Good one... being in Alaska, where everything is a drive, we get used to distance. Many people brave the Alcan every year, for that matter.
My teen son is about to start flying lessons(on my short list too), and the instructor told us that with a four passenger plane between the peninsula and Anchorage, (and being in their club which includes a car in Anchorage), it's more of a bargain to fly, assuming others share the cost. (Takes about 2.5 hrs. one way) --Works out to $30 r.t. pp, prozac not included!
With flying rocks, darting moose and people who forget to signal, I'd rather fly just about anywhere. J.

I love to drive. If Mr.L8 and I have a good audio book the time just flies by.
We will do a 10 hour drive with no problem. 6-8 is preferable.

I do a lot of driving for work, so 12-14 hours is no problem for me. I cant get to the airport, fly anywhere and get my stuff and a car in less than 4-5 hours so i won't consider flying anywhere less than an 8 hr drive. Just my personal preference

Gotravel, I agree with you about flying..it's not so much that I love to drive, it's just that I've gotten to hate flying. I'm not afraid of flying, I just get completely stressed out about getting to the airport on time (we usually fly out of NY, so there's ALWAYS traffic), I hate schlepping luggage, going through security, waiting in lines, sitting in coach, starving enroute, and being confined to a schedule.

At least when you drive you leave when you want, stop when you want and don't have to find yourself wedged between (sometimes) unpleasant strangers!

I do no more than 500 miles a day.

I would MUCH prefer to drive somewhere than to deal with the stress of today's airport travel. Things were bad enough post 9/11, but with high fuel prices airlines are flying more regional jets and the "cattle car" experience has increased significantly. I can't remember the last time I've actully been on a wide body (L1011) plane!

I prefer to fly but DBF loves to drive. We drive from DC to NH a few times a year - about 9 hours. We sometimes fly instead.

We drive 6 hours to CT without a problem.

So, if I am by myself, I'd say 6 hours. If DBF is driving, longer doesn't bother me.

6 Hours is my Max. drive time. That gets me home to Ohio (via car) & to Amelia Island. Farther than that & I fly.

I'd drive twelve hours rather than have the stress of flying. I wish there were roads to Europe! :) Or at least trains all the way "across" the oceans. ;)

Whatever happened to all those "by the year 2000" predictions of being able to get into our own little "air pods" and zipping through the skies to wherever we wanted...like the Jetsons?!

I have a large tolerance for driving vacations, and much prefer a driving vacation. But the time element almost always make flying a necessity.

IMHO, you just don't know a state or country at all until you drive all the way across it at least once.

But I've always had a couple of great drivers to pair with me so I do get to view as well as be the driver, and it makes a huge difference. 3 or 4 hours would be the max per day by myself.

We just did 9 hours going to Toronto and it was the most educational day of the year, so far. Why do they not have rest stops every 60 miles or so in Ontario? Do you know what Nexis only means? Great views, lots of contact with small and medium town locals- I love drive vacations the best.

Yeah baby! ROAD TRIP!! Open highway, great music, a few snacks, and (most times) some good company. What could be better than that?

I used to prefer to fly all the time, but flying has become more a hassle lately. If I have the luxary of time, I'll drive to my destination. Time is more a factor, not distance.

I have a trip planned for Seattle in a couple weeks, then an Alaskan cruise from there. I live in the CA Central Valley, so I scheduled hotel stays after 5 1/2-6 hours of driving. So if my plans are correct, we should be in Seattle on day 3 of our road trip.

GT,
I am SO with you. My husband is the same way. I'm trying to talk him into a road trip to Montreal (about 6 hours from home). I offered to drive & he still doesn't want to do it, probably because he hates to be a passenger (or maybe just MY passenger).

I always loved road trips & rarely get to do them.

I've driven ten hours by myself. I took a nap and then drove another ten to get where I wanted to go.

I once drove 900 miles alone in one day with my three kids who were at that time, 4, 6 & 9. I also had an aching wisdom tooth at the time! LOL

^Surely your kids are all in therapy now from said trip. I know I would be!! LOL!

We are notoriously wimpy when it comes to driving times. We just returned from a 5 hour trip, which is our limit. At the end of the summer, we have to drive our daughter's car with her across the country to Maryland. We are not looking forward to that! Any suggestions on how to make it more tolerable, from Denver?

MaureenB,

If you and your DH have to fly home from Maryland, then it might even be cheaper in the long run to have the car transported to Maryland and have your daughter fly there. If you really dread the driving, then I would look into it. My DS bought a car in NJ and we live in CA. He didn't have time to drive it home so he had it transported and it wasn't that outragious in price.

Utahtea

MaureenB - What's "your problem" anyways? ;) Seriously, I mean, why do you find a long road trip that hard. Is it physical - like your back? Your butt? Falling asleep? Car sick? Or is it psychological - like you get restless? Nervous? Boredom? Or is it a marital problem? ;)

And what have you done, or tried to do, to alleviate it?

We need to diagnose "your problem" before we can give you advice! :)

6 hours. My 4 year old makes life miserable for everybody after 6 hours.

Sharon

I have found that heated seats do wonders alleviating that 'barrel ass' feeling my butt gets after a certain amount of time.