@AboutTheSame , no alas no Skype capability there nor would she adapt to such a thing.
I’ll be 62 in a few months. I don’t mind long drives by myself at all. Being in the northeast though most trips I do are at most 6 hours. I prefer flying for anything longer than that just because it’s so much quicker.
The only thing I hate is driving at night on dark roads. We hit a deer once on one such road, not far from my house but the short cut way to the thru-way. I now always go to the next exit even though it takes longer.
I drive into NYC all the time (2 1/2 hr trip) but have friends who are deathly afraid of driving in Manhattan. Has nothing to do with age either.
It’s nice to see I’m not alone in this. And have you noticed how fast the other drivers have gotten?!
I’m 63. I have no problem driving 9 hours (about 630 miles) from Chicago to Rochester with nothing more than a quick pit-stop or two along the way to get gas and go the bathroom. My family did convince me this year that it was probably not a good idea to try to drive there, drop stuff off for my daughter, and drive home on the same day, though. 
59 this week…load me up with podcasts and a few playlists and I’m good to go on drive!
I drive regularly 3ish hours alone which isn’t that far but would be comfortable with more - I’d also like you to guarantee no car problems - THAT I sometimes worry about! I don’t love night driving but am fine local or on an expressway - a dark country road at night for a long period of time would not be my style.
I actually love when I get the opportunity to check in and stay at a hotel alone on business trips. Not saying I don’t like when I travel with someone but I also sort of enjoy making the hotel my little temporary space however I like it! 
Just booked my flight to visit my mom. I’d rather take an hour long flight and rent a car than drive the 6-8 hours, depending on traffic. The extra expense is worth it to me.
A few months shy of 60. I drove six hours nonstop today after my dad with mild dementia called to say my mom had a bad fall and the hospital was insisting someone be with her but she wasn’t injured badly enough to stay in the hospital. I don’t mind driving except I wish the last 5 miles wasn’t major city highway. Driving home Sunday will be easier except it will all be after dark. Monday morning drive into Philly for my husband’s heart procedure will drive me bats- my reflexes are slowing.
And yes, my life is WAY too full of drama.
I am looking forward to a solo trip to the Adirondacks in October.
I love driving. Always have. When my girls were little, I often drove 500+ miles with them to visit family. Today, I often drive long distances alone. I drove to NJ last month to visit friends, have done that every year for the past 10 years or so, sometimes detouring to NYC on the way. I have driven from Hilton Head to Toronto alone several times.
I hate air travel in recent years and will avoid it at every opportunity. Arriving hours early, too many delays, crammed into uncomfortable seats even in business class. It’s a huge waste of time and it has nothing to do with cost as we have 1,000,000+ points that I could use. Still would rather drive and enjoy satellite radio!
I’m 66.
Doesn’t driving distance tolerance involve the type of driving? I would drive the 10 or so hours from home to Pittsburgh when S was in college with a certain amount of angst due to dealing with Chicago traffic on the way. The toll roads were deadly boring, but ok through Ohio. Driving to my Ds grad school in southern Ohio was 6 hours of cornfields for the most part and hard to stay engaged with the horizon never changing. In contrast, driving Nebraska I find interesting, as I 80 follows the Platte River and you can watch the land becoming more arid as it turns into the West.
In the west I can drive for a longer time and remain fascinated as the scenery is ever changing and beautiful. Night driving is more bothersome, but ok still. I am almost 64.
I’m the driver here. I love long trips – did part of the Pacific Coast Highway solo this week, and will be driving another 800 miles this week in other parts of CA. Leave four days after I return to MD to go see my dad, which will be another 1800 miles – more if the interstates are still closed in NC.
I crank up the music or find a sports station, and I’m in bliss. I have quit the skeevy hotels, though. Am more cognizant of the need to be safe and careful, esp with my medical stuff.
