CincyMac's comment reminded me that after our (DH and me) recent trip to South Dakota my brother said "So you left on Saturday and arrived in SD... Tuesday?" No. Sunday. Two 10ish hour days and we were in Souix Falls. He was gobsmacked. lol We don't dawdle when we travel.

I have driven on many long trips, but with others who could drive. My longest alone would be four hours.

I used to do 16 hours by myself no problem but the thought of driving more than 8 hours by myself is mind numbing now. My son lives 180 miles away, which should only take about 3 1/2 hours, but it's not unusual to take 6 to 7 1/2 hours. I95 - ugh!

Oh the not wanting to drive at night thing I totally understand. I have never liked driving at night. I once read that people who are extremely near sighted are also prone to difficulties seeing at night. I am extremely near sighted. I also have a lot of trouble with glare--one of my neighbors actually commented the other day on how I always have sunglasses on, even on cloudy days. I only drive at night if it is truly necessary. My mother has always been the same way about driving at night--she is also very near sighted.

I love to drive and drive from Maine to NYC area alone regularly. When my DH and I go somewhere I normally drive.

Easily. I enjoy driving and road trips. DH and I drive together 18 hours to and from our ski house at least 3 times a year and I've made the trip about 5 or 6 times alone, but always with an overnight stop - sometimes 12 hr one day, 6 the next and others about 9 hours each day. The most difficult time was when DH had a knee replacement and decided to have it out there. We drove out together (with our two dogs), but I had get back to work and he flew home a few weeks later. So I was traveling alone with a 9 month old husky pup and a very feeble 15 year old, 70 pound, mix who had to be gently helped in and out of the SUV. As long as the old girl cooperated it was easy but when we pulled into the hotel for the night, she was on her bed in the middle of the back of the SUV and decided that she wasn't getting out of the car. I wasn't strong enough to just pull her out and she was to feeble for me to even attempt to force the issue. The husky pup and I sat on the ground beside the car for about an hour until the old girl finally decided it was time to get out of the car. That was a long trip.

DH always, always drives. He even drives me around town and to social things with my friends sometimes. People who don't know me probably think we are ultraconservatives and expect me to wear a bun and a dress that covers my ankles. Au contraire, he is a true feminist, he just thinks that doing the driving (and a million other things he does) is chivalrous and doting. I kind of like it.

His family is 2.5 hrs away, mine is 3. The beachhouse is 3.5-4, the lakehouse was 2. When we travel we try to keep driving to under 4 hours; after that it just is not pleasant IMHO. Funny how several of you also keep it to four hours.

When my DH and the two eldest were gone for 2.5 weeks volunteering in August, I did a ton of driving trying to keep my DD2 entertained and getting in the last trips of the summer... and in a new, unfamiliar car yet. I like to drive, but I do need glasses now (esp at night) , which is new for me this year. I was actually glad to clock almost 1,000 miles while he was gone. I don't want to become a lil' ole' lady who can't drive. I was a little dismayed at all the people who passed me; I always set my cruise control at 7 miles over the speed limit. It was a bit too fast for the center lane and too slow for the left!

As for traffic, DH and I drove in to Manhattan daily for several years. We had our share of traffic, and now, we just refuse to "do" traffic. We have the flexibility most times to choose the day and or time we go somewhere, and we will do anything to avoid sitting in traffic. We usually go to the beachhouse for at least a week, but we go up and back on either Tues or Weds..... otherwise, OMG, esp, as someeone said above, i95!

ETA; In re dog travel. As a relatively recent pet owner, I am pleasantly surprised how many nice places take dogs. Only problem is my dog does not like to do her business outside of state lines. One time, I got up to walk her several times in the middle of the night when I was visiting family. Even so she did not go (even pee) until we got back home. She went 26 hours without "using the restroom". She does that a lot when we travel. Oddly, when we get home, she doesn't run like crazy out of the car to hit the lawn (like I would if I hadn't peed for 26 hours). She is totally nonchalant about it. (PS before anyone asks, vet says she is very healthy. I just feel bad about it anyway!)

I live in WA and have driven myself to Southern CA and back many times. I love solo road trips, especially that drive; it's beautiful! Usually 12 hours max when I was younger, but now that I'm retired I can take an extra day and do need to move around more. I drive alone late at night between Olympia and Seattle (about 1.5 hrs that time of night) several times each month after attending the theater, ballet or opera, or visiting with friends. I seldom get sleepy when driving - it exhilarates me.

