Where's everyone going?

[DanZac]

Genuine question prompted by the lack of EV range discussions.

Amongst my colleagues at work I'm the most adventurous. I'm away doing something most weekends, either cycling, running or walking, normally overnight in my van.

But I still rarely venture more than 80-100 miles from home, or it feels like I'm spending the weekend driving.

likewise all my family are 80-90 miles away depending on the route I take, and my lad lives in South Wales which is 120 miles away, and is about the furthest I go by choice.

A straw pole amongst my colleagues and friends suggests that most rarely venture more than 20-30 miles from home, apart from the annual holidays. And most commute less than an hour, so again 20-30 miles.

For me, If it's any further than 150 miles away I'd be seriously thinking about staying overnight, because I don't want to do a 300 mile round trip in one go. But I'm intrigued to know where everyone else goes on a regular basis.

So, not including work journeys, which to my thinking fall into a different category, and without getting into the EV range or charging debate which is covered elsewhere.

Where are we all going, that's over a 150 mile round trip from home?

 

[Wildefalcon]

Buying machinery that I won't use.

 

[addjunkie]

I dont as it would mean driving on a dual carriageway. Joking aside, its rare I go more them 51 miles to either Mother in Laws or my daughters place.

 

[Morrisman]

I haven’t been 150 miles from home since my daughter went to Canada and I had to take her to/from Heathrow. And that was 3 years ago.

I do a 1000+ miles a month on my bike, but rarely outside of a 30 mile radius of home.

And my car rarely goes more than a 5 mile radius….
Still, diesel Mondeo, 50mpg and £35 road tax, I shan’t be swapping it until it literally falls apart, even if someone gave me an EV at half price.

 

[cheb]

Anything further than 30 miles from home gets a bit damp unless arrangements have been made, most round trips are about 50 miles.

Or, it's a long way down to bottom of the big island from here when I go. My last trip averaged about 250 miles a day spread over 10 days. That happens about 6 times a year.

150 miles doesn't quite get me to a major city.

We do now have a roundabout and a zebra crossing on the island but still no permanent traffic lights. Nor any one way streets, dual carriageways or bridges.

 

[Onoff]

I did 316 miles on Friday. Sevenoaks to Truro via Trowbridge. 7 ½ hours through the tail end of the snow. I was thankful it wasn't 24 hours earlier going through Launceston etc!

A few stops in my 2.0 petrol Mondeo but it was comfortable.

I was I admit wondering how an EV would have coped. Reckon I'd have had range anxiety.

Part of me thinks it's a bit of an affront that when going long journeys in an EV you are basically forced to stop to recharge. In that 20, 30 minutes, an hour or whatever you'll likely be supping coffee, or hot food, all which took energy to produce.

 

[Domdom]

Now I've moved to Spain I am finding the distances can be huge. Back in Blighty I would do 150 miles each way in a day, above that would be a hotel for the night someplace. Here though, people think nothing of 400km each way (250 miles ish) but the roads are a lot better and far less congested. And fuel is quite a bit cheaper at £1.09 a litre for diesel.

The "local" airport is Alicante (if we ignore Murcia that has very few useful flights) and that takes 1.5 hours for 170km. You can set your watch by it, it's that predictable, so the distances are less of an issue. I did draw the line at driving to Barcelona though, that's 7 hours one way. But we go visit friends who live 2.5 hours south of us and come back the same day.

Pure EVs are not really a thing here, they all tend to be petrol or diesel hybrids. I have seen some Teslas but they are rare.

 

[redlig]

Somewhere down the line I seem to have lost the will to travel anywhere. Have driven well over a million miles for work when the roads were only busy not Manic so have no desire to join in the fun . As for abroad ,not really interested as it always seems to be full of foreigners or worse still British people on holiday. Don't have a passport any more as occasionally driving to Swindon doesn't seem to need one although the last time I was there it did seem like a 3rd world country after the latest coup. Don't mention Cruises . Locked in a tin can and being nice to fellow passengers while trying not to catch the latest Pandemic doesn't seem like fun. So trips have become trips to the doctors , dentist or vet ( for the dog) or a weekly walk to the end of the lane with the wheelie bin. Got to be honest SWMBO does the bin trip. Only trips that I look forward to are between the air fryer ,microwave oven and my dens . Am I missing anything ? If I am ,so what.

 

[Onoff]

Somewhere down the line I seem to have lost the will to travel anywhere. Have driven well over a million miles for work when the roads were only busy not Manic so have no desire to join in the fun . As for abroad ,not really interested as it always seems to be full of foreigners or worse still British people on holiday. Don't have a passport any more as occasionally driving to Swindon doesn't seem to need one although the last time I was there it did seem like a 3rd world country after the latest coup. Don't mention Cruises . Locked in a tin can and being nice to fellow passengers while trying not to catch the latest Pandemic doesn't seem like fun. So trips have become trips to the doctors , dentist or vet ( for the dog) or a weekly walk to the end of the lane with the wheelie bin. Got to be honest SWMBO does the bin trip. Only trips that I look forward to are between the air fryer ,microwave oven and my dens . Am I missing anything ? If I am ,so what.

