Good point.
Thanks for the whole story. Yeah, whatever Miller decides. Not terribly important.
I have always liked the title of the “what were you thinking” thread. I think it covers what it’s about perfectly. And anyone who doesn’t get what it’s for just has to read the OP.
It’s prone to drifts and hijacks, but it’s the Pit where all threads are vulnerable to it, especially because it’s almost never moderated here (for good reason).
So I take from this that this thread about driving, which was spun off to avoid hijacking the “What were you thinking?” thread, has now been hijacked by a discussion about the “What were you thinking?” thread. 
But that’s OK, this thread is not really focused. Many posters check the What were you thinking and Trolls R Us threads for what’s happening around the board, so hijacks to those are kind of annoying as expressed by many of us.
I was more than a little surprised by the number of Dopers who don’t like to drive (to the point of detesting the act!), or no longer enjoy driving as much as they used to.
I just turned 73 and I will freely admit that I have always liked to drive and still enjoy driving. I have no qualms about a road trip, even if it’s by myself. Three years ago I drove alone to Utah and then Arizona before returning home to Kansas; a year later, I drove (alone again) to the Bay Area and then up to Crater Lake before heading homeward. In May, I will be driving to Cincinnati to meet my baseball buddies to watch two games in which the Reds will host the Cardinals. I try to stay off the interstate whenever possible, and I allow myself plenty of time to get where I’m going, as I like to stop at places that catch my fancy.
Yes, the days can get long in the car, particularly as evening approaches. But listening to a good book on the Libby app or Sirius XM radio can certainly help the time spent on the road.
Anybody else still like a road trip?
I do, but I’m not up to them the way I used to be. I’m looking to take breaks after maybe an hour. No more 12 hours of driving in a day, forget about the 27 hours I pulled once.
When we finally go to Italy, we’ll be doing a bus or boat tour.
I try to take a break every two hours, mainly because my bladder requests that I do so.
My longest day in recent years was right at 12 hours, from the western edge of Colorado to Lake Tahoe on Highway 50, the aptly-named loneliest road in America. That day was a bit too long. Since then I try to make my days no more than 10 hours, and preferably around 8.
I used to love driving long distances but I’m currently avoiding even moderately long drives until I get my cataracts fixed. Only one eye is affected but it’s surprisingly disconcerting even though the other eye is perfectly fine.
Further background on this narrow question. …
As explained above, the “what were you thinking?” thread is intended to discuss & gently chastise normally decent posters who pull a stupid.
One of the Dope regulars, who happens to be virulently anti-car and anti-AI, attacked me in yet another thread, that one about AVs. And drew a warning for that. Then I came to the “what were you thinking?” "thread to share my thoughts about that ill-considered post & poster.
Which post of mine launched a major digression about driving, AVs, civilization, and finally drunk driving & open container laws just before @What_Exit split this into a fresh thread about those car & car-adjacent topics.
And now you know …
The rest of the story.
Good day. 
I have to disagree with this (assuming I am parsing this correctly, that you are saying that for all of the population that lives within 3% of the land, i.e. in cities, public transportation is practical).
Where I live, in San Francisco, public transit is practical for some things, many people can commute back and forth to work for example, assuming they are able to build in enough of a cushion for lateness and stoppages, or that they have an understanding boss who allows them to be late on those occasions. Other than that, service outside of rush hours is just too infrequent, in spite of SFMTA doing their best to push public transit (and bicycles, don’t forget bicycles). I can’t imagine, for example, doing grocery shopping from a bus. I would simply be unable to do my volunteer work using public transit. We would have to sift all of our doctors, who are in another county (which is easier to get to for us).
It’s kind of a vicious circle, public transit is too sparse because it is not supported by the public, which is because it is too sparse. There is not the political will, among leaders or the taxpayers, to shift funds from other things into public transit. I only drive 4000 miles a year, so I don’t feel too bad about having and using a gas-powered car. Maybe by this time next year I will have my new Slate, and will be riding high on the EV.
It’s got its shortcomings for sure but public transit in SF is pretty much better than any place in the US other than NYC, Boston, Chicago and maybe DC. Of course that’ll change if BART goes through with the threatening rumblings they’re making about stopping service at 9 pm and closing a bunch of the outlying stations or even shutting the whole system down entirely.
Certainly more practical than in rural areas.
I don’t know if it was a conspiracy per se* or peoples’ choices – likely a combination of both – that lead to abandoning public transportation and everyone needing an auto to get around. United Parcel Service got its start in Seattle. Folks would take the trolley to downtown to do their shopping and arrange for UPS to deliver their packages home so they didn’t have to return encumbered.
*I’ve not done sufficient research to determine the veracity but there are persistent rumors that in the 1940s and early '50s Firestone, GM, and the Big Oil Companies™ conspired to buy out the existing trolley lines around the country, convert them to buses, then turn bus service to crap.
QFT
Although 75 annually I drive from Phoenix Metro to north of Reno for Burning Man, lately hauling a mini-teardrop trailer. It would be 16 hours if I drove direct but I stop near Beatty, NV after 10 hours, divert to Reno for supplies, then camp out a second night about 20 miles from Black Rock City before entering in the morning.
In addition there is a biannual trip to the Grand Canyon but I consider that a regional trip – not enough to qualify as a road trip.