When my husband was alive and we'd drive someplace together, he'd drive on the way to then I'd drive home and he'd fall asleep. I could never fall asleep when he was driving (or anyone else for that matter).

I drove 13 hours from the Bay Area up to Eastern Washington 2 years ago with my daughter (age 9--she wasn't driving, obviously).

7 hours seems trivial.

Locally I don't like driving at night. But on a highway, night driving is appealing to me. I make a couple trips each year that are 6+ hours during which I'm the only driver. I plan ahead to be sure I'm well-rested and properly caffeinated. Then I sit back, drive with care, and solve the world's problems. The key is to be physically prepared and mentally stimulated.

Yes, audio books really help.

I like driving and can do a drive of 6-8 hours alone. Like others 4 hours and under are preferred. I like the control of driving and will always offer to drive friends/family. DH will usually drive when we go someplace together. Like Mtn's husband, he thinks it's the chivalrous thing to do and always opens my door for me anytime I'm getting into the car. It's a little control I give up :).

I do not like driving at night - whether I'm the driver or passenger really - so I do try to plan accordingly. Enjoy your trip!

I love to drive and have driven alone or with the kids many, many times as the only driver! i prefer to get to where I'm going when I'm by myself rather than stay overnight in a room somewhere, so i have driven most of the day and into the night numerous times. i love to listen to books on tape/cd when driving and good books have helped get me through many long drives! i do find I get more sleepy than i used to when driving longer distances and i also am more cautious at rest stops (esp at night!) than i used to be... i probably would break up the trip with a hotel stay if i needed to drive more than 10-11 hrs in one day now and I was by myself...

I have driven 6-8 hours alone many times. I don't do it very often because DH loves to drive when we go anywhere, even on long trips. I offer to drive but he enjoys it and does it all. I'm the navigator if needed. Books on cd distract me more than they help, so I listen to music, sing or just enjoy the scenery and quiet. I no longer like to drive at night and have special glasses now for night driving, so wouldn't want to do that unless absolutely necessary.

I always drive. I get car sick easily, but never sick driving. So when we go anywhere as a family I almost always drive. Unless it is home from an event where alcohol is consumed, then we take turns being DD ;-)

I drove several times by myself from Pittsburgh to MA (about 10 hours). Most recently when we just moved, which we were forced to do in the middle of the night due to our grossly incompetent moving company and needing to be in MA for the closing on our new house. We had to both drive cause we were taking both cars. I had the kids and he had the dog. Not fun!!

Sometimes I kind of enjoy drives of 3-4 hours as a chance to relax, listen to a book on tape, and just be alone with my thoughts for a while. Seems like that rarely happens in my life these days. After 4 hours I'm generally ready to be done though.

I've driven alone 6 hours to visit DD. DH always drives when we go out locally or road trips. Four to six hours in the car is about right for me....8 hours the max.....only if we absolutely have to.

Outsideplaying....special glasses for night driving?

Crl.... Just in the last few years I have become very uncomfortable with freeway driving at night...I'm not at all confident changing lanes...like you the glare really bothers me...always has. Every picture taken of me in the sun shows me squinting and I always wear sunglasses too. I'm seldom out alone at night but will drive the local roads if need be......but the freeway...no way.

My maximum drive time is 12 hours if I am by myself.

It would be very rare for me to travel alone. It's just something I don't do. Hubby and I are so funny when we travel. We are not good riders. We like to stop alot and 4-6 hours in a day is good for us too. I don't find it conservative for the man to drive (no bun or ankle length dress here either). Hubby likes to drive but does not really like to ride. If we are traveling and he wants to sleep, I'll drive, but otherwise, he usually drives, traveling or around town. Traveling out-of-town on my own? I just don't feel safe. Luckily, I don't have a need (or desire) to do that.

Mt. our little dog almost always travels with us. We are not crazy about motels and prefer a small house or condo, and that works well. Your poor pup! It's not good for them to go so long without "going". Our pup had a UTI last year during our (unusual for us) snow season (she didn't want to go out in it). Perhaps you could reward her in some way.

