems to be making a comeback since everything’s expensive.
Last year there were almost 2 *billion* road trips. So… yeah.
The fun bit that’s going to be argued is ‘what defines a road trip?’
Even if people don’t call it that as much anymore, lots of Americans are driving several hours to vacation destinations, yes.
Most of the vacations my wife and I take are road trips to state and national parks.
“Americans” encompasses 347.5 million people. But me personally, yeah. I’ve gone on road trips my whole life and still do. Camping isn’t too expensive and this country is beautiful.
Yep, the average American can tolerate and even enjoy long car rides (greater than an hour or two) more than the average citizen of other parts of the world.
i’d say so! i’ve found they’re even more popular after covid. cheaper, safer, and more fun than flying in my opinion. but i live in the midwest, so road trips are never going to be *un*popular lol
My family takes a road trip every year. The distance to our destination varies from a couple hours to a day’s drive.
It depends on what you mean by “road trip.” Most people aren’t driving clear across the country, but within a day or so’s drive.
Edit: The average summer road trip is 284 miles one way. ([source](https://www.bts.gov/statistical-products/surveys/national-household-travel-survey-summer-travel-quick-facts))
Done across country twice and am planning another soon. I would much rather camp then sleep in a hotel bed that thousands have before me. We have nature here that must be experienced properly.
>Is that still as popular as it used to be?
Probably (I’m sure someone will drop some statistics in the thread).
More generally, Americans road trip because it’s a pretty easy way to get around the US.
Gas is cheap. Everyone’s got a car. You probably need a car where you started, and where you’re going.
With our highway system, if your goal is to get somewhere fast, 500-600 miles a day is a reasonable traveling distance.
For instance, from where I am in Georgia, if I were going to Disney in Orlando, if I drive it’s 7 hours door to door (allow for 8.5 to include gas/bathrooms/a lunch stop). It’s less than $100 for gas and tolls.
Compare that to a family of 4 flying. $250 round trip (at best) each. $200/week for a rental car. Leaving the house 2+ hours before the flight and allowing for an hour on the Florida end to get bags/rental car/get to the hotel.
Driving – 7 hours, $100 in costs (ignoring wear and tear, as most people do).
Flying – 5 hours, $1200+ in costs.
Why would I do anything except drive?
Yes…some also include last minute flights
i’ve gone on many many road trips. in December I did a road trip by myself. I started in CA, drove through Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, Nevada and back to CA.
I’ve driven from the East Coast to New Mexico, about a 2,100 mile (3379 km) journey, in a VW Vanagon.
I’m the only person I know who has done something like that. I don’t think many people do road trips anymore, especially when it requires so much time and flights are so relatively cheap.
I had fun overall, but it really is just a bunch of driving for driving’s sake and a little panicking when a 30 year old van is struggling to make it up the Rockies.
I take one every year with my family.
Last year we went on a road trip that took a total of ~seventy-eight hours driving and right under six thousand miles. Took a little over two weeks. I drove the entire route.
I love road trips. Drove from Minnesota to Washington last year to hike a National Park.
I don’t do long road trips, but a 6 hour day driving through the mountains and stopping to look at shit, walk around and eat is pretty common.
I personally hate them and haven’t driven over about ~4 hours since pre-Covid. I did fly 36 times last year though.
It’s not really that practical living in a big Northeastern city. I’m fairly sure a trip to Europe would cost less than renting a car for two weeks and going up to New England or whatever.
I do think they’re a bit out of fashion with young people–and seen as a very 20th century thing. Most of my peers are a lot more interested in a trip to Europe, Japan, or Southeast Asia than they are in driving to the Smokies or Las Vegas. We’ll rent cars if practical to drive up to Yosemite, Zion, etc.–after flying into the closest airport–but I don’t know anyone who wants to drive 1,500 miles.
Domestic travel–beyond weekend trips to New York and Miami–seems a lot less popular than it used to be when international travel costs just the same. I think I spent more going to California for 8 days than to Thailand for 16, including flights.
Maybe there’s a slight decline in popularity, but it seems to me that road trips are still a common part of American culture. Just recently returned from a road trip that was about 3500 miles roundtrip (two weeks spent at destination, the 3500 miles was the two days out and two days back).
Any place that is over a 6 hour drive I’m probably flying to.
I have no real desire to do a road trip for the sake of doing a road trip.
I would say so. I’ve put 50,000 miles on my car in three years with a bulk of them being 150+ miles at a time, and the longest trips being from Stillwater OK to Macon GA and back for a friend’s wedding, from Newton KS to Boone NC and back for another wedding, from Newton KS to Corpus Christi TX and back twice (once for leisure, once for a wedding), and to Galveston TX and back.
I wouldn’t say we’re “all about it,” but it’s just easy and common to do them in a way that is pretty totally foreign to Europeans. Some people are all about them, but it’s more just a constantly available option and fact of life.
I would say the newer generation doesn’t do them as often, but they are still a large part of our culture. I converted a van, and still enjoy driving many places others would normally fly because I love road trips. I’m not against flying, and fly when traveling for things where driving isn’t possible, but even my last trip to California from the Midwest, I took an extra 2 weeks off and drove there and back spending time in places all along the way.
2020-2021 seemed like a big roadtrip renaissance. We did several in those years and still like doing an occasional roadie.
National parks are obviously super popular but lots of states have a really good state park system with cabins, hiking, and other things national parks have but with far fewer crowds and less need to book a year in advance.
I LOVE a good road trip. Stopping at gas stations to refuel and get all types of junk/fast food is part of the fun. So are long playlists that annoy everyone else in the car.
We’ve done both long-hauling to destinations (last year my best friend and I drove 16ish hours each way for a WDW/Disney Cruise combo, then turned around the next weekend and drove 14 hours round trip in one day with my husband to pick up my elderly stepfather and my brother for Christmas). Next year, we plan to fly to Los Angeles and spend 2 weeks roadtripping the Pacific Coast Highway in California, with multiple overnight stops (some 2-3 nights).
Check out r/roadtrip and you’ll see its pretty active.
Yeah pretty much
Yesssss! We love them!
I mean a lot of us kind of have to be. My entire family lives 8.5 hours away by car.
Yeah, most of my vacations are roadtrips. I rarely fly and try to avoid flying as much as possible.
Almost anywhere you go is a road trip. My son decided to take a day trip to Nashville yesterday. It’s a 6-hour round trip and he lives in TN. 😂
The best trip I ever went on was a 3 month road trip around the US and a few parts of Canada. The second best trip I ever went on was a 2 week roadtrip up the coast of Australia.
Can’t speak for all Americans, but I enjoy a well planned roadtrip. It’s not practical for regular vacations though which are usually just a drive to the destination of choice where we stay for either a long weekend or full week.
Road trips are fun when you take a good route. Sometimes it’s awful because you need to transport your whole family from the Chicago area to Colorado for a summer vacation and the option is to go through the entirety of Kansas or Nebraska.
If I had the freedom to do so right now, I would be taking road trips all over the country. I’ve done quite a few during my life and love them. It’s the best way to see this country.
I absolutely love road trips if I have the time. It’s hard to do a longer road trip when you’re working, but many retirees do them especially if they’re snowbirds (people who’s permanent residence is in the north, often the Midwest, who go south for the winter). My grandparents did this, they didn’t have a second home in the south but they’d spend the entire winter driving to visit relatives in California and Texas and sight seeing along the way. I’ve done cross country trips while I’ve been moving states and you definitely see a lot of old people, sometimes you see them more than once if you happen to be traveling in the same direction!
Sometimes its a road trip, sometimes its just a 22 hour drive to see my grandma across a third of the country.
One time I told my boys we should go on a road trip to different national parks. I made like a rough plan and then me of the guys said he didn’t want to go anymore because it was “too much driving.” I was like uhhh yea that’s the road part of a road trip.