American Reacts to 5 Ways British and American Road Trips Are Very Different

[@charleshedley4381]

British here. Am I alone in never using the phrase "road trip"? We might drive somewhere (eg, when I was a child we would leave London ~5.30am to visit my father's family in a remote part of Cumbria). But it wasn't a road trip, it was just a long drive which needed games, some singing, stop for my sister to be car-sick etc. Happy days!

[@duncanliath]

Fellow Brit here - you are not alone! Never heard anyone in the UK use the american expression 'road trip' when refering to the distance needed to drive from one point in the UK to another

[@britbazza3568]

Nope definitely not alone. I regularly drive from one side of the UK to the other and it's basically just a day out or a long drive

[@sbjchef]

Lol the USA has 10 times the paved roads in the UK and nowhere is more than a days drive out longest mainland journey is 874 miles.

[@AveCaesar2025]

Not only in the UK, when my husband and I drove from Auckland to Christchurch [top third of the north island to roughly just past the middle bit of the south island - with one night sleeping in the car before the ferry crossing - we didn't call it a road trip either. We drove to Christchurch and then we drove back to Auckland a fortnight later.

[@dib000]

Never heard the term road trip in the UK.

[@chrisperyagh]

We don't do 'road trips' here - we 'go for a drive'.

[@rkeirle1]

Australia sat nav, straight for two days, turn left😂

[@pulchralutetia]

Provided you don't get killed by kangaroos first.

[@zosemabubble7825]

​@@pulchralutetiaOr drop bears. 😂

[@UNVAXXEDt-m7x]

@@pulchralutetia or "Mick Taylor"

[@z0n0ph0ne]

One thing I recall from many many miles driving in US was that you would be on the Interstate with your cruise control set at 70, just bumbling along and then you would become aware of another car approaching from the rear VERY slowly. No doubt his cruise control was also set at 70, but just fractionally faster. About 20 minutes later he would come alongside you, still going 70.001 mph and then take FIVE MINUTES to pass you! (time to wind down the window and pass the time of day!!) And then, over half an hour later would finally disappear into the distance. This happened so many times! In UK you just drop a gear and get past as soon as possible. That way the roads dont get blocked.

[@TheRockkickass]

Okay

[@sueKay]

We don't really talk about going road trips, we talk about going a drive. One good route you should look at is the NC500... which is a little over 500 miles...but takes 3 days if you rush round it, but you're best taking about a week and a half. Longest journey I've ever done overland wasn't by car but by coach - 1,300 miles, and I've done that exact trip eight times in total. The last time involved 3 breakdowns, being stranded in rural France for 10 hours... and then the bus crashing just as we reached our destination...

[@36814]

One UK classic he neglected to mention is the "transport caff " . These are cheap and cheerful , no frills cafes serving big portion cardiac arrest inducing meals located on the A roads not the motorways .

[@katrinabryce]

A road trip I do sometimes is to drive from the South of England to Scotland. That is mostly 3 lane motorways, which I think you call 6 lane highways? Sometimes I will leave in the evening, stay in a Travelodge overnight somewhere near Manchester, and complete the journey the following morning.

[@jamiecroot5563]

the york to scarborough drive is a road I've driven on plenty of times to commute and it's one of my favourite roads to drive on

[@fairbourne]

I’m impressed that he remembered it was the A64

[@fingsnstuff9525]

To be fair, whilst the UK is smaller, there definitely is trips that can take multiple days despite your speed. Wales, for example used to go there every year

[@JKK_85]

From where? North Scotland? I go to Wales quite often from Norfolk and it's easily done in a day.

[@fingsnstuff9525]

@kwlkid85 No from East Sussex and considering we had to pass through or go around London and then follow the not so straight roads which is almost all roads tbh, it would usually take a day and a half, sometimes 2 if we were unlucky

[@JKK_85]

@@fingsnstuff9525 Hastings to Holyhead is like 7hrs, you must drive painfully slow or just not like driving for more than a few hours.

[@fingsnstuff9525]

@kwlkid85 Funny how you completely ignore roadworks and traffic which slows things down quite alot! Also I don't drive I am referring to childhood trips when we travelled all night for example, and alot of the time roads aren't in straight lines so it takes alot longer than necessary

[@JKK_85]

@@fingsnstuff9525 Google maps time range for that route is: 6hr 10 to 8hr 20. That's based on real trip data so does include traffic roadworks etc. It's also the furthest away place in Wales. Cardiff is like 5hrs from Hastings. I'm almost certain it's just your parents were slow drivers, I'm half Welsh half English and have done Norwich to Wales (a similar distance also going around the M25) 1000s of times and it's never taken more than a day. I did Norwich to Paris last month and that's a lot further and was still within a day.