Joanie, Some newer model cars have "blind spot assist". It basically tells you if anyone is in your way when you are trying to change lanes. I would never have ordered it, but it was standard in our new Range Rover, and it is also in a 2014 used Escalade we just traded in our GL450 for (needed more space for kids and dog). I am surprised how much I like this feature.

Yes, I often drive from NJ to the Boston area, and I recently drove from NJ to Syracuse, which is normally a 5 hour drive, but took over 6. I have driven in a caravan with my family from Philly to Florida (in one shot, not doing it again), from NJ to Nags Head, NC, and NJ to Pittsburgh. I love to drive. I live alone, and don't have much choice if I want to get anywhere (unless I can easily take a train or plane).

I love a road trip, did 6000 miles this summer. My husband was with the kids and I for the first Texas-San Diego leg, and then we were on our own up to Seattle and back through Yellowstone to Texas. I average 12 hours a day, but stop a lot to stretch and look at scenery.

We're in NJ near Philly and I often drive to our other home in upstate PA which is usually 3 hours. That's such a simple drive I don't even consider it long distance.

Driving back to the Pittsburgh area to visit family is a solid 6 hours and sometimes 7 if you hit rush hour on either end. The route is mostly on the Turnpike and I'm always amazed at the drivers who cruise past me going 80. When I'm alone I stop at every other rest stop to walk around just to make sure I'm alert (and to use the rest facilities).

Twelve hours a day!?!

If you sleep eight (which is actually not enough for kids), and stop for each meal (say 1hr), , you are now are now at 23 hours {12+8+(3x1)}.

But you still need to check in and check out, shower, dress, etc.... how does that leave anytime at all for anything?

6-7 hours would be my limit at one go.

I drive a little over 4 hours to Pittsburgh several times a month to see my grandchildren. It is not a problem unless snow is pending....then I will rethink the trip. DH and I have driven across the country only once....we were young. I have done a fair amount of driving in my time ( now 65) but I really do not like big city driving. We are so happy that our daughter and family left Brooklyn for Pgh!

I can only drive several hours if I start very early in the day. But I don't like it regardless of the time of day! Two hours is fine. More than that and I get super restless. Fortunately our beach house is under 2 hours and that is typically the farthest place I drive alone. DH does all the driving if we're together.

One of my kids goes to Syracuse, which is 5+ hours from us, and THAT drive stinks. Not difficult, but boring. I could never do it without stopping -- I usually visit 1-2 rest stops along the way for a caffeinated drink and a bathroom break. I am so happy the school has a bus to/from Boston for both Thanksgiving and spring break so we only have to do the drive a few times a year! I drew the short straw so I'll be making the drive to bring him home for Christmas break -- but I would never do it all in one day. I'll drive up one day, stay overnight, and pick him up and drive home the next morning. That way it's a little bit fun -- I love having a hotel room all to myself!

I'm surprised there's so many long distance drivers here! I rarely road trip alone, but when I have it's never more than 3 hours. Any more than that, I just fly.

I don't drive. I have a license but have not driven in probably 6-7 years. My DH takes me almost everywhere I want to go. Sometimes my dad or my friends or in-laws drive. I am not a good driver and I hate driving.

We drive to and from FL every year b/c we spend winters there and I won't put the dogs on a plane (they come w/ us, obviously). My DH or my dad drive the whole way (one of them drives down for the year and the other drives back). We always do it in one day b/c the dog is not good at staying in hotels.

H and I both love driving. I let him do the cities and I enjoy highway driving. I'll do up to 6-7h by myself for work, maybe a bit longer. I really don't mind it. Some quick stops for snacks and potty. Love podcasts and books on tape for big road trips. Have done Halifax-Montreal and Halifax-Toronto several times and once drove Montreal-SF with a friend. Would love to drive LA-Vancouver at some point.

Do it all the time. Lived in eastern PA, folks in MI. 10.5 hrs. under the best of conditions. Did it at least twice a year, often 3 times. All kinds of weather. Now have to do it in reverse to see my SO and friends and family back east now that I'm in MI with widowed dad.

Anything after 7-8 hours is rough. I often break it up into two days, leave PM one day and get there by lunch time the next. Stay over and veg in a hotel room, I like doing that. But I can do the 11 hour thing, just take stops to break it up. Been doing it all my life. Books on tape are a great resource to help. That's the main problem for me, just ruminating on all my troubles for hours is worse than any other part of the drive! I get exhausted but that's the way it goes.

