I'm similar Kenny in that we (I don't drive) will do the 50+ mile round trip to get to one the Irish sessions when we are able but, these days, would not usually consider more than say a third of that for something like the more round the tables do.

I'd not put that down to limited (although at the local one it would be more than 2) chances to start something though. I think that for us, it's a matter of having (actually increasingly limited) opportunities to get out and prioritising in terms of what we can do.

Perhaps fortunately for me, my mother (the driver and a listener) is like me in preferring the Irish sessions both musically and as an environment for playing/listening so at least in the summer months when we can arrive in daylight, if we can just do one thing in a week, it would be a trip to the city.

Of course others might prioritise the other way round, some who got something out of one type might get nothing out of the other, some could even enjoy both and more...