Travel is becoming top of mind as we head deeper into spring and the weather improves. The road trip is a quintessential American travel experience, but how do Americans really feel about long car trips in general? The latest CivicScience data allows us to answer that question exactly, straight from the source.

Nearly half  (48%) of U.S. adults tell CivicScience that they enjoy long car trips, compared to 35% who say no, they don’t. Lastly, just under one in five (17%) report they hold no strong opinion.  When examining feelings by age, the pattern is clear: a love of long car trips is most heavily concentrated among younger Americans and declines with age.

How Long Car Trip Lovers Stand Out

But what behaviors and preferences really separate the Americans who say they enjoy long car trips from those who don’t? Here’s what else the consumer-declared data show:

• • Best Season for Traveling: While car ride lovers are equally as likely as non-fans to say fall is the best season of the year to travel (45% each), they are more likely to say summer is the best time (32% to 27%). Non-car ride lovers, on the other hand, over-index in citing spring (23% to 19%).
  • Ideal Shoes to Travel in: 7 in 10 of those who don’t like car rides say sneakers are their ideal travel shoes, compared to 60% among long car trip lovers. That said, long road trip fans are twice as likely to say either boats or loafers are their travel shoe of choice.
  • When to Begin Packing for Travel: Non-long car ride lovers are much more likely to say they typically begin packing for a trip days before they travel (74% to 58%). Car ride enjoyers, on the other hand, are 9 points more likely to say they begin packing within hours of leaving for the trip (30% to 21%).
  • Coffee vs. Tea: When it comes to their caffeinated beverage of choice, long car ride lovers are 15 points more likely to prefer tea over coffee (60% to 45%). Non-car ride lovers tend to gravitate toward tea (24% to 16%) while they’re nearly equally as likely to say ‘either is fine’ (20%-19%).
  • Buying Food or Drinks at Convenience Stores: Close to one-third (32%) of those who say they enjoy a long car trip say they buy food or beverages from convenience stores at least once every few weeks. Twenty-four percent of non-long car ride lovers report the same.
  • Brushing Before or After Breakfast: 62% of those who enjoy long car trips say they typically wait to brush their teeth after they eat breakfast, while 49% of non-fans brush beforehand (among those who eat breakfast).

Where do you stand? Take this poll now, below, and see how you compare with others who share your feelings:

Whether it’s their preferred travel season, their go-to shoes, or how they take their coffee, Americans who love long car trips don’t just see the journey differently—they live differently, too.

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This article’s data comes solely from CivicScience’s database, which contains nearly 700,000 poll questions and 5 billion consumer insights.