Make sure you have AAA or something like that, and a charged up cell phone for emergencies. Mine plugs into the car. Get a good emergency road kit for the car. So far, in 12 years I've had two flats and haven't seen or experienced any serious accidents. If road conditions are really bad, I pull off for the day or night, I'm no hero. Was 3 hours from home for one flat tire, so had to drive home on the spare since all tire places were closed at that time on Sun., and then same with the other one which happened on a weekday too close to 5 PM. Luckily that one happened right near an exit with both a motel and tire store across the road from each other!! Check your spare to make sure it is in good working condition. Have the car checked over and all fluids topped, wipers good, etc. Bring along a good road map and also a list of some places to stop if you need to. Like I said, I've made an 11 hour drive cross country a couple times a year for 12 years and haven't run into any serious problems so far, other than interminable boredom!

Lots of long distance drivers! Good for you. When DH and I are together for long trips we split the driving. I prefer to be the driver and DH is comfortable doing puzzles while I'm driving so I usually end up driving more than he. I'm a pretty focused driver so music is all I need to occupy me. DH is not a focused driver and is easily distracted - which is one reason I prefer to do the driving. ;-) Driving in our area we generally drive our own cars - so if we take my car I drive and vice versa. I can't imagine being chauffeured around by DH. I prefer my freedom to come and go as I choose.

My upcoming "long " distance trip alone is to Cape May, NJ this Saturday. Looks like I might be driving into a hurricane!

I have no problem driving alone. I do try to keep to daylight hours in areas where there is no cell service. Eight hours is a comfortable trip, but I've driven the 24-hour trip between California and Texas a few times which strains my ability to stay focused by the end.

I want to respond to Mtn's "and stop for each meal (say 1hr)," I don't have kids so I don't know first hand how they travel. We do without 1 hour meal stops by bringing food with us. Cheese and crackers, fruit, nuts, cut up veggies. I think that would work with children too. You aren't going to starve before you get to your destination.

Ha! Tina mentioned her dog's UTI which reminds me of the time about 10 years ago I unexpectedly had to drive home to MA from Florida by myself under distressing circumstances, and drove straight through - about 20 hours I recall with one truck stop nap for a couple hours and very few 'pit stops'. Wasn't home long before landing in the ER with a kidney stone. Live and learn.

I drove 5 hours myself and wouldn't mind driving longer. More time to rock out in the car or quite time to myself. I find driving/road trips fun and even relaxing.

Flying only works if you don't have stuff to move (some of my long drives by myself have been for moves) and airports are convenient. My parents were two plus hours from the nearest airport. So flying for anything over a three hour drive doesn't really work in a lot of circumstances.

I have been wanting to take the kids on a road trip. They have flown everywhere and I feel like they have no idea what much of the US actually looks like.

Roses,

Sure, we do that even with kids. In many areas of the country your only choices enroute are fast food, so an in transit picnic is much nicer.

But this poster was on vacation (or a road trip) for 6,000 miles. I am thinking that had to involve a few meals! I can see having to do 12 hours for a certain purpose and grinning and bearing it, but planning a 6,000 family "road trip" that way? yikes

This seems well nigh impossible: "I average 12 hours a day, but stop a lot to stretch and look at scenery."

I have lost patience for long drives now that I live near a major airport and can fly nonstop almost anywhere.

The longest I drive now is about 5.5 hours for a regional conference when it is located in that particular city. I am not interested in doing more than that. Even DH is less thrilled with spending a whole day in a car to get somewhere. For example, to visit my family we could drive for 10 hours taking breaks or fly nonstop for 1.5 even if we have to rent a car.

But when I was younger and single, I would not hesitate to get in the car to see a rock concert anywhere in the region.

I do not like driving long distances but I have done plenty of it. I drove from Atlanta, GA to Austin, TX. It was about a 15 hour drive. I did stop and motel so I could break it up.

When we road trip we do 2-3 days then spend a week in a location typically, so 6000 miles is broken down into chunks across 3-4 weeks. We stop a lot in a 12 hour driving day, Starbucks, rest stops, cool places mentioned in guides, local parks to take a quick hike... It is a bit crazy, but in a 12 hour "driving day" we are probably in the car 9-10 hours and rest breaking plenty. The kids sleep plenty in the car, and sleep solid after we get to hotels at night. My daughter got her permit this year, and I discovered that having her drive a bit makes it so we can only do 8-10 hours (I'm too controlling to find a teen driver relaxing).

