Old man question - how far can you drive without stopping?

dawgstudent

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Apr 15, 2003
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
 
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OopsICroomedmypants

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Sep 29, 2022
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I drive a lot for work. I'm probably around your age and have noticed I can't hold my water earlier in the day like I used to. I'm good for probably 6 or 7 hours if I'm by myself, but I have a wife and daughters that can spot a good bathroom from a mile away.
 

Maroon Eagle

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May 24, 2006
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My latest long drive was Tulsa to Hattiesburg (two stops for gas)

Nine and a half hours on paper that turned out to be more like an hour longer because of an accident on I-40…

Thank goodness for heated seats…

Without stopping, I can do six hours. But not often.
 

Car Ramrod.sixpack

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Sep 21, 2017
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Majority of the time I'm limited by the range of my truck and I don't like to go below 1/4 of a tank. That puts me around 4 hrs and I'm looking for a good place to get fuel and a bathroom break.
 
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thatsbaseball

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May 29, 2007
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
As you really do get older you'll find bathroom stops tend to get a little closer together, about 3-4 hours apart. As far as aches I usually just take one 200mg Advil before I start a long day's drive, tends to cut way down on the aches for me.
 

Drebin

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Aug 22, 2012
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
A few years ago i drove to South Florida - a 12 hour trip - and just about killed my mother in law because we only stopped twice - for gas and bathroom breaks.

Now that I'm getting older, I can't do stuff like that anymore.
 
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The Peeper

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Feb 26, 2008
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I'm good for probably 6 or 7 hours if I'm by myself, but I have a wife and daughters that can spot a good bathroom from a mile away.

When my kids were growing up we followed my dads travel plan, nobody pees till dad pees. Now its usually dad that has to pee first especially in the a.m. when I've had most of a pot of coffee before leaving. Its usually just me and Mrs. Pee-per and we dont usually have any schedule so I can usually leave and get there whenever the hell I want to
 

WrightGuy821

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Mar 13, 2019
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If it's just me I an make it 6/7 hours roughly an entire tank of gas. With my wife we stop every 2.5 hours to use the bathroom. She's a teacher but can only seem to hold her liquids at the school house
 

The Cooterpoot

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Sep 29, 2022
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My prostate/bladder say about an hour, but I've done MS to Chicago and Chicago to Denver and back to MS
 

johnson86-1

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Aug 22, 2012
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
I've never had a car that could go 7 hours at interstate speeds without needing gas. But as far as driving without stopping other than for gas, there was a time when I drove a lot more than I do now where I could do about 12 hours by myself after work and through the night before feeling like I was getting dangerously tired. Definitely couldn't do that now and not sure I could do more than 5 hours, even in the middle of the day before feeling like I need to do something to wake myself up.
 
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peewee.sixpack

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Nov 4, 2014
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I use to go 6-7 hours but now I am 50, drink lots of coffee and I stop about every 2.5 hours or so. My daughter is going to UA in Fayetteville. We have made that trip quite a few times recently and typically stop twice in the 7 hour trip. Of course those stops are at places we know have clean restrooms and our favorite David Sunflower seed flavor (Sweet and Spicey).
 

patdog

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May 28, 2007
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On a good day 4 hours. On a bad day about 2. Just depends on what the bladder says.
 

FreeDawg

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Oct 6, 2010
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About 6-7 barring any nature calling. Monday I had wife, 8, 7, and 4 make it from metro to Mobile Buccees straight and I’ve never been prouder. Nothing makes dad happy like making good time.
 
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jethreauxdawg

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Dec 20, 2010
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As you really do get older you'll find bathroom stops tend to get a little closer together, about 3-4 hours apart. As far as aches I usually just take one 200mg Advil before I start a long day's drive, tends to cut way down on the aches for me.
I’m gonna try this advil trick. My bladder holds out longer than the rest of my body. I just don’t enjoy not getting out and stretching every 2-3 hours. I do it on family road trips, but always mumble and cuss while I’m trying to stand up getting out of the vehicle every 4-5 hours.
 
Jan 31, 2012
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
I like to stop at every state line rest stop when I drive from Mississippi to South Carolina. so a 9 hour drive becomes closer to 9:45 in the end, but my bladder and my knees thank me.
 
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LandArchDawg

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Sep 14, 2003
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My bladder and the car's gas tank are my biggest limitations. I'm usually good for 3-4 hours before either need to be taken care of. It also depends on how much coffee I drank before the trip, and if I drink more while on the trip.
 

BulldogBlitz

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Dec 11, 2008
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Now? 3 miles. I'm semi retired. Own a store 2 miles from the house. During my career in chemicals/heavy industries, I drove. Lots.

Longest drive without stopping, is easy, its just however far the tank of gas will take me, then I have to stop and refill. Smart *** answer aside...

Longest drive was not working related though. Miami to Austin tx. I was pissed leaving the orange bowl and was solo. I was much nicer by the time I got home though, that drive will take the starch out of a man.
 

missouridawg

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Oct 6, 2009
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.

