A matter of perspective.

[Darrin]

Tina and I were talking about one of her friends that was having trouble comprehending how far away from her we live (friend lives in Washington state).

We got onto the subject of people from other countries not fathoming the distances we can deal with here in North America. My mind wandered to some of the discussions I used to have on OcUK.

According to Google Earth, it's 345 miles as the crow flies from Glasgow to London. That's a pretty hefty distance, especially if you figure in another 25-50% for the way roads go (402 miles according to mapquest EU).

Ok, so let's see what a sightseer traveling around the US could hope for....



Homer, Alaska to Miami, Florida. You ready? 4,120 miles give or take (5,220 miles according to mapquest.com). Over 6 round trips from London to Glasgow.

So if anyone ever asks you why Americans would want such big cars, ask them if THEY'd ever want to drive from Glasgow to London and back six times in a row in a Corsa?



[EDIT]
Heh, just looked at what driving from my house to the Twin Cities (Minneapolis / St Paul) is like. It's comparable to London to Glasgow.

Now, shall we talk about my native country where one province covers almost the same area as the entire sub-continent of Europe?

[Mark]

Meh.

15 days, Stuart Highway, end to end, in a coach. I have no problems understanding scale.

(though I do concede it's still half the length of your example)

[Jonny69]

It's scary how screwed up our roads are. I was chatting to some Americans who were planning in some sightseeing of other parts of England and they were confident that they would be able to see a few things in London in the morning, grab some lunch and jump in the car and drive up to Manchester for the afternoon before heading up to Scotland later. It's only 350 miles, no problem they said, especially since you can do 70mph!!!

[Rich_L]

Aye have got into a similar discussion with American folk when skiing in Colorado once, when they asked me whether I lived close to London (when I was living in Cornwall)

It's near enough 250 miles or a 4 hour drive, but chatting to them they drove about 250 miles each weekend to come to their 'local' ski resort! So I said that in the UK, I don't live near London, but in the US, it's pretty local

Would love to do a proper road trip through the US one day, meander round for 6 months and visit a bunch of states, would be good fun

[Justsomebloke]

Someone told me once that it is quicker to fly to the East coast of USA than it is to fly from East coast to West coast USA.
If it is that pretty much puts things in perspective for me. I think the most under estimated country size wise is Australia. Apparently it is as big as North America if you took off Alaska. Old wives tales (me old wife told me this morning) so correct me if i am wrong.
I wouldn't mind popping over & wandering around for a few years, That was the plan years ago but they won't let me in S'pose it would be even worse these days with the increase in security. Was cool seeing the Marines tooled up though with sidearms when i went to the Embassy. Was years ago & you never see guns out & about back then.

[Mark]

Gawd bless the CIA.

USA

Area:
total: 9,826,630 sq km
land: 9,161,923 sq km
water: 664,707 sq km
note: includes only the 50 states and District of Columbia

Population:
301,139,947 (July 2007 est.)

Population density:
32.87 people per sq km (land only)

Australia

Area:
total: 7,686,850 sq km
land: 7,617,930 sq km
water: 68,920 sq km
note: includes Lord Howe Island and Macquarie Island

Population:
20,434,176 (July 2007 est.)

Population density:
2.66 people per sq km (land)

So, Australia covers 78% of the USA by area, but in sheer 'middle of nowhere, not a soul for miles in any direction', it's a no-contest win to Australia.

[Darrin]

Originally Posted by Kitten

My cousin lives in Winachee (sp)

Are you talking about Wenatchee in Washington state? That's not too far from my brother in Everett, or where I used to live in Bremerton.

[Darrin]

Originally Posted by Mark

So, Australia covers 78% of the USA by area, but in sheer 'middle of nowhere, not a soul for miles in any direction', it's a no-contest win to Australia.

Maybe I'll dig out the camera and take a couple pics of around here, then.

[Mark]

No need - I've seen the satellite imagery.

However, I think the Northern Territory would give you a good contest. It's how many square km per person there, not the other way around.

[Pumpkinstew]

Directions from Cairns to Alice Springs: Join Eyre Highway, head West, at Junction turn left onto Stuart Highway. Stop at Alice Springs.
Very simple but takes two and a half days.

I did some crazy road trips around Australia including Cairns to Alica Springs, Alice Springs to Perth and Perth to Adelaide (crossing the Nullarbor).

The immensity of the outback is hard to describe, we were able to play games of skittles in the aisle of the bus because the road is straight and flat for over 8 hours at a time.