I’m 63 and still do long trips solo. Two of my daughters live 400 miles away, and one is almost twice as far. I still enjoy driving to see them, but I’ve changed my approach in deference to getting older. I won’t drive after dark unless I absolutely must and I avoid certain highways, which means the trip takes longer. I don’t mind I-81 in NY, for instance, but I hate it in PA. I listen to one of the Great Courses and don’t get bored.
I love being by myself in a hotel room - now that I’m retired, there’s nothing to do there. No projects, cooking, or cleaning nagging at me to put down my book. I only stay at chains I trust and I don’t arrive after dark. I bring a sandwich and a yogurt and don’t leave the room once I’ve moved in. Reading this over, I clearly have crossed a line!
Not to derail this thread, but it has made me think about what makes me feel old (57 1/2). Not driving. For me it’s the inability to stay up late anymore. We used to love staying up late, as if we didn’t want the day to end, now it’s hard not to start dozing on the sofa before 9:00, sometimes earlier!
If I don’t have to be there in a hurry, I prefer to drive. I’ve never really liked flying, especially on the smaller planes.
A few life developments have required me to move in the opposite direction: although I don’t love driving long distances, at night, or in bad weather, I occasionally have to do one or more. I got divorced a few years ago and even before then, I was concerned about my husband’s driving. He can be inattentive, and I’ve frequently seen his eyes close when he’s behind the wheel.
For me, that came when I couldn’t lift a 50LB sand bag a few years ago. I am in the mid 60s. No more heavy lifting. That also means no more tent trips. I haven’t noticed any changes in driving.
Coincidentally, last night my parents dropped by with a childhood friend of my mother’s, who is visiting from NH. She is 78. During the conversation, I learned that not only had she driven to MD from NH, but that every year she drives alone from NH to FL. She does stop along the way and spends the night with various family, but wow, I’m not sure I’d be comfortable with my mother doing the same, although she would never want to as she has a terrible sense of direction. Of course, the evening this friend arrived at my mother’s house, I happened to be on the phone with my mom. She mentioned, as she was waiting on the friend, that she had called three times since getting off the highway b/c she got lost, making wrong turns three times (like turning left instead of right). It’s one thing to drive straight to a place you have been to many times before, I guess. She has been to my parents’ house before, but not often enough to remember where she’s going. My father is 83 and still regularly drives to Cleveland which is a 6 hr drive, but not alone, with my mom (he’s from there and his whole family as well as my sister, live there). He’s still in great shape and seems younger than he is, but I do wonder how much longer he can make that drive. Of course, that belongs on the “taking keys from my parents”thread.
Turning 60 next month. I love a road trip. When DS was in school in Pittsburgh, I made multiple solo trips from NY to visit him. I actually preferred to go alone, because then there was no arguing with DH over the radio! Wish I could still drive to visit him, but he’s in San Francisco. A little too far to drive! I frequently drive solo to northern Virginia to visit my niece and her family.
Join the old fart club!! I just realized the other night that I don’t feel safe driving at night. I don’t seem to see well after a tiring day. Things are slightly fuzzy even though I wear prescription glasses. And the lights have a halo effect. This is really going to put a damper on my social life:). Have never driven over 2 hours solo that I can remember so don’t know how I feel about that.
I used to travel solo a lot for work but that was 10 years ago. Don’t think I have a problem checking into hotels. But I know I have a serious phobia about eating in restaurants alone. I always have, even when I was out of town for work.
@coralbrook Probably cataract. I would have your eye doctor check on you. I am used to eating alone at a restaurant. For some reason, I don’t feel awkward at all. I chuck that to getting old. BTW, sorry about your husband.
I don’t care for every day driving in bad traffic, but long drives don’t bother me at all. I listen to books while I drive, and I find this relaxing. I’m leaving in a few hours for a 5 hour drive, then will spend the next couple of days driving distances of about 4 or 5 hours a day to attend to some personal business. I’m looking forward to it. I have a couple of “page turners” loaded up in my phone, so I’m ready to go.