Distance to 'Get Away Cabin' or Property?

[cnelk]

For those that own a cabin or property for your personal 'get away', how far away is it from your house?

Is there a preferred distance to have a Get Away?

 

[Desk Jockey]

It’s a balance. Depending on your locale, Further away offers more options and cheaper prices. But Closer will get used more IMO. I think somewhere between 2 hours and a half day drive is ideal.

We had a place in PA when I lived in NY. We were 2.5 hours. Manageable for a short weekend. Got lots of use. 1x per month and a few weeks a year.

Wife’s family has a cabin in Canada. ~700 miles. Flights to a nearby town either suck or cost $$$. 14 hours drive with border, traffic and slow roads. Way too far for anything less than a week. We make it once a year for a week or two and spend a good chunk of time maintaining the place while there. It ends up costing a lot of money for a place that, between my inlaws and us, only sees 2-6 weeks of use a year due to distance. Might also be worth noting that we were shut out of Canada for 18 months with Covid in case you were looking north of the border.

 

[Rich M]

We figured anything more than 3 hours gets used less.

Growing up we had a place 5 hrs away and used the heck out of it. 1-2 weekends a month plus couple weeks per year.

 

[MallardSX2]

With fuel prices not coming down anytime soon I would have to say 1 Hour max.

 

[CTXhunter]

I am fortunate enough to have some family land about a 1.5 hour drive from the house that I have a little cabin on. We’ve got electricity but no running water. I’m there all the time. Before I had kids a few years ago I think I went 6 or 7 weekends in a row during deer season lol. Regularly use it as a gun range and a place to take the kids camping and friends hunting/shooting for the first time. If you keep it under a few hours I think you’ll be there every weekend.

 

[Dennis]

Our cabin is two hours away and that works well for us to run to for the day, overnight or for a week or two. You might want to consider traffic congestion between your place and your cabin when trying to decide. My buddies cabin was a similar distance to ours, but could take him several hours longer just because of traffic going to or coming home. Ours is almost always two hours away with much less traffic and no traffic lights between home and there. Something to consider.

 

[GSPMich]

I have a place 2 hours away, on a lake, and we use it all the time. GF and I are both teachers, she has 2 highly active teens. 1-2 times/month during the school year, and literally every summer weekend.

My mom has a place over 3 hours from home. Her and her husband are near retirement age, yet they only get there 8-10 times/year. Before I had my place this was my go to, still only went 5-6 times per year, though I was single and didn't have the busyness that came with kids/stepkids, etc.

For whatever reason the extra hour of driving means significantly fewer trips.

 

[beauhunter]

We have a family cabin that's a little over an hour from home with no electricity or running water. I would be down there at least every other weekend until we had kids. Now it's a planned trip that takes a week to get ready for haha. Before we had kids the wife and I would just decide to head down there, throw some food in the cooler, load up the pups and go for a day or two or week.

It is definitely more convenient the closer it is but I feel like use/distance depends on how much you want to be there and how many other responsibilities you have to attend to. If you have the time and want to be there it shouldn't be an issue if it's a half or full day drive to get there.

 

[kpk]

I'd say 3 hours max is ideal. Wifes aunt and uncle have a place about 3 hours from us and we go there frequently as 3 hours goes by fast. There was another cabin we could go to but that one was 5.5 hours and was a once a year trip. By the time you add in a bathroom break for the girls/dogs, fuel stop, any road construction it just feels like an all day drive.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

37hrs. When I’m away, I’m away!

 

[riversidejeep]

Our cabin/acreage is 1 hour away and on a small river. When kids were home it seemed about every weekend during the summer as it has a nice swimming hole and beach and the weather is a lot nicer. Wintertime not as much use as we have to canoe across to the cabin once the water comes up. Just got a 160 acre parcel for hunting that's 2 hours away, not going to see nearly the use.

 

[WTFJohn]

It's about .5 mile for us to get to the cabin from the house, the traffic usually encountered is waterfowl, deer, bears, elk, and miscellaneous livestock. The drawbacks are currently the cabin has no doors, windows, floor, or a roof, so it's utility is a bit limited.

 

[kfili]

Growing up was 3 hours, 4 with traffic. My wife and I are trying to figure this magical distance out now- with 2 young kids were thinking less than 2 hours to be able to get "regular" weekend use.

 

[hh76]

2-3 hrs seems to be a good spot for us. Too far, and it's tough to get there after work.

One thing to consider is "too close". Friends have a cabin about 40min from their home. His wife likes it, but he is not happy. They use it quite a bit, but are always getting pulled away by normal life at home. "I'm just going to run home to get some laundry done", or similar. When we go to our place it's too far for any of that. Once we commit, we leave all that stuff at home and get away.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Used to be 2.5 hrs to my club/cabin in the Catskills from LI. Since I've retired 5 years ago, that has turned into 18-19 hrs.

I used to get there a couple of weekends a month. Now it's a week or two in the summer, and I stay the entire rifle deer season.

 

[IkeWalton]

About an hour

 

[tdhanses]

Just over 9hrs away.

 

[WCB]

Depends a lot on you. I know people that do nothing and complain about never being able to go up north or "find time" really really anything. Also for some reason people think you have to be headed home at noon Sunday.

Our cabin in 1.5hrs from home...we are there almost every weekend late spring through end of August. When no out of state hunting me or my wife are there. Close enough to run up after work on Friday or if things run late get up early Saturday. I have also just taken the day off work on a Wednesday and drove up in the morning to hunt and head home at night. Also, we eat supper there on Sunday and enjoy the whole day get home around 8-9pm.

We also have a hunting "shack" about 5.5 hrs away in the Dakotas. Get out there about once a month and for 3 weeks of hunting (or more) throughout the year. I don't mind driving so if we didn't have the place 1.5hrs away would probably get there 2x a month.

I would say if you want to use it A LOT and be flexible 0-3 hrs. If you want to take long weekends and don't need to use it all the time 3-5 is doable...anything over 6 is a vacation. However, I much prefer the Dakotas to up north lake country MN.

 

[Smallie]

Mine is 3.5-4 hours and that’s probably the max I would do for a weekend trip. I can leave after work on Friday and still get there at a reasonable time. Spend an average of 2 weekends a month up there and almost every weekend during hunting season. You do get used to the drive eventually and it goes by quick. Friends that come up occasionally complain about it being too far but that means I get less visitors then. Anywhere within 2 hours of home there’s tons of traffic going to those places so I’m just far enough away to get away from everyone else.

 

[Brock A]

Mine is 2.5 hours.