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So the average traveler is only on the road to get somewhere and drives 14 hours a day to make it there quickly and can't enjoy the communities on the way? How sad!
If a person only has ten days of vacation, they do not want to spend it staring at people in the mall or engaging in some other trivial activity, while on their way to/from their destination.
People most of the time have limited resources, time is one of those resources, so they prioritize how they spend their time; if blowing through Kansas gives them an extra day in the Rockies, then so be it.
My favourite type of vacation is a road trip in the US. We rent a car (sometimes for a month, sometimes for longer), work out a vague itinerary of must-see places, and leave the rest to chance. Then we point the car in the right direction and start the engine. We only travel on the interstates if we absolutely have to (usually entering or exiting a major city), so we have a better chance to see the local scenery and the small towns along the way. Some days we might drive 500 miles, other days just 50 miles if something interesting catches our attention and we decide to stay for a while.
We start looking for a small town to stay in overnight at around 5pm - we want a town that has a motel in our price range (cheapish but comfortable and clean), has somewhere we can eat, and something to do for a couple of hours - might be a bar, might be an interesting town centre to walk around, a look-out - or whatever. Since we travel light, every fourth or fifth night we need a town that also has a laundromat, ideally one next to a bar, so we can meet some of the usually colourful locals while our laundry goes around and around.
We've usually found a suitable town by 6pm, clean up, go find dinner, then go to the bar (or the town centre or the look-out etc) for a couple of hours. Usually in bed by 11pm and leave the next morning around 9am.
If we're in a major city, we'd be looking for a live music venue for the evening, and might not get to bed until after midnight!
Personally, I wouldn't find checking out the mall to be very interesting, but I think it's a perfectly acceptable way to spend an evening if you enjoy it.
Pretty much anything that didn't involve driving. Depends on where I was; in a more interesting place I might roam around and explore. Sometimes I'd try to arrange stops around casinos so I could stop in and play some poker. But many stops were usually little towns by the interstate, so I tended to lay low in the room. If there was pizza delivery nearby, it was always a bonus
Just an example of someone having limited vacation time, and how it factors in how long they plan on going from point A to B.
Then there are a lot of folks who will not fly in an aluminum tube, ever !....so it flying in your car or motorhome. You would be surprised how far you can go in 24 hours by trading off drivers some.
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