[@Mrsmess6466]

As a child we used to drive from Cheshire to Cornwall before the M5 got as far as it did and before the links to the M6. That was a journey on A roads that were not dual carriageway. That was quite the road trip.

[@Its_a_kind_of_magic71]

ILL bet 😂 We called the 303 the Matelot expressway

[@alfresco8442]

As a kid I made the same trip (from just north of Liverpool) before motorways were even a thing at all. We used to start off about 6.00 am to get to Penzance in time for the evening meal. It meant driving right through the middle of Bristol docks. And the routes through Devon and Cornwall were so primitive that we considered Bridgewater to be the half-way point.

[@johnpage4581]

I remember a documentary on American air bases in the 2nd world war in England, and a garage owner in Lincolnshire who made more money out of the times he pulled out the cars from the ditches,as he said the Americans could not get use to the small lanes and bends.

[@leehallam9365]

When we were kids we would travel on our annual holiday from Manchester, sometimes to Cornwall or Devon. There definately were no overnight stays, or even stops at service stations. It usually involved an insanely early start to avoid the Traffic and one stop at a layby somewhere near Bristol for sandwiches and drinks from a vacuum flask. We would always arrive hours before we could go into the accommodation. In fact we even did that when we went to North Wales which was under 100 miles, the difference being there was no stop at a layby, just a queue to get through Conwy, before they built the tunnel. Still you got a good look at the castle and suspension bridge.

[@AmandaWood-b5t]

Another Mancunian here and can definitely relate to both those journeys.

[@missharry5727]

We recently went from our home in Hampshire to Largs in Scotland, a distance of roughly 450 miles. Much of that distance was on motorways. Going northe we got badly entangled in major roadworks in Oxford, but managed to avoid the worst of that on the return. The journey is estimated to take arond 7 hrs 45 mins. English motorways can be very busy, circumnavigating towns and roadworks causes delays, stopping for food and petrol has to be allowed for. I actually cannot remember how long it took coming home but around 8 hours sounds right. Fun it was not, even in good weather.

[@lottie2525]

We play 'yellow car' in the UK. When you see any yellow vehicle, if you're the first to spot it you get to thump everyone with you. My daughter got the best one yet, a yellow helicopter flew over!🚋🚜🚁🏍

[@hexoslaya3696]

We did both yellow cars and minis and you had to say no punch back or you got punched in return

[@adrianhempfing2042]

In Australia we did VW beatles back in the day . We called them - punch buggies . Because if you didn't say - no returns . You soon felt it

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

If you haven’t read it, “Notes from a small island” by Bill Bryson is a must. There is a documentary version available on KZbin that is not as detailed. Bill went on a backpacking trip around Europe in 1973 and ended up staying in the UK for the next 25 years or so - I think he returned to the US for a brief period in the ‘90s ? His book describes the country brilliantly, and one of the topics he discusses is travel. He describes asking for directions and variously being given advice such as “you can’t get there from here” or that he should have left yesterday. Although written in an era before you first visited, you will recognize and laugh at so many of his observations

[@claregale9011]

I like living on a smaller land mass , I can get to the seaside in an hour to spend the day then home again . 😊

[@lewistaylor1965]

They do that in Florida...hehe

[@claregale9011]

@@lewistaylor1965 obviously 🙄

[@TheRockkickass]

You also have to have homes that are the size of my bedroom

[@NorthEastLad58]

The A64 journey time from York to Scarborough can double on a Bank Holiday. By the time you arrive it is more than likely raining! 😂

[@pulchralutetia]

Land's End to John O'Groats is about 14 hours by car!

[@craigavonvideo]

Had a bit of a "road trip" for my summer holiday in Cornwall. Basically a 500 mile drive to Falmouth and back (plus a 3.5 hour boat journey). From home, drove down to Dublin port (about 90 miles) then from Holyhead to Wrexham (and overnight in a Premier Inn). The next day, drove the A roads down to Worcester and then the A5 to Exeter (the worst part of the journey) and the A30 down to Falmouth in Cornwall. Left Wrexham about 10am and made it to Falmouth (with a stop at Gloucester services) by 6.30pm. It's an enjoyable trip apart from the M5 which is a bit of a knightmare - 2nd gear for miles on end for no apparent reason - then up to 70, then back to 10mph and then sitting in the outside lane with the handbrake on!! Crazy. But in the end, Cornwall is worth it.

[@MattyEngland]

M5 southbound is the same every Friday and Saturday in the summer. Traffic starts just before Bristol and doesn't end.