Can the above be moved to Codger's Corner please?

 

[Morrisman]

Somewhere down the line I seem to have lost the will to travel anywhere. Have driven well over a million miles for work when the roads were only busy not Manic so have no desire to join in the fun . As for abroad ,not really interested as it always seems to be full of foreigners or worse still British people on holiday. Don't have a passport any more as occasionally driving to Swindon doesn't seem to need one although the last time I was there it did seem like a 3rd world country after the latest coup. Don't mention Cruises . Locked in a tin can and being nice to fellow passengers while trying not to catch the latest Pandemic doesn't seem like fun. So trips have become trips to the doctors , dentist or vet ( for the dog) or a weekly walk to the end of the lane with the wheelie bin. Got to be honest SWMBO does the bin trip. Only trips that I look forward to are between the air fryer ,microwave oven and my dens . Am I missing anything ? If I am ,so what.

Same here, I seem to have lost any interest in going anywhere. I spent half my life flying and travelling, for work and pleasure, but now I can’t even drum up the enthusiasm to take a long bike ride. Every direction is rubbish roads, and a gazillions cars crawling and queueing.

All my old get up and go has got up and gone.

 

[Seadog]

Well, I was in Egypt 10 days ago, am off to Riga on Monday, then Austria in January.
Get off your **** and enjoy the world

 

[voipio]

This week: Mon 35 miles, Tue 50 miles, Weds 20 miles, Fri 85 miles, Sat 20 miles, Sun 440 miles. This might not be untypical for an average week.

Add in 420 miles to Oban, 300 odd on the Outer Hebrides, and 520 from Uig, once or twice a year, plus more than the occasional trip to the coast, or Wales, or Scotland. The miles soon add up. EV doesn't seem very appealing, based on our needs at present. A "normal" food shop would tend to be 20 miles but, if we need to do any banking, the lack of banks locally usually means a 40 miles round trip, or more, nowadays.

 

[frank horton]

did the working around some of the world years ago, not really interested...
driving in deserts n the bush.....
everywhere is too full of orrible tourists....
for me ...no need to go anywhere.....
best trip for me now is to our DIY and engineers supply to stock up on drills, nuts n bolts and the like....
But actually my Mr's get what I need.....happy to stay at home....last week sent her out for 10x 4m roofing sheets....hahaha.......
even if an EV was for nothing I still wouldn't have one.....my VW, T4 TD has 440,000 klms on it.....thats enough driving for anybody....

 

[JEZGUZ]

Just put some petrol in the car and checked the mileage, it's taken 2 months to do 200 miles, no real desire to go anywhere.

 

[Morrisman]

Well, I was in Egypt 10 days ago, am off to Riga on Monday, then Austria in January.
Get off your **** and enjoy the world

I’ve enjoyed it for several decades, 64 countries, over a million air miles, 15 years of sea time, the novelty has worn off.

 

[DanZac]

Am I missing anything ? If I am ,so what.

I don't think your missing much, unless you like sitting in coffee shops, or looking at boarded up highstreets.

Some really interesting replies above and some that I wasn't expecting. Although at the moment most of the replies tend to suggest that most of us don't generally stray too far from the workshop. Obviously you guys that live in the back end of nowhere, add a totally different perspective to things though.

Personally, whist I love exploring and seeing new places I've no real interest in rushing off abroad and personally really dislike driving.

If I had the time I'd be inclined to use the car even less than I already do and go everywhere possible by push bike or foot. I already do about twice the miles every year by bike or foot than I do by car (8000+ by bike and another 2000+ running and walking).

I'm incredibly lucky to still be fit and able enough to do so, but you see far more of the world at 10mph than you do at 70. Not so useful for lugging the shopping home though!

 

[Onoff]

I really enjoyed going to Cornwall, like travelling abroad. Would like to spend some more time in Falmouth...and Trago Mills.

 

[DanZac]

I really enjoyed going to Cornwall, like travelling abroad. Would like to spend some more time in Falmouth...and Trago Mills.

It's surprising when you do get out and about how different parts of the country are. Despite being fairly compact compared to many countries, there's a lot of variety in the UK.

 

[Mick Annick]

Only long trips I do now are home to family near Oxford - 510 miles each way, about 10 hours, I do it in a day with a stop or two via the tunnel. Around here the only long journey I do is to visit a wine supplier, that’s a 200 mile round trip, with a stop for lunch near them.

Long distance driving doesn’t phase me, for years (20+) my daily commute was 160 mile round trip Wantage to central Birmingham, before that I commuted to Dagenham through central London every morning, return home via the M25.

 

[Seadog]

I enjoy travelling in the UK. However, for the same expense as, say, an average week in Cornwall, I can have a thoroughly good time abroad. Eating at very good restaurants and enjoying local wines.