Growing up in Iowa (wide spaces, no traffic) my primary unit of distance was and still is living far away from home, time.
Everywhere I would want to go would be 5,15,30,45,60 and further increments of 30 minutes after that.
Everywhere I would want to go would be 5,15,30,45,60 and further increments of 30 minutes after that.
Now? 30 minutes on the Subway, even standing room only seems normal, even though I've only gone a handful of miles, not 30 miles.
(In steady state, of course, I expect someone's first 30 minutes on the NYC subway to be a shock if they haven't experienced it already.)
I find driving to be a relaxing almost meditative experience while not in traffic. My parents are just short of terrified of driving in normal-for-cities traffic.
Standing room only public transit is still like my own personal hell. Standing in a box that jerks me one way or another jammed between people going to a place where there will be no space which is "mine" and no escape nor self determination besides through a repeat reverse journey many hours later. Honestly I think I would prefer being locked in prison 14 hours a day than have to go back to commuting by public transit to a city center.