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

Gosh, I want to have I ever used to manage driving from Brighton to Northumberland in a little Ford Fiesta. I was a single woman and we didn’t even have mobile phones then.

[@Mr_Fahrenheit]

The best thing to get kids to look for and count how many they see while in the car is motorcycle’s, then when they grow up and start driving they will automatically be looking out for motorcycles at junction’s And Roundabouts ect.

[@margaretflounders8510]

Great idea!

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

He did our service stations a disservice. They have a lot on offer.

[@pulchralutetia]

Tebay Services in Cumbria is phenomenal (if expensive).

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

@@pulchralutetia that’s the one couldn’t remember the name. Is that the one with the duck pond?

[@StephenWhittaker-g5g]

he didnt mention the slot machines, and arcade games for example lol

[@pulchralutetia]

@@phoenix-xu9xj Not sure if there’s a duck pond but it’s a really nice building with a fantastic farm shop with local produce.

[@lillibitjohnson7293]

I’m 63, Australian, I drive 7 hours 3 times a year to babysit the grandkids for school holidays. I drive 1.5 hours to go the an eye specialist/ grocery shopping. lol perspective.

[@stevo728822]

And Australian road tolls.

[@lillibitjohnson7293]

@@stevo728822 I don’t have to pay tolls where I drive

[@SteveRGash]

Northern English man here. A road trip, which I’ve done 6 times is over the North Sea by ferry, through Europe and into Sweden. Then North to the north cape of Europe ( Nordkapp ) we camped or stayed in furnished wooden huts. It’s a 6000 mile trip

[@solentbum]

The first question is , What is a Road Trip? Does my regular jaunt to the New Forest for a walk and Ice creams count (40 miles) . Or maybe my frequent trips to Swanage for lunch, 75 miles each way. or maybe driving from Portsmouth to Prague (700+ miles) How about Portsmouth to the Scottish Borders at the start of a holiday. (2400 Miles in a week) Frankly the name 'Road Trip' is pointless. We just drive to where we want to be.

[@robng15]

We, for a period of time, lived in both Inverness and Newark-on-Trent, a distance of 435 miles, door to door, taking about 8hrs 30mins with breaks. We were doing this journey roughly every 2 weeks. So, you can do long journeys in the UK!

[@jeanauguste-f7i]

Hi, I'm in Newark on Trent ❤❤❤

[@ausomebeak]

It's less about distance in the UK and more about time. Depending on the roads to be travelled, a 40 mile trip can vary by 45mins! And a long trip starts at an hour!! And we're often coming home same day.

[@dizzydevil547]

Also NOT forggeting the time of the year too as in easter, christmas and so on! We travel to my parents from Bristol to Manchester in the car (not often as i dont drive and my partner is now a pensioner so he finds the drive tireing ) BUT we do try to go at least once a yr to visit and stay at my mums etc .....NOW in the past the quickest it took us was 3 hrs (but that was traveling overnight after we finished work at midnight) average is 4 hrs with a stop off at keel services ...I have never been home in the 19 yrs of living i Bristol for christmas due to work and then caring commitments at home ....WELL we finaly went to my mums for christmas a bout 2 yrs ago ...the drive took us over 6 hrs due to weather ,roadworks and OBV the time of year as everyone was on the move to visit family!

[@petersp63]

We Played Eye Spy and also looked for new Registration Numbers!

[@EdgyNumber1]

Alan Partridge stayed long term in a Premier Inn or something, didn't he? 😅 I think those service area hotels are useful for people such as sales reps, builders, and civil engjneers that need to be on the road and away from home over a few days etc.- oh, and of course, incall prossies.....

[@Cader-ce6bv]

I live in Wales and would love to have motorways. Apart from just one motorway in the south in South Wales which is the. M4. The rest of Wales is either single"A,"oads. Maybe the odd dual carriageway. And the rest being "B," road If I do a trip for my village on the west coast to wrexham which is 57 miles it would take me 1 hour 45 minutes on a good day. Even longer now with our 20 mph speed limits , It's almost getting to the stage where you've got to pack an overnight bag 🤪 but I will say that the county of Gwynedd in which I live, they do look after the road surfaces. Very very rare. Do you see a pothole. 😄

[@davidfuters7152]

Morning I just googled some info for you This is England only ! England is about 600 miles long , 300 miles wide and I only asked for the biggest city’s London 11 mil , Birmingham 2.5 mil , Manchester 2.5mil , Leeds 1.7 mil , Liverpool 800 th , Newcastle 700 th , Nottingham 700 th Sheffield 600 th The thing to realise is the biggest gap between the city’s is only 100 miles and there are 41.2 million licensed vehicles on the roads , so this is why are roads are a bit busy, and those numbers do not include visitors from abroad Hope this helps 👍👍👍

[@B-A-L]

That 300 miles is a bit misleading because that is only at the southern part of England from the western tip of Cornwall to the eastern tip of Kent. The average width is probably around 100 miles. Another way to look at England is that you are never more than 78 miles away from the sea.

