A long drive makes the quality of ordinary company difficult to overlook.

Short meetings can be carried by novelty and manners. Six hours in a car cannot: there is nothing to do but be with the person, and the small things become obvious. Whether silence between you is restful or awkward, whether their talk tires you, whether you both find the same things funny at hour four. None of this is a verdict on anyone’s worth, but it is honest information about fit.

If you are unsure about a friendship, spend unstructured time rather than eventful time with them. And when you find someone easy across a long dull stretch, notice it, because that ease is rarer than it seems.