What is your maximum drive-time for a day-trip (before preferring an overnight stay)? (plane, itinerary)

[Snowpea]

My cut-off point for day-trip in the car is around the 3 hour mark (or 6 hours total driving for a day). If a location is more than 3 hours away then I typically prefer to stay overnight.

Am I fairly typical in this respect? What is your cut-off point?

[tpabes]

I'm with ya one the 3 hr mark (6 hours total), I have done 5 hrs (10 hrs total) but all I did was pick someone up from an airport and drive back.

[radraja]

If I'm just going somewhere for the day...an hour or two is the maximum I'd even consider driving.

For a long weekend stay, my maximum would be maybe 4 or 5 hours of driving. No more than that. I attempted an 8 hour drive once and it was awful - I'd rather pay for the plane ticket.

[The A-Team]

Well a few times a year i drive 40 hours from Seattle to Arkansas which splits up into approx. five 8 hour days lol, so I can handle just about anything. Done 12+ too, not fun, and the 8 hour thing starts to suck about the 3rd to 4th day...then I have to come back. Round trip 80 hours it hurts! Good thing i wont have to do that much longer If its just one day, i can do a lot of hours, but after many days of all day driving, my tolerance gets less and less. i would say 12 is the most I like to do in one day, though i've done more

[Inoxkeeper]

I have been known to drive to KC from STL, make sales calls all day and drive back to STL that night. I live around 6 AM and get back about 9. KC is about 3.5 hours from STL the way I drive.

[cool_mommy]

For me, it depends on how long I will be at my destination. I don't mind a 10 hour drive if I am going to be there for a week or more. If it is only for a few days then I wouldn't drive more than 5 hours without an overnight stop.

[cleosmom]

I don't consider the hours.... just the mileage. For instance when I drive out to CA from here I use my halfway point as Winnemucca, NV which is about 7 hours (give or take road work, weather etc. etc.). That leaves me with about the same to get to my destination.

Now Reno is about 9 hours driving time, not counting gas stops and I usually do that straight through, same with Vegas.

[Boomerang]

Depends on where I'm going and how much time I have.
For me, 6 hours in a day is no big deal, even for a weekend trip.
9 hours calls for a nice lunch or dinner stop, and a long weekend if possible.
If I'm going on a really long trip with a specific destination and plans in mind, I'd just as soon do it in 10-12 hours stretches (or more) and get there as quickly as possible.
If I'm going on a long road trip with no itinerary per se, I plan nothing and just meander along, stopping wherever things get interesting and moving along when I've seen it. On this kind of trip you just need to keep track of where you are about halfway through your time so you can get back to home and work on time

[Crew Chief]

I don't really count since I drive for a living. But I like to drive about 3 hours before I stop for a break. On long distance pleasure trups, I usually will put in an 8 hour day before stopping. The Feds say I can driove 11 beafore taking a break, so 8 is a cake walk!

[cleosmom]

Originally Posted by Crew Chief

I don't really count since I drive for a living. But I like to drive about 3 hours before I stop for a break. On long distance pleasure trips, I usually will put in an 8 hour day before stopping. The Feds say I can drive 11 before taking a break, so 8 is a cake walk!

Crew Chief if you stopped any time before three hours it would basically seem like you've gotten nowhere I know when I was OTR with my husband, it truly didn't seem like we left home until we cleared WY and were in NE.

You can guess why I stop in Winne vs. going further West..... Donner! I liked to be fully rested before jumping on the California coaster