Anything over 4 hours and I probably check to see what a flight would cost. But this is certainly a factor of living in a big metro like Houston where there are daily direct flights to just about anywhere you want to go. If the drive was 5 hours or more, I'm definitely planning a stop.
 
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99jc

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Jul 31, 2008
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i drove 1200 miles last year without stopping except for food and restroom. i am 65 and it almost killed me. was sick for a week.
 
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Dawg1976

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Aug 22, 2012
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I can go 4 hours or so when driving and I’m about to turn 71. I do have an enlarged prostrate and my urologist recommended a supplement called Prostate SR which helps in shrinking it. I rarely ever have to get up during the night for a bathroom trip. The supplement does not require a prescription btw.
 

Bulldog Bruce

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Nov 1, 2007
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My vehicles have a range of 300 - 325 miles per tank. That works out to about 4 hours for gas stops. Obviously you pee when you stop. If That doesn't count as some people seem to think, once a year I drive from OB to Cape Coral, FL and depending on traffic on 75 that is 14 to 20 hours.

My last trip coming home was 20+ hours. 75 was like a parking lot. I left at 8AM and we hit the Georgia border at dark.
 

horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
If I don't have to pee, I don't have to stop. Based on my daily intake of coffee and water, that number is NOT 7 hours...
 
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horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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I've never had a car that could go 7 hours at interstate speeds without needing gas. But as far as driving without stopping other than for gas, there was a time when I drove a lot more than I do now where I could do about 12 hours by myself after work and through the night before feeling like I was getting dangerously tired. Definitely couldn't do that now and not sure I could do more than 5 hours, even in the middle of the day before feeling like I need to do something to wake myself up.
Is this where I come to brag about my 36 gallon F150 with 600+ mile range?
 

horshack.sixpack

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Oct 30, 2012
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I use to go 6-7 hours but now I am 50, drink lots of coffee and I stop about every 2.5 hours or so. My daughter is going to UA in Fayetteville. We have made that trip quite a few times recently and typically stop twice in the 7 hour trip. Of course those stops are at places we know have clean restrooms and our favorite David Sunflower seed flavor (Sweet and Spicey).
As I've aged, I've definitely adopted more of an enjoy the journey attitude. When I was young it was all about how fast can I get where I'm going. Now, if I need to pee, I pull over. As soon as I get back on the road I start looking for another place to pee for my "I didn't need to pee back there, it just hit me." wife...I can now make that second stop without being pissed off. I call that maturing.
 

TaleofTwoDogs

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Jun 1, 2004
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I drive about 4 - 5 hours before the wife starts complaining. My father could drive for 24 hours without stopping (except gas and quick meal) but my mother didn't allow more than 6 hours and that's with 4 young boys in the backseat of the sedan. Dad's ability was horned by his job, and electronic warfare officer aboard a B-52 flying 48 hour patrols outside Russia.
 

jwbigcreek

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Feb 26, 2008
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I can usually make the drive from Grenada to Huntsville & vice-versa without stopping (3.5 hours roughly). Joints tend to get a bit creaky though. Never had that issue until I hit 60.
 

tenureplan

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Dec 3, 2008
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I just got back from vacation and drove from Michigan to Mississippi yesterday. The aches you get as you age while driving start to add up.

I think I could get 7 hours before I need to walk around a bit.
Drove Starkville to Miami a few times. 17 hrs. Doubt i could do it now.
 

The Peeper

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Feb 26, 2008
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As soon as I get back on the road I start looking for another place to pee for my "I didn't need to pee back there, it just hit me." wife...I can now make that second stop without being pissed off. I call that maturing.
Damn, my wife has that disease too, she never needs to pee until about 30 minutes after I stopped the last time. She'll even sit in the car waiting on me to go. She's had kidney stones in the past though and drinks liquids from the moment she gets up until she goes to bed at night so I guess its worth not having those damn pesky things. So far I have escaped those but damn they worked her over. She was throwing up from pain, running fever, couldn't pee from them. I think the amount of beer that flows through me washes them out
 
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mcdawg22

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Sep 18, 2004
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If I'm drinking beer, 1.5 hours, then every 45 minutes.
I have a friend with the smallest bladder ever. In college we drove from Starkville to Ft Morgan. By the time we got to S Alabama we were stopping every 20 minutes. I swear we stopped twice on Ft Morgan road.
 

MSUDOG24

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Mar 31, 2021
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My nonstop "PR" was about 450 miles/7.5 hours when I was in my mid 30's, Augusta to Lakeland FL. Left late afternoon after a meeting and wanted to see if my car could make it on one tank just for grins (it was close, doing fumes on arrival). At double that age now, 3 hours is about my limit and it takes me a bit to just stand up when I get out of the car.
With gas stops I wouldn't think twice about a 10+ hour drive back in the day but that's not happening any more. A copilot is a must now.
 

mcdawg22

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Sep 18, 2004
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I can go as long as my sciatica will allow. I have some nerve in my right hamstring that gets angry at sitting down more than 2 or 3 hours. If I’m not driving I can shift and stretch to minimize it. When I’m driving I have to stop and stretch it.