Hah, it's a question of scale really. When I was in the US we would go and visit my wife's parents every now and again, which was a 7 hour drive. It was a long drive, but like you say, not that big a deal. Whereas here, a 6 hour drive pretty much takes you from one end of the country to the other.
Also, fuel is around $9 a gallon. That adds up pretty quick.