# Do you drive purely for recreation?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [August 4, 2015, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947 "2015-08-04T03:20:13Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/21 "2015-08-04T10:44:02Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#):
>
> None. I can’t imagine a worse activity than sitting in a car for no good reason. Waste of gas, time and effort.
Same. I haaaaaate it.
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### Author:  [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/22 "2015-08-04T10:47:15Z")
For me, driving is a necessary evil, getting from here to there when required. I’ve driven pickups and sedans and station wagons as well as a variety of sports cars, and they were just vehicles. Not my idea of a fun activity.
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### Author:  [@Essured](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Essured)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/23 "2015-08-04T10:56:39Z")
Yep. I used to go out every weekend on my motorbike. Still go out, just not as often
Still love road trips, even though I don’t currently have a fun car.
I hope automated cars aren’t commonplace before I’m too old - I know it’s the future, will be safer, more efficient, all the rest… But I enjoy driving / riding!
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### Author:  [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/24 "2015-08-04T10:57:44Z")
I ride my motorcycle recreationally. Driving a car is just a bore.
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### Author:  [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/25 "2015-08-04T10:59:18Z")
I love going for drives with my husband. We sometimes do it in the evening if we’ve both had tough days at work. Stereo on, up the hills to a nice scenic country spot.
It’s also great for tough conversations. My husband has quite a lot of anxiety and finds it easier to talk things through when we’re both ‘eyes forward’.
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### Author:  [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/26 "2015-08-04T11:25:21Z")
> [@hogarth](#):
>
> I never drive without a specific destination in mind.
Same here. I will occasionally take a different route to get to that destination based on the scenery, but not because of the fun of driving.
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### Author:  [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/27 "2015-08-04T11:54:58Z")
Never. I had a fairly long commute for a couple of years when I was younger, and I think that put me off driving. I view it as a necessary evil, particularly because I live in Massachusetts and continually have to deal with people in BMWs driving aggressively and much too fast.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/28 "2015-08-04T11:57:30Z")
Since the OP is asking opinions about how much recreational driving people do, I’m leisurely driving this over to IMHO.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/29 "2015-08-04T12:01:27Z")
Unless I’m in rush hour traffic, driving is stress therapy for me - even the commute to/from work. I’m rarely quite so relaxed, focused and feel completely in control of my environment as when I am behind the wheel. It’s not happenstance that my cars are actually fun to drive and give me pleasure just to look at them.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/30 "2015-08-04T12:15:33Z")
When my kids were young I used to put the top down and go for drives on rural roads. We took turns deciding left/right/straight and saw some cool sights.
We once started out on a backroad near Greensburg and ended up on the other side of Donegal after an impossibly short time lapse. Like we’d traveled fifty miles in fifteen minutes while never doing over 25 mph. Looking at maps later, we decided there was a wrinkle in time/space that we experienced.
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### Author:  [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/31 "2015-08-04T12:28:36Z")
Sure, I’ve got a 911 and it’s just begging to get out on open country roads and stretch its legs so, on a reasonably frequent basis, I try and oblige. Every time I do I come home with a big grin on my face, reminded of why I bought the car in the first place.
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### Author:  [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/32 "2015-08-04T12:33:55Z")
While the driving part itself has lost its thrill over the years, a new piece of asphalt is something I’ll never tire of. The problem is that I’ve pretty much exhausted the roads within a day’s radius of home so recreational driving takes some major time now.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/33 "2015-08-04T12:34:42Z")
I already mentioned in another thread how I go for sunset drives on a regular basis. The one the other night was utterly spectacular. So, yes.
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### Author:  [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/34 "2015-08-04T13:01:03Z")
Yes. I enjoy getting out on the back roads and just meandering.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/35 "2015-08-04T13:21:37Z")
> [@hogarth](#):
>
> I never drive without a specific destination in mind.
That’s generally true for me. I pick a destination. But usually there’s nothing in particular about the destination that I actually care about. It’s just a spot on the map about the right distance and direction that I want to go.
My favorite drive was going to to Prairie du Chien, up the east bank of the Mississippi to LaCrosse where I stopped at this great scenic overlook of the whole area, and then on some more north to Osseo, where I stopped for pie at the Norske Nook.
My worst drive was to Denver. It was a planning error. I knew it was a thousand mile drive, and I thought I could do it straight through with a couple of brief catnaps at rest areas. But after each catnap, I was pretty reelling with exhaustion after another hour driving, and I ended up needing about half a dozen stops and maybe 4 hours sleep. I didn’t need the sore back which put me in bed for 12 hours after I got there.
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### Author:  [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/36 "2015-08-04T13:23:32Z")
I haven’t done it in ages, but I do enjoy a leisurely drive to nowhere.
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### Author:  [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/37 "2015-08-04T13:24:17Z")
> [@madmonk28](#):
>
> Well, I love living in DC, it’s just the outler layer of sprawl outside of the city that I hate. My commute is virtually nothing, and it’s all through DC neighborhood streets.
>
> If we’re going to try and penetrate the dead zone (as I like to call it) we plan it like an expediton and it’s usually for a vacation or at least weekend get away. We pack the car the night before and get up early to get out past the sprawl before the arteries clog up like those of the diners at the many Olive Gardens we pass on our way out. Each year it seems like we have to drive a little further before we pop out on the other side. I can’t imagine having to commute that every day.
I used to enjoy driving through the city and just looking at the various neighborhoods. Some of the suburbs, especially the older ones, have some interesting architecture that is worth seeing.
An hour from DC can take you to a Baltimore, Annapolis, and almost Frederick, which is interesting. On the Virginia side, we would get on 50 and keep going. It helped that when my older son was a baby, he would nap best while in a car driving. My younger son absolutely won’t, so we don’t really do that anymore.
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### Author:  [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/38 "2015-08-04T13:45:49Z")
I used to love it and did it ALL the time. Starting when I first got my license and into my late 20’s. Nowadays, no. No, no, no and MORE no. Now I can’t even hardly stand to get behind the wheel. I hate it! It’s my personal idea of hell. That’s due more to extraneous circumstances which can’t be ameliorated though - so I suppose if I had a magic wand and COULD change those things, I’d do it again.
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### Author:  [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/39 "2015-08-04T13:47:33Z")
I find driving to be a boring chore, and I avoid it when necessary. My “aimless wandering” needs are met by walking the dog, which is cheaper than driving (and better for me and Leet the Wonder Dog[sup]TM[/sup])
YMMV. 😉
Regards,
Shodan
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### Author:  [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)
#### Post date: [August 4, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-drive-purely-for-recreation/726947/40 "2015-08-04T13:51:10Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#):
>
> I used to enjoy driving through the city and just looking at the various neighborhoods. Some of the suburbs, especially the older ones, have some interesting architecture that is worth seeing.
>
> An hour from DC can take you to a Baltimore, Annapolis, and almost Frederick, which is interesting. On the Virginia side, we would get on 50 and keep going. It helped that when my older son was a baby, he would nap best while in a car driving. My younger son absolutely won’t, so we don’t really do that anymore.
Maybe when there’s no traffic, but an hour from DC during traffic will put you somewhere on 66 near Mananas, stuck on 270 well before Frederick, or halfway across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. For poking around the city, that’s what feet, buses and Metro are for. The car is for getting past Frederick to the brown trout of western Maryland, to the small mouth bass of the Shenandoah valley. It is an instrument for fleeing through the deadzone as quickly as possible.
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