I cannot break the laws of physics captain!

[AccountingDrone]

Here's a true story:
A young Englishman I'd gotten to be friends with online (I'm a member & mod for his forum since '02) came to visit on a leg of his "around the world backpacker tour".He stayed with us a few days & then we drove down to San Antonio & Austin,where we left him.

The weather was untypically foggy (what we call fog anyways) while we were drivin' thru SE New Mexico & W Texas.After awhile my friend looks at me & asks "How long has it been since we've made a turn on this road?"

Me & Mrs FF

*giggle* I can see that, having done a few cross country trips. Heck, we are doing one this coming August where we get on I80 in Wilkes-Barre or thereabouts and don't need to get off it until somewhere in Iowa...

[protege]

I know we had a Japanese guest at our Anime convention one year who wanted to see the Air Force museum in Dayton, and couldn't believe the distance just between Cincinatti and Dayton.

It's not uncommon. Quite a few people from outside the US...simply can't comprehend just how *big* our country is. They're used to being able to pass through several countries in a day. It's not that they're being stupid, but they're just not used to it.

[AccountingDrone]

It's not uncommon. Quite a few people from outside the US...simply can't comprehend just how *big* our country is. They're used to being able to pass through several countries in a day. It's not that they're being stupid, but they're just not used to it.

I know - back when I worked 75 miles/100ish km from home, my euro gaming buddies just couldn't wrap their minds around me driving that much every day for work. They also didn't understand my willingness to drive 300-400 each way for a weekend visit somewhere.

As far as hubs and I roll, good music, or a few audiobooks, iced tea or coffee and we are good to banzai.

[Seshat]

Australia is the same. We had a Dutch guest (as in, from the Netherlands/Holland), and we drove up to Healesville to the animal sanctuary there.

Apparently the distance we drove would have crossed a sizeable portion of the Netherlands. As far as we are concerned, it's still the same city. Still the same half of the same city, in fact.

(Technically, Healesville is just past the outskirts of Melbourne, and we're inside the city. But meh.)

Anyway... different scale. Entirely different scale.

[Jester]

Our cruises to Hawaii, at least back then, were one-way....

Just out of curiosity, why were there ONLY one-way cruises? Just wondering.

Perhaps she had Hawai'i confused with Bermuda... or the Bahamas...

True story: a while back, a coworker was waiting on a young couple, about 20 or so. The couple asked the server and the hostess to sign their coaster. (Back then we had coasters with the bar's name on it, though we don't anymore.) The server asked, "Oh, you collect them?" Since so many people do. The response?

"No, it's just that this is our first time in the Bahamas."



For those unfamiliar with this part of the world, Key West is part of Florida, and thus, part of the U.S. The Bahamas, which are 280 miles away....are not.

They do. They also think there is foreign currency and are so "suprised" at how "progressive" they are for having U.S. dollars so handy...

We actually get that question quite frequently in Key West. "Do you take American money?" From foreigners and Americans alike. :facepalm:

Key West is still part of Florida. Florida is still part of the U.S.

No, we don't take American money. Only Samoan Tala, thank you very much.

...not understanding of course that lots of other orders are before them in line (line????? WHAT LINE????? I am too good for a line. bring me my order now.

We get the same shit at the bar. Why are their drinks taking so long? They only had three Jack and cokes and two beers, damn it! Ignoring, of course, the fact that there are a dozen other customers waiting for drinks ahead of them, and we kinda need to make everyone's drinks, you a-hole.

An engineer in Baltimore had some German engineers working with them.The Germans asked the American about renting a minivan to drive to the Grand Canyon.On a 3 day weekend.

That's 2300 miles (3680 km) one way

Or the European tourists asking for a Sydney hotel with a view of Ayer's Rock/Uluru.Yup, there's a million of 'em.

I had something similar once in high school. An exchange student from Germany brought up the possibility of a weekend drive down to New Orleans (920 miles one way).

To be fair, a lot of times people who are not from there do not know how large a place is.

Yes, the Grand Canyon is in Arizona. No, you are not going to see it from Phoenix, as it is at least a five hour drive north.

Arizona really doesn't look that big on the map, surrounded as it is by those other square western states, California, and Texas. But Arizona covers a hair over 114,000 square miles. That is less than only 100 countries in the world, meaning it is more than 135 countries in the world. It is larger than Lebanon, Jamaica, Qatar, the Bahamas, Kuwai, Israel, and Rwanda combined. Arizona is also larger than the Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Georgia, Ireland, the Czech Republic, Portugal, or Bulgaria, among others. And Arizona is only the sixth largest state (fifth largest of the contiguous Lower 48).