[@rogerkangaroo6118]

I hope you are American, in which case i will forgive you for confusing England and the UK. The UK is 600 miles long, not England.

[@johnp8131]

Did Filey, via Scarborough to York and back again in a day a few years ago on a visit/beer tour. No problem, bus to Scarborough then train to York.

[@zosemabubble7825]

I once drove from Reading to Plymouth in 2 1/2 hours, in my little Peugeot 106 with a 1.1 engine. It was the middle of the day, nice clear roads, and I was probably doing about 85 all the way. Naughty! 😂😂😂

[@ianmax69]

Those little Pugs where great motors my 1.4D ran on fresh air

[@zosemabubble7825]

@@ianmax69 I got to Plymouth and back on half a tank of petrol! 🤩

[@dominicjohn8954]

It takes 5 days non-stop by car from Cornwall to London travelling at 2mph.

[@LearnTechnicalSketching-y1e]

Re hotels, it is the same in the UK plus bed and breakfast stops, which are usually one off private homes with spare rooms. York to Scarborough is NOT a UK road trip, it's just a short journey. The type I make daily. I don't believe that you have been of a UK motorway which are at least 6 lanes of 8 lanes or more with lanes the same width as a US interstate, try googling that fact, they're a standard 12 foot wide in both countries.

[@davidmckie7128]

When I visit New Zealand and have a road trip around the islands, we always stay in Motels and they are all very nice and clean.

[@alansmithee8831]

Hello Joel. I toured US by Greyhound and used to often do York to Scarborough. I also did northern England to holidays in Cornwall. For work I used to have make trips from Yorkshire to Hastings, but in time to start work, so a bit faster than 1066, which it sounded like your Yorkshire trip was in.

[@BP-kx2ig]

Why is it difficult to understand? Britain is a very old country so roads mainly take the route they did 1000 years ago. The USA is a very new country so the roads were built according to the countryside which is flat,straight and long. I remember taking a coach trip in the Yukatan peninsular in Mexico and wondering why the road was endlessly straight. I realised why - new country.

[@BP-kx2ig]

To continue, a new country does not have to concern itself about building a road through a town/village as there were not any. An old country like Britain would not rebuild the roads straight in order to avoid the towns/villages. Nor would they ignore the existing towns/villages and build a road straight through them so that drivers can get to their destination 1 minute earlier.

[@36814]

I stayed at several motels in California , Arizona and Utah and never had a negative or threatening experience . Breakfast offerings were a bit limited but otherwise all were clean and safe .

[@improvesheffield4824]

Yeah, that journey from York to Scarborough is a nightmare during the holiday season. It takes a lot longer than you would expect. However, there is little to no support for drastically increasing road capacity in such locations so most people are resigned to accepting the extra long journey times. Of course, the train is a very viable alternative.

[@StephenWhittaker-g5g]

the UK did once have a Motel it had wobbley walls lots of drama and affairs and run by Meg Mortimer lol

[@dukedepommefrite]

My Brother lives in Scotland so I have to drive a long way from the Midlands to see him. It takes about 6 hours and it feels like a lifetime.

[@nickyfield137]

I used to travel fairly regularly from Norwich to Cornwall, its 400 miles and I didn't end up in the sea !

[@mattstacyandthepomskies]

I mean, there is an infamous motel about 8 miles from where I am right now in England, that is absolutely loved for its 24/7 diner.

[@mattwainwright9198]

Ive never taken a long journey by car but i have in just about every other form of transport. Ive taken long bus journeys around Britain and long interrailing train journeys around Europe and even walked the entire Yorkshire Coast, but never a long journey by car.

[@timglennon6814]

As a Brit, I have never played Road Trip Bingo.

[@nolaj114]

We called it 'Spotto".

[@paulhadfield7909]

lack of traffic makes long journeys fun, likeon a trian but in traffic for 5 hours, soons drags, motels sound like a fun place to party

[@billyhills9933]

I remember travelling, as a child passenger, from the south east to the M1 and The North (that's what it says on the sign) pre-M25. You had to drive through the centre of London, and I mean Hyde Park Corner and Marble Arch central. Even when the M25 is at its worst, it doesn't compare to that nonsense and most of the time you can fly round it.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

Joel, I thoroughly enjoy most of your videos, particularly so your original content travel ones. While the now Illinois-based former Humberside guy has a witty sense of humour, his videos are becoming steadily more anodine and reflect the fact that he's been living in the US for longer than he lived in England.

