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What's your "radius"?

J

jme5343

Platinum Member
I have lived a good deal of my life in rural areas. At one point, I was 5 hours from Denver and about the same from KC, 4 from Omaha and 4 from Wichita. Middle of nowhere.

As a result, I now find it no big deal to travel 100 miles or better one way to go get something or do something.

However, I'm now in a fairly populated area and find people in Hartford that have never even been to Boston. They act like a 30 minute trip is a huge deal and way beyond their comfort level.

So, how far would you consider out of the ordinary to say, go pick up a $100 item from Craigslist? Or go do something like eat at a nice restaurant, or go to a sporting event?
 
doh, OP down below:

jme5343 said:
I have lived a good deal of my life in rural areas. At one point, I was 5 hours from Denver and about the same from KC, 4 from Omaha and 4 from Wichita. Middle of nowhere.

As a result, I now find it no big deal to travel 100 miles or better one way to go get something or do something.

However, I'm now in a fairly populated area and find people in Hartford that have never even been to Boston. They act like a 30 minute trip is a huge deal and way beyond their comfort level.

So, how far would you consider out of the ordinary to say, go pick up a $100 item from Craigslist? Or go do something like eat at a nice restaurant, or go to a sporting event?
Click to expand...



Life: 5 miles
Eating: 40 miles
Craigslist: 25 miles
Concert: 50 miles, but I'll drive to Vegas if I have to :biggrin:
 
NICE restaraunt: 30 miles
Concert: Drove four+ hours once sooo....
Craigslist: Half hour, roads make distance vary
Sporting event: Two hours (Crew stadium is about two hours away)
 
People from any part of the state other than southwest CT tend to not get out of their state much--it's a rather weird phenomenon. I observed that Boston thing you referred to on multiple occasions and know this from living there for 4 years in the late 90's.

Life: 40 miles
Eating: 40 miles
Craigslist: 20 miles
Concert: 40 miles

It doesn't hurt that I live in Chicago so I never have to go far for entertainment, and when I do it's by choice and not out of necessity.
 
I moved from just outside of DC to Maine. My perspective has TOTALLY changed. When we lived in Arlington, I'd need a damn good reason to go outside of the beltway. My limit for pretty much anything was about 10 miles, because within a 10 mile radius, we had more than we could do in the 6 years we were there.

Now?

Commute: 40 miles (that is my current commute and about as far as I'll drive each way). Every other week, I go to Boston, usually by train - 100+ miles.
Life: We'll go to Boston, so 100 miles. In reality, there's a lot to do closer than that, but for shopping and such we'll drive to the North Shore area if the Maine Mall or Freeport don't have it.
Eat: For a good food experience? Pretty much anywhere.

I think the gist of your question was day-to-day stuff. Our families are anywhere from Philly to San Diego, so we'll travel for that too.
 
Having young kids in tow really anchors down how far I'll drive without a lot of planning. But pre-kids or when they get older driving 2-4 hours is no big deal to me. Hell, driving in general really isn't a big deal to me. If it's within 8 hours, I'll get up early, get my drive on and be unpacking by noon and enjoy the rest of the day there. Hour or two trips are a blip on my radar.

I'm used to doing cross state trips between Eastern Iowa and Omaha...Eastern Iowa and Fargo. Eastern Iowa and Madison. Peoria to Rockford. Phoenix to Las Vegas. 4 hours and a couple good albums if the weather is decent? Let's go!

I can't wait for my kids to get older to really start enjoying traveling a little more.
 
Oh and to really answer your question...40 minutes is really nothing to me on a daily basis...where I live that's close to 50 miles worth of distance since almost anything is accessed by the interstate with no stop and go unless it's under construction.
 
jme5343 said:
I have lived a good deal of my life in rural areas. At one point, I was 5 hours from Denver and about the same from KC, 4 from Omaha and 4 from Wichita. Middle of nowhere.

As a result, I now find it no big deal to travel 100 miles or better one way to go get something or do something.