"But you lived in Arizona, you must have been really close to the Grand Canyon, right?"

No. No I wasn't.

But that is a great example of not knowing where you're going. A lot of people, for example, are shocked to find out that the closest major city to Key West is not Miami, but Havana, Cuba, which is a full 60 miles closer. Of course, Miami is the closest major city you can DRIVE to from here, but that's beside the point. And does not stop people from asking where the bridge to Cuba is. (No, I'm not joking.)

[Seshat]

The closest major city to Perth, Australia ... is in India, not in Australia.

[Bella_Vixen]

I know - back when I worked 75 miles/100ish km from home, my euro gaming buddies just couldn't wrap their minds around me driving that much every day for work. They also didn't understand my willingness to drive 300-400 each way for a weekend visit somewhere.

Remembering with the best of my ability...

"The English think 100 miles is long distance. Americans think 100 years is a long time."

[Pagan]

ME: Ok, just so I'm clear ma'am, you want a 3 day, round-trip cruise, from New York to Hawaii

Eventually, that person would find someone to take their money. And sell them a bridge too.

I gotta bunch of beach-front to sell them, except that you can't see it through the smoke right now....

"I live in XXX city" Why couldn't we have sailed from there?" Um, sure like we are going to pick up 3,000 passengers and somehow get a 7-day trip out of Hawaii...

I have to know. How many were actually land-locked cities?

An Interesting Anecdote I Read Years Ago on the Intertubes But Have No Link To So It May Be BS....but it's still a good story :

An engineer in Baltimore had some German engineers working with them.The Germans asked the American about renting a minivan to drive to the Grand Canyon.On a 3 day weekend.

That's 2300 miles (3680 km) one way

We went to Scotland a few years ago for a tour of our clans important areas. We had our own tour guide as part of it. She just could not get over the fact that one could fit the whole of Scotland in 1/4 of New Mexico. This was after we said something about the 300 mile drive up from London not being really that far.

[BaristaTrav]

Just out of curiosity, why were there ONLY one-way cruises? Just wondering.

Not sure. I know that Hawaii wasn't a regular itinerary for them back then and they only did like 2 before the ship moved from doing west coast itineraries to east coast. I think having the longer itineraries attracted a different sort of clientele that was ready and willing to spend more, something my former cruise line isn't exactly known for.

I have to know. How many were actually land-locked cities?

Funny you should mention that, I did get one or two requests for cruises in the Great Lakes.

[Jester]

The closest major city to Perth, Australia ... is in India, not in Australia.

See, now that I did not know, and would never have guessed. And I am not an idiot, and generally speaking, do know my geography.

"The English think 100 miles is long distance. Americans think 100 years is a long time."

Yep yep yep. I have done many road trips, and have established a rule of thumb that I can drive 15 hours or 800 miles in a day (with me as the only driver, of course), whichever comes first. Of course, 800 miles will take you clean out of most European counties, and for that matter, just about any state except for Texas, Alaska, and maybe California north to south (not sure).

As for the time factor, I once made the mistake of mentioning to my little sister that we have a Civil War-era fort in Key West, and how cool it is. This was a stupid, because Lil Sis lives in England, right near Stonehenge, and at least one or two 1,000-year old forts, and she just had to pooh-pooh me and mention that "that's not old." Yeah, yeah, whatever.

This was after we said something about the 300 mile drive up from London not being really that far.

300 miles ISN'T that far. Phoenix to LA is about 360 miles, takes you about 6 hours.

Next week I'll be driving to West Palm Beach and back....that's about 250 miles each way or so. *yawn* Not like the summer of '06, when I roadtripped up to Ohio for the Football Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony....1,500 miles each way. In other words, merely a 2-day drive each way.

[Pagan]

300 miles ISN'T that far.

Not to us. But it just blew her mind that you can drive 300 miles, still be in New Mexico, and that there's 4 states even bigger than us....

Phoenix to LA is about 360 miles, takes you about 6 hours.

Really? That's another little quirk. Depends on how much civilization that you're driving through. It's 232 miles from my parking space in ABQ to my parents driveway in Las Cruces. Takes around 2 1/2 hours. But once you get south of Los Lunas and except for around Socorro and TorC, there's a whole lotta nothin' and not many places for the state police to run speed traps. That means that even though the speed limit is 75mph, just about everybody's doing 80-85mph.

[Kogarashi]

That means that even though the speed limit is 75mph, just about everybody's doing 80-85mph.

Ah, one of the perks of driving around out west. I kind of miss that, actually (did my undergrad at a school in Utah).