[@aidencox790]

​@@beccawoodhouse Totally agree about "Lost in The Pond" being about as humourous as a lump of coal. I can't stand the man and his experience and views on anything English are so far out of date his comments usually are often simply wrong, or disingenuous at best. I was 50 odd when I came to the US and am now 82. I've driven literally hundreds of thousands of miles here and it's as boring as hell. I enjoy DRIVING a car, and country-road riding a good motor bike. In the US that's about impossible as driving here needs a totally different mindset. The Interstates (big wide boring roads) would be misery incarnate to a stick-shift, heel-toe, feel-the-road British driver. Here it's all auto shift and no skill required. Driving US is a get from A to B necessity. Not fun.

[@damianleah6744]

Most roads in the Uk are just clogged up and very busy. So in the morning rush hour for example it can take an hour just to travel 5/6 miles. I live approximately 60 miles from Blackpool and if the traffic is light, it would take an hour. But if the roads are very busy, it’s anyone’s guess. 😂

[@zosemabubble7825]

So true, it used to take me an hour to drive to work from Reading to Bracknell, which is about 6 miles, during school term-time. During the school holidays, it would take 25 minutes.

[@d2ndborn]

a few years back 2008, I was in Barstow CA, for work. Had to stay in a motel. I remembered it was the same hotel I had stayed in before as a child around 1968. I do not think they had cleaned the carpet since then, I would have to toss my white socks in the trash. And yes, I had drug heads and ladies of the night knocking on my door all of the time.

[@B-A-L]

Don't forget the UK is tiny compared to the USA and we just don't have the space for huge 5 lane highways. We do have the space for lots of smaller b-roads which makes driving a car and riding a motorbike a pleasure and an experience and not just a necessity.

[@RealConstructor]

The Netherlands is much much smaller, more densely populated and has 4, 5 and 6 lane highways. And even more lanes if you count in the peak hour lanes.

[@cephid1]

I had a road trip yesterday thanks to a lorry fire, took me 1.5 hours to travel 13 miles, the motorway was blocked for several hours, I took the back winding roads and they were heavy with traffic to

[@paulqueripel3493]

Last year they started roadworks on a roundabout on a road into London from the M3, without telling anyone. That first morning it took someone I know 3 hours to go 5 miles. Works took over a year, and they've just started an 8-9 month job on another roundabout on the same road.

[@robtyman4281]

Unlike Americans, British people aren't obsessed with 'road trips'. While the idea of driving a ten hour journey by car may appeal, or even excite many Americans; most Brits dread the idea of a ten hour car journey - because we know what this means! Americans just have far more open space, and major roads that don't get gridlocked with traffic, on a daily basis. Americans: I'm super excited about the long trip ahead of us. Brits: Oh no, I've got to make a ten hour journey.... er, can we go by train instead??!

[@john43397]

The video maker has been away from home a long time. Whilst he may come back over from time to time. He has lost track of many of the changes that have taken place since he departed. Yes more than an hour and a half is concerned a drag by many Brits to travel by car recreationally. You can travel reasonable fast from top to bottom. When traffic is running smoothly. There are now four and five lane motorways.

[@vaudevillian7]

He has very rarely come back from what I understand from watching a few his videos

[@stevealexR1]

We do have 5 lane motorways in England too!

[@adrianmcgrath1984]

It isn’t just the size of vehicles that makes a difference. It may be imperceptible on a short journey, but engine size makes a huge difference. The dodge caravan was sold in Europe with a 1litre engine. In the US it came with a 3.8 V6. Brits think big engines are extravagant displays of raw power, the reality is that a bigger, well balanced engine runs at low revs and is a far smoother and more comfortable ride.

[@Cjbx11]

Even by UK standards travelling from York to Scarborough would be considered a very short road trip.

[@chansetwo]

in the UK, a 5 hour road trip is considered lengthy. To drive across the US takes about 50 hours.

[@philipashley9723]

Put yourself in my position, 70 years ago, when I was 10, my parents left our home in Birkenhead, Cheshire, UK, to drive to Norwich on the east coat.There wasn't much in the way of large roads in those days, and it took us 12 hours, including camping in a field, halfway, over night! I believe the distance is only about 259 miles? 😁

[@LearnTechnicalSketching-y1e]

I can travel to a large city such a Birmingham which is around 35 miles away in 40 minutes but prefer the train due to parking problems, Leicester is 15 miles away and takes 20 minutes, what's the problem, we do have motorways and dual carriageways, but only on busy routes. You are comparing us after 1 trip to Scarborough, I could probably find narrow roads in the US which would take a long time to get anywhere. When I saw that first road he was driving on I thought it was a UK road for comparison, but then I saw the yellow lines and RH driving and realised it was the US. There was almost no difference in the width of road ir traffic spacing.