However, I'm now in a fairly populated area and find people in Hartford that have never even been to Boston. They act like a 30 minute trip is a huge deal and way beyond their comfort level.

So, how far would you consider out of the ordinary to say, go pick up a $100 item from Craigslist? Or go do something like eat at a nice restaurant, or go to a sporting event?
Click to expand...

I live in north county San Diego and we drive up to Los Angeles all the time to visit my in-laws. We've driven up to Staples Center to see the Lakers which is probably close to 100 miles. I've ridden out to the town of Julian on my motorcycle just for apple pie (of course, the ride is the fun part, the pie is just a bonus). 😎
 
I live in a small town with not much around, so I'm kind of used to driving for anything special. Once drove 8 hours for a concert (2 or 4 are more common), 2 hours for pizza, etc.
 
One way miles...

Work: 20
Dining: 30
Concert: 200

Back in the 90s when air travel was cheap and hassle-free we would fly to concerts.
 
jme5343 said:
However, I'm now in a fairly populated area and find people in Hartford that have never even been to Boston. They act like a 30 minute trip is a huge deal and way beyond their comfort level.
Click to expand...

It is a big deal.
New Yorkers drive like retards, Massholes don't know what the turn signal is for, and you can't understand anyone from Worcester, Boston, or NYC.
30 minutes keeps you safely in Connecticut.
 
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DominionSeraph said:
It is a big deal.
New Yorkers drive like retards, Massholes don't know what the turn signal is for, and you can't understand anyone from Worcester, Boston, or NYC.
30 minutes keeps you safely in Connecticut.
Click to expand...

Don't forget the staties in NH and Maine looking for out of state plates to ticket. Actually, they might just be profiling the Massholes. Hide yo' kids.
 
more than 10-15 miles for anything but work and I start bitching.

a couple times/month I have to drive out to a satellite office that's about 25 miles away and that's my longest typical drive.
 
Downtown Kansas city is 50 miles. There are occasionally reasons to go west of the city or north, so 75 miles tops
 
Eating: 40 miles
Craigslist: 40 miles
Concert: 200+ miles
Life/Friends: 1k+ miles

I love road trips though. I've driven from Reno to LA multiple times and to Portland,Or. Orlando to Reno etc. One of those times I left Reno at midnight on a whim to visit a friend in LA, don't really mind driving.
 
I've gone 2 hours each way for a $100 Craigslist item. Dinner: anywhere from 10 minutes to about a half hour drive.
 
Check vital statistics. 90% of people never move further than 150 miles from where they were born. I often wonder if that may be decreasing due to the economy now though.
 
If you live in the middle of no where then driving far isn't that big of a deal, if you live in real civilization, driving even 20 miles can take you over an hour which is why when you live in a well populated area, your distance shortens of how far you'd go for things.
 
MagnusTheBrewer said:
Check vital statistics. 90% of people never move further than 150 miles from where they were born. I often wonder if that may be decreasing due to the economy now though.
Click to expand...

Lots of people here are moving out west to jump in on the oil and gas boom. A lot of business is leaving Toronto for Calgary. The fact that Ontario is broke doesn't help. I actually applied for jobs from Newfoundland to Alberta, to Northwest Territories. Ended up getting one only 20min from where I live. Lucked out.
 
I live 15 miles west of Hartford.
General: After driving 45 minutes I get cranky

Vacation: Furthest driven was Montreal (wife trying to talk me into driving to Florida this year)

Most concerts: I stick to XL and Meadows...Although I will and have driven to see my favorite bands in Wallingford, Mohegan, Boston, and Jones Beach NY (Almost flew the family to Lima, Peru to visit wifes fam and to see Pearl Jam)

Friends: I've flown to California (and saw Iron Maiden/Dream Theater while out there by chance)

Craigslist: I actually walked by the CL 'HQ' while in CA but I would drive 20 miles for an item, 40 if worth it, but try to meet within 10 miles of my home
 
Interesting thread.

Life: Anything more than 45 minutes by car is too far.
Eating: 15 miles
Craigslist: 15 miles
Concert: 200 miles, depends on who it is.
 
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