My guess is it would probably blow some Europeans' minds that my sister and I have done a 2-day NY to UT drive three times in the past, but that's our big claim to fame. Such as it is.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

I soooooooooo need to get down to Key West...sounds like I could have a lot of fun just watching stupid people not know where they are

Also, I live 10 miles from the beach in FL and I rarely go there either. Lack of time, lack of tolerance to UV rays...all that kind of stuff...

[Jester]

Not to us. But it just blew her mind that you can drive 300 miles, still be in New Mexico, and that there's 4 states even bigger than us....

Say what? NM is bigger than AZ? Ah, hell, it is. By almost 8,000 square miles. Damn it!

Really? That's another little quirk. Depends on how much civilization that you're driving through. It's 232 miles from my parking space in ABQ to my parents driveway in Las Cruces. Takes around 2 1/2 hours. But once you get south of Los Lunas and except for around Socorro and TorC, there's a whole lotta nothin' and not many places for the state police to run speed traps. That means that even though the speed limit is 75mph, just about everybody's doing 80-85mph.

First of all, 2.5 hours to drive 232 miles? I'm sorry, but that's going far more than 85 mph, my friend.

Secondly, that distance is from Phoenix proper. However, I am from Tempe, east of Phoenix, so in reality it's closer to 390 miles.

Also, you have to get across Phoenix before you can get out of the traffic and hit the higher speed limits. And while you fly across the desert, you start hitting LA traffic in, oh, about San Bernadino. (Hint for those of you who have never bee to LA: San Bernadino is not next door.) You're still flying most times, but now you have to deal with carving through traffic. And then the speed limits drop. Not that the speeds do. But god help you if you catch traffic. Whoa Nellie! I have been to a lot of cities in the U.S., and residents of just about every single one of them claim to have the worst traffic. And I tell every single one of them that, if they are not from L.A., they are wrong. Don't believe me? Go park on the 405 during rush hour. Notice, I said "park," not "drive."

I love L.A., but I don't think I could ever live there because of their fucking traffic.

My guess is it would probably blow some Europeans' minds that my sister and I have done a 2-day NY to UT drive three times in the past, but that's our big claim to fame. Such as it is.

Screw the Euros, it blows MY mind!

I soooooooooo need to get down to Key West...sounds like I could have a lot of fun just watching stupid people not know where they are

Yes you do.

And not just for watching stupid people not know where they are.
You also get to watch stupid drunks. Stupid punks. Stupid lovers. Stupid mothers. Stupid teachers. Stupid preachers. Stupid florists. And tons upon tons of stupid tourists.
Stupid tourists who ask stupid questions, including (but not limited to):

"Where's the bridge to Cuba?"
"How long is the Seven Mile Bridge?"
"What kind of fish can we catch under the island?"
"How far apart are the Mile Markers?"
"Does the water go all the way around the island?"
"How many times a day do you have the Sunset Celebration?"
"Do you take American money?"
"Is there a gift shop at the reef?"
"Do you live here?" (asked of someone serving them their drinks)
"Where's the glass bottom?" (asked on the Glass Bottom Boat)
"Do you take American money?"
"Is that Mount Gay Rum a rum designed for gay people to drink?"
"Is that Cuba?" (indicating an island a few hundred yards off Mallory Square)
"Can we take our scooters out to the reef?"
"With all those people on Duval Street at one time, does the island ever tip?"

Let's not even get into what stupid things these people actually DO.

Yeah, you need to get down here. And you have less distance to travel than most.....

[PepperElf]

ME: Ok, just so I'm clear ma'am, you want a 3 day, round-trip cruise, from New York to Hawaii

She is beyond stupid.

The FLIGHT alone from upstate NY to HI usually runs up to FOURTEEN HOURS. Yet somehow this farking moron thinks she'll sail around the coast of the US in 3 days? Hell, even the Navy doesn't move THAT fast. And I've done their trip from HI to CA so I know how long it normally takes.



Congrats! You've discovered the world's only living brain donor.

It's not uncommon. Quite a few people from outside the US...simply can't comprehend just how *big* our country is. They're used to being able to pass through several countries in a day. It's not that they're being stupid, but they're just not used to it.

Now that I can at least understand. When I was in Europe it was weird realizing how close I was to other countries. Like when the tour guide in one city in the Netherlands pointed out how close we were to the coast of England.

A lot of the different countries in Europe are about the size of some of our states. Or how about Japan? I love how organized the country traditionally is, especially with the trains... but then when you realize the entire country is about the size of California it brings things into perspective somewhat.