[@RealConstructor]

I hate hotels and motels in the US. You need to search outdoors for breakfast and you’ll have to pay for it yourself. It is not included in the room price. And you can hardly get a simple breakfast, like a croissant with jam or yoghurt with fresh fruit and granola, a boiled egg, slice of wholegrain bread with cheese, freshly squeezed orange juice and a coffee. It is always fat and greasy pancakes, blueberries, with ‘whipped’ cream out of a can, or backed eggs with bacon and sweet bread, sugary waffles and bacon on the side, doughnuts etc. All the combinations of sweet and savory are so disgusting, especially early in the morning. That was the biggest travel turnoff in the US.

[@FTFLCY]

I've just come back from a 10 day road trip. Home (Bath) to the ferry over to Ireland and stayed in Wexford, Cork, Galway, Belfast, Bangor, Howth, having a night at Portmeirion on the way back. 1200 miles, 80% of which were twisty back roads (and A470!). Stayed at bougie places and gave my tasty new car (I think you'd approve, Joel!) a good run. Great fun all round.😁

[@clemstevenson]

Just make sure that your destination is at the far end of the motorway, and you'll do just fine. It worked for me.

[@garyrigby21]

Try walking from Lands end to John O' Groats then tell me how small Britain is!

[@stevo728822]

The traditional road trip game in the UK was "eye spy".

[@thomassharmer7127]

I've driven extensively round the UK. Our motorways and service stations have improved a lot over the years, but the traffic has increased massively too. I've driven a little around the East Coast of the USA, but the longest 'road trip' I did was from New York to Pennsylvania. Not that far in American terms, but I was struck by the long, long tracts of open countryside and largely empty roads once I got beyond New Jersey.

[@DianeLittle-dd6ej]

he has put on so much weight since moving to the USA compared to when he started out his videos in the us

[@viceroyzh]

I was always happy with all the US motels on all my US road trips. No bugs or shady people. But most of them were significantly more than just 30 bucks.

[@36814]

Best UK number plate I ever saw was in Glasgow and read W1TCH - a black Porsche if I recall correctly .

[@paulqueripel3493]

I spotted JE55 FKU the other day. Was the ex called Jess? 2010 car, I checked, so it is a private plate.

[@36814]

@@paulqueripel3493 They restrict / ban certain ones like P155 followed by OFF or POT or ANT .

[@paulqueripel3493]

@@36814 I know, this is a legit number plate though. I checked it at work (I'm in the car parts trade).

[@rogerkangaroo6118]

Black merc actually

[@dormie200]

Using "Road trip" alone confirms he is Americanised LOL -- I'm 70 and have never heard that term applied that way over here.

[@chrisperyagh]

No - we just 'go out for a drive' here. In the '90s when fuel prices were more favourable I used to go out for drives in the small hours when the roads were quiet, sometimes with works colleagues and just end up driving to and around London, Kent, Essex, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Bristol and other places a fair distance from West and East Sussex, stop off at some motorway services for a snack and get back home around 6am. There wasn't any real purpose to it and no planning as well as taking turns driving my car (I had a Citroen XM V6 Si at the time). I'd buy an A-Z map of where I'd been as a souvenir.

[@ausomebeak]

Yellow car game is "see yellow car, hit the person beside you". Number plate game variation...make rude phrases using the letters in the plate.

[@dogblessamerica]

If you travel up to Scotland from London, that's a road trip, especially if you want to go to the far north west, where the roads have to wind around endless sea lochs and mountains

[@huwlloyd6341]

Hi Joel. With all due respect, I think you are a little wrong here. No one here would define an hours drive to the coast from York as a road trip. Cardiff to the south of Spain or to Italy yes.

[@Uk.wildman]

Took me 7 hour's to drive from sheffield to Swansea about 400 miles traffic was horrendous

[@mattk5020]

Very good video mate, check out the tourist places of Devon and Cornwall.

[@belperflyer7419]

A lot of my 'road trips' have been by pedal or motor cycle when we camped or occasionally stayed in B&Bs. We toured in the USA on our tandem in 1994 which was great. We used to have a tiny Austin Healey Sprite 2 seat sports car and we regularly did drives of 2 to 300 miles/day both here in the UK and in Europe often carrying camping gear - we never, ever broke into song or played games. We visited friend in Charlotte NC and drove from there to Kitty Hawk and the outer banks with them towing a trailer tent with 2 tandems and a canoe on the roof! It took a whole day but the roads were very quiet. 25/30 years ago long trips in the UK were easier and more interesting because we used ordinary roads and there was less traffic.

