Americans. Do you love the vastness of America?

Yeah, kinda.

I love that there are so many different climates and ecosystems in one country. You can really get any kind of vacation you could imagine just staying in the US

Yes, now if only it wasn't filled with Americans.

I believe we Americans take the size of our country for granted. When I was stationed in Germany many years ago, I was quite shocked that one could drive from the most southern part of Germany to the most northern part in 8 hours. Hell, it would take longer than that for me to drive from Jacksonville to Key West!

I got an entirely new impression of European history after that.

No Op, do you know how hard it is to keep this place clean? Bigger is not better.

Canada and Russia scoff at your 'vastness'

OP, you should know that a large percentage of Americans have never even traveled outside of the state they were born in, and have no interesting in so doing. They see far away places in this country as little different than foreign countries.

The desireable coastal areas are densely populated. You really only get that feeling of vastness in the undesireable flyover part where bigamy and “end times” culture thrives.

Bigness

Bigamy

Bigly

OP, what country to you live in? Liechtenstein?

No, Op. As R8 says, the only parts of this country worth visiting are the coasts. The middle, which is vast, is filled with deplorables and I have no desire to purposely place myself amongst them.

[quote] a large percentage of Americans have never even traveled outside of the state they were born in, and have no interesting in so doing.

I have met a surprisingly large number of Bay Area people who have only ever left the Bay Area to visit Los Vegas or Disneyland.

Exactly- the coasts are the only places OK to be. You don’t exactly feel the vastness of the country living in HK.

[quote] the only parts of this country worth visiting are the coasts.

[quote] who have only ever left the Bay Area to visit Los Vegas or Disneyland.

Visiting either of those places, “Los” Vegas or Disneyland, would be an assault on my sense of taste.

Where is that R14? Not New York, I can tell you that.

Yes OP, the coastal areas are definitely the best. Here's a familiar view of beautiful Los Angeles, Ca., land of movie stars, glitz, and glamour. I'm sure you'll want to book your flight soon!

[quote] OP, what country to you live in? Liechtenstein?

I think OP is from the Duchy of Grand Fenwick.

There is a huge variety of people and places in the US. Surprising histories, that you'll never know until you stop and linger for a while.

NYCers, isn't it correct that there are many people who never venture outside their residential boroughs, some not out of their neighborhoods?

The pic in R14 is Venice Beach, CA.

I am from CT. It's basically one huge forest. I love it.

I don't think the coasts are the only good part of America. