Poll: How far is far away?

[The Enquirer]

So my girlfriend and I were talking about what we classify as a long distance drive. She is currently going to a college about 8 hours away from me in Virginia. I said that a trip that you cannot make a day trip is far away, about 4-5 hours. She thinks that still doesn't qualify as a long distance drive. So I ask you, how long do you have to drive before you consider it far away from where you started. List the country you're since answers will probably differ based on where you live.

 

[IndomitableSam]

I'd say any more than 4 hours is too far to go for much, excepting trips/overnight visits. Anything over a couple hours is probably far away, too, for me.

I live on the Canadian prairies, so it's about an hour and a half to the US border, and then an hour past that to Grand Forks/Fargo, and that trip is made almost weekly by many people, so that's not too far. I"ve got family in a town about an hour and a quarter north of me, which isn't bad at all.

Keep in mind, these times I'm giving are considered far drives in good weather. If it's winter, anything more than 2 hours is too far. You basically have to tack on 15-25%+ more time driving in the winter if you're not in the city.

Some people don't realize how big Canada is - I live in basically the middle of the country (the actual longitudinal centre of Canada is about 30km from here) in Winnipeg. Look at that on a map and realize we're about 100km away from the US border. For me to get from here to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta? About 16 hours driving, with stops for bathroom and food. To get through the mountains to Vancouver? Probably closer to 26 hours, straight driving, only stopping for food and bathrooms. Maybe faster, but not much.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I suppose it depends on how tolerant/patient the person is.
If I drove, it'd take an hour/an hour and 20 minutes to get to my boyfriends whereas trains it can take up to 2 hours depending on train times and waiting times.

Most people I talk to think that's too much, a lot of them think being in different cities makes my relationship impossible which is just stupid.
3 hours+ would be a struggle but it can be worth it if you're able to see each other a lot. Thankfully I have the patience of a saint.

I've travelled 6+ hours to see a guy before and it was certainly a waste of my time, haha!

 

[Euryalus]

Well, I start to get bored after 4 or 5 so I'll say that, but to take a trip? I don't know, I guess 12 or something.

I used to drive back to Ohio after moving every year for thanksgiving, and It was often a 9 hour drive.

 

[Euryalus]

I suppose it depends on how tolerant/patient the person is.
If I drove, it'd take an hour/an hour and 20 minutes to get to my boyfriends whereas trains it can take up to 2 hours depending on train times and waiting times.

Most people I talk to think that's too much, a lot of them think being in different cities makes my relationship impossible which is just stupid.
3 hours+ would be a struggle but it can be worth it if you're able to see each other a lot. Thankfully I have the patience of a saint.

I've travelled 6+ hours to see a guy before and it was certainly a waste of my time, haha!

Different cities? That's a pretty big cultural difference XD

Most of the people I hang out with now live in different cities, and none of them live closer than 30 minutes.

Granted a relationship would be different, but still.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

More than 5 hours one way is considered a long trip for me. Basically, if I've been driving long enough that I need to stop for food on the way, and then keep driving, the trip is already too damn long.

 

[DyqstARD]

From England it'll almost certainly take 8+ hours to get anywhere good.

 

[Pinkamena]

I'd say "far away" is anything above 6 hours. I guess it depends on how your country is, and how you live. If I want to get to any other major city (anything above 100k inhabitants) I will have to drive for longer than that.

 

[BartyMae]

I hate driving, so...>=1 hour.

 

[Souplex]

Anything outside of the New York subway system is far away.

 

[yamy]

Hmm that's an interesting question actually.

From a relationship standpoint I put down 8+ hours as far away. Having a long distance across the Atlantic means that anywhere drivable feels close to me.

But from a practicable point of view 2 or 3 hours away I would start to consider to be far away as a commuter. It'd suck to have to drive 2 hours just to go to work for example.

It's the way you think about distance and what you do in that other place that really determines how far things are.

Also insert the obligatory "nothing is far until you start thinking space distances"

 

[nekoali]

Well, it's further than just over yonder, but closer than ya can't get there from here.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

1 hour I can deal with (have too). 2 is already too many.
And I live in Argentina. A four hour drive is OK if you're crashing for a couple of days wherever you're headed. But to keep a long-distance relationship alive may be too much.

 

[thesilentman]

Good question. I've always used to think that distance doesn't really matter that much, considering you can still talk to them when you can in this age of Facebook, the phone, Internet and so forth.

Then it happened to me and my girlfriend now lives more than a 1000 miles (above 2600 km, for clarity) away from me due to life around her which I can't help with. It's too damn much to cope with sometimes. I just miss her too much. =(

To answer the question, I'm not sure. I'd say about 2 or 3 hours for me as I really dislike the loneliness. But anything more than that and I start feeling nervous and a constant urge to see her. It makes me really want a teleporter now, as selfish as that sounds. =/

 

[Mersadeon]

I say 2 hours. Using one hour to get somewhere is okay, but with two to get there and two to get back, that's a significant time investment.
I've had a 4-hour drive long distance relationship without having a driver's license. It can be done, it's just not always easy. Depends on the type of person though.

Also, as a Central European, it sounds like crazytalk when people talk about having to drive 10+ hours to get anywhere. In 10 hours I can be anywhere. I'm gonna be in a different country.

 

[lunavixen]

When I was at uni, I had to drive 5 1/2 hours to see my parents, but that was usually for a visit (few days or weeks), it's a decently long dirve, especially the end that's on the highway, so boring, the other half on the Great Dividing range is dangerous, but great fun. I live in Australia, by the way.

 

[Caiphus]

If you're staying the night, then 3 or 4 hours would be a long drive.
If you're not, and therefore are driving back the same day, then anything approaching 2 hours. That would be difficult to maintain in a relationship, I would imagine.

Hell, even one hour would be annoying, but not a deal-breaker.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I'd classify 'a long way away' as something which very much depends on the frequency of travel. For example, an eight hour round trip is unacceptable for a job on a working day but is peanuts for a three day long weekend. How often are you hoping to visit?

EDIT- Sorry, forgot to mention: living in Britain here.

 

[Zakarath]

I dunno, most of the stuff in the Hubble Deep Field is pretty far away.

 

[Queen Michael]

I'd say that any trip where a passenger has enough time to watch two movies on their smartphone is a trip where you're going far away.