[@nicolad8822]

Since Laurence left England we’ve built 3 new motorways. 🤣

[@rawrroar2670]

My icelandic friend group has a bingo game. When you drive over a sheep grate you yell out bingo. When we spot yellow cars you punch the roof and say "yellow car" and everyone says to the last person to do it " úr flík tík" which translates to "take off one clothing bit*h".

[@JenniferRussell-qw2co]

I think our idea of a road trip would be taking either Eurotunnel/Ferry to France, and away you go to 'wherever' you fancy. France is perfect for a driving holiday, you should try it. You can stop off at towns/villages en route, just tootling about to your heart's content. You see more of interest away from multi-lane highways going at breakneck speed. For you it will be a doddle, bcos the French drive on the 'wrong' side of the road like you 🤪 Having said all that Land's End to John O'Groats would be one heck of a road trip, even for us, but especially for you if you thought your little journey in Yorkshire seemed a long way. Mind you, you could do the L.E. - J O'G trip by motorway. I hope you make it back to Blighty again soon, you are practically a local now 🙋‍♀️🇬🇧🤗

[@simonmetcalfe5926]

The weird thing about American cars, is comfort and luxury is defined by space and not quality. I'd rather travel in a small European car, than a Yankee luxury model.

[@ethelmini]

That was lost on me too. Nowadays, if you have to wear a seatbelt more space is out of reach anyway. As long as you're not bigger than your seat...

[@Desert_Rogue_Tanker]

Yet comfy cars like Bentley's and Rolls Royce are enormous but they have high quality. If I Intend to go on back roads then yeah a euro car might be better.but a straight slog, I'm going american

[@lg_believe333]

Yes, but have you travelled in a new Mustang which is an American muscle car. The original was nice but the new version has all the mod cons and is made from quality.

[@simonmetcalfe5926]

@@Desert_Rogue_Tanker Our Wheelie Bins are made from higher quality plastics, than American car interiors.

[@simonmetcalfe5926]

@@lg_believe333 I 'Love' old American cars, well made steel bodies and a pig iron engine you can fix with a hammer and spanner.

[@robcrossgrove7927]

Lawrence is better when he doesn't try to be funny, or talk in funny voices, but that was quite a good video.

[@adrianhempfing2042]

Or if he doesn't talk at all 🤣

[@SusanGibson-e7p]

I love Scarborough and spend about 4 weekends a year there.. York is amazing. I live in Leeds in Yorkshire

[@georgecarlinismytribe]

I suppose the UK equivalent of a US Road Trip would be driving to, and through parts of Europe via the channel tunnel.

[@lottieew135]

Me and my husband play a game with cars, especially when we're walking places 😅 There's the old double/triple characters on number plates (like double X or triple 2) Yellow cars. Mini "nips". Soft tops Jaguars, where we gently brush our fingers down the other person like a real jaguar 🤣 We've decided to only do doubles/triples when we've stopped or are walking, just because husband doesn't want to lose concentration by looking at car reg's. He hates it when we're in a carpark and I'm in my wheelchair! Mainly because I'm closer to the height of reg plates and so can easily spot them 😜 Then there's the singing! I'll play songs through Spotify, connected by Bluetooth to the car, and put on songs we both know and like 😁 that'll certainly help us pass the time on our way up to Edinburgh, from the Bolton, Greater Manchester area in a few weeks 🙌

[@paulharvey9149]

What do you mean it too ages to drive from York to Scarborough? You were driving halfway across the country, what did you expect?!! 😂🤣😂 Ironically, you'd probably not have been far off the west coast had you driven for the same period of time in the other direction, despite it being a bit further... Such is our habit of only building motoways in the most populated areas, where they can be justified...! I in fact remember the annual summer pilgrimage from Perth to Blackpool in the late 1960s and early 70s, when north of Preston, the motorway network consisted of only a few spurs here and there, plus the occasional by-pass - and as we normally left mid-afternoon, and so usually did require an overnight stop! We didn't stay in hotels though, they were much too expensive: we stayed in one of the many hundreds of private homes, farms and other places offering Bed and Breakfast that then existed in and around the roadside villages of South Lanarkshire and North Dumfriesshire! Incredibly, nobody booked ahead in advance: it was a question of scouring the landscape for that elusive "Vacancies," sign; often involving numerous sorties along various farm access roads only for them to be aborted when you met another car carrying yet another family that was also in search of beds for the night! As we were usually an extended family at that time, we'd often end up in different establishments and sometimes, even villages - yet everyone simply accepted this as part of the annual holiday experience. With much heavier traffic on the single carriageway A6 over the English Border, arrival in Blackpool would normally be around lunchtime the next day. Nowadays, almost the entire trip can be done in under four hours, on dual carriageway roads and motorways and most of those B&B's are long-forgotten

[@johnjohn6486]

Thing is drive 50 miles or radius anywhere in UK you pass by hundreds of old Towns ,pretty villages and some cities,many with different accents and history and ever changing scenery,thats the great thing about living in a country thats so compact.Not to mention Driving in Britain is a skill LOL.