I drive every work day.... minimum of three hours total to and from destination and maximum of eight.... Yuck :) I think most people from my region are used to long drives.

when we went on 'vacation' we often didn't drive-- depended on where we were going and what we wanted to take. but, if we (and our kids!) were going to a beach or the mountains (even 12 hrs away) and wanted to pack boogie boards and golf clubs and tennis racquets, etc etc it was much easier to drive! vacation trips where we all went and drove, my hub and I always split up the driving! (tho, overall, I like driving much more than he does! :)

but, all of the driving trips i've done alone or just me and the kids come from having family scattered around the country or friends who have moved and visiting them. it has been much easier (and much cheaper!) to drive!!! we could pack whatever we wanted, we could leave whatever time we wanted, we could leave our departure day/time open, we could see other things or people along the way, we could bring the dog/s depending on who we were visiting, we didn't have the hassle of renting a car. I guess if my schedule was much more limited like my hub's was, I wouldn't have had the ability to do nearly as much driving as I have done, but as a sahm, it was easy.

Ah, I forgot about NJ/Philly to Ann Arbor, MI. My stepdad was supposed to help me move out to Asquared, but he became ill right before the trip, so I drove it alone. Both ways alone for Christmas break. Back with my mom as passenger (she does not drive) when I moved back. Not horrible, but very long! It was almost 30 years ago, I don't think I would do it in one day now.

I too am surprised by how many long distance drivers we have here. As I mentioned in my other thread, I recently did a 6 hour drive to see a very ill cousin and was surprised how well I did. I won't give details again here, but I had a fear of driving a lone for some time even having anxiety attacks before trips when hubby was driving us all as short a distance as to see his folks a little over two hours away.
When young I went on very long road trips with girlfriends and did most of the driving myself. I'd love to go on a trip like that again, where we had no schedule what so ever and stopped anywhere any one of us wanted. I'm an avid photographer and for me, that's the only way to travel. Well unless someone else drives all the way and I can take loads of pictures from the moving vehicle, which I did when our daughter and I drove back from Northern Cali having to go south because of snow storms in the mountains. That was a three day trip and she drove every single mile, while I took photos and kept her awake talking. She told me early one that she didn't mind driving as long as I was there to talk to. It was an awesome trip.

Sure! I've driven cross several states alone on more than one occasion. I love to drive and it's a good thing because I drive a lot for work.

You're a brave woman Lukki. I couldn't do it on a regular basis. Heck my rule for working was never work someone that took more than 15 minutes to get to. I did break that once when I followed the teacher I assisted taught with to another school. It was 17 minutes away and I learned to live with those extra two minutes.

In August I drove from Santa Fe to Austin in a straight shot, then home from Houston to Santa Fe in a straight shot. I was alone and was surprised how uneventful it all was. I stopped for lunch for about 45 minutes each way, and stopped for a drink or to stretch my legs or buy gas probably three additional times each way. I think the total time was about 13 hours over and 15 hours back.

On the way back I had a tentative plan to spend the night in Lubbock. But once I got to Lubbock I felt like spending the night would be a waste of time and money (a rocking Thursday night in Lubbock?) and decided just to push on through.

I think that being alone allowed me to be sort of "zen" about the trip. If DH had been along, I still would have been the main driver (I just am), but also aggravated with him for sleeping the whole way and not keeping me company.

I should say that Sirius radio is a tremendous thing, although the third time through Howard Stern's interview of Stephen Colbert was probably a bridge too far.

I am also a control freak about driving, I pretty much dislike the way most other people drive, and prefer to do it myself. Sad, but true!

One of my BILs is a driving control freak too. He never lets his wife drive when they are together. Including on weeks long cross country trips. I sort of understand it but would think he'd like to be the passenger and get to gawk at the scenery at least occasionally.

I have taken a lot of long drives, the only time I ever had an issue was the trip I put 2400 miles on the car, it was my preteen son, the dog and me and some bad Taco Bell (remember that recall of green onions grown in Arizona...) Only thing different we ate on the trip and mine had the green onions. I should have driven to the hospital, but with my son and dog I knew that was going to be a problem and some how managed to make it home 400 some miles