[@baylessnow]

"Scarbro" Where's that Joel?

[@Thorpeman]

A road trip is when you drive to Malaga, Rome, Warsaw or the Nubergring for a bit of fun. Driving to one end of the U.K. to the other is called a day trip

[@allenwilliams1306]

Nonsense. Any drive longer than ninety minutes in duration is a road trip.

[@damianleah6744]

You cannot drive from Wick to St Ives in a so called “Day trip”

[@ZoeBrain]

​@@allenwilliams1306I had to commute 2 his each way to go to middle school.

[@mej6519]

the the trek to the ring is about 5 hours,,,,, depending on what your driving there..

[@allenwilliams1306]

@@ZoeBrain You didn't have a 2 hour drive each way to middle school anywhere in the UK..

[@clairedrew5487]

Joel, you’re so lovely. If you want a nearby pad to explore Manchester in the future. Get in touch. You would also be near enough to explore some of the beautiful scenery in Lancashire 😊

[@clairedrew5487]

Just to be clear, I have a husband, a 23 year old son and am a nurse. That’s meant to demonstrate I’m not weird.

[@adrianhempfing2042]

I'm sure you're Not weird . Jps hasn't got to the stage of meeting anyone yet . Even people here since 3 years ago . Just a general rule he has so far . He's been tempted to do a meet and greet but not yet

[@JohnResalb]

Well, I don't do road trips and I don't know anyone who does. If we're going round the country, we can't possibly achieve the same mileage by road.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

On a typical A road in the UK, you will average about 40 mph. That is, if there are no traffic jams, road works, etc..

[@michael7286]

Vehicles are getting bigger over here in Britain but parking spaces aren't. For me the most annoying thing is road works everywhere and very poor highway maintenance ... the bodging up of potholes instead of doing a proper job that would prove to be more cost effective in the long run. British roads are becoming more and more congested every year and the joy of driving is no longer enjoyable.

[@tonycasey3183]

Lawrence was beginning to put me off motels, but Joel made them more attractive with the drugs and hookers!

[@Hornet71]

I laughed that he mentioned drugs and hookers but not a every motel though. They are cheap …… the motels.

[@kennethbowry1521]

Scarborough to Bridlington the highway to Hell in the summer, I driving from London to Scarborough it took me Four Hours flew for first couple of hours but the the door of hell opened Caravans it took well over 9O minuets to cover the last 20 miles or so I chewed the steering wheel off.

[@LearnTechnicalSketching-y1e]

Comparing the UK with the USA is not a good comparison, you should compare the USA with Europe. My wife commutes over 50 miles and takes her just over an hour. We worked in Edinburgh for 18 months and travelled back home, almost 400 miles once every two weeks,k on average less than 6 1/2hrs, and that included a slow trip on the overcrowded Edinburgh Bypass road. There wouldn't be a motorway to there, as generally there is not much traffic that travels there out of the holiday season. It's just not worth the high cost, and did you know that on our motorways and A roads the standard lane width is almost exactly the same as in the US, there is about 50mm (2 inches in ancient terms) difference, and roundabouts may slow you down, but that is one of the features, they prevent speeding idiots, perhaps that's why our roads are among the safest in the world, by any measure unlike America's.

[@gordonconnah411]

TBH, we don't really do road trips in the UK, or Europe in general.

[@lordcharfield]

God forbid that Americans have to “pay more attention” 😂

[@ianmax69]

Crickey !! Lawrence is rapidly turning into The Grimsby Hillbilly!! Look at them grey whiskers Must have been the stress of that road trip :D Joel you should stay in Britain longer than just a couple of weeks dude.. You need to a job on YO1 as a presenter for 6 months on an internship or something like that... then get your own car here and drive yourself on road trips... Then you experience Britain far deeper espically how things change seasonally and you'll understand UK driving habits and we can get to see how you cope with "roundabouts" Best Wishes from Durham ... Ian

[@maddermax74]

shows how out of date he is with his info UK plates you can now identify by first 2 letters as that is the area code there from and its been this way since 2001, like my first 2 letters are CP the C stands for Cymru aka wales and 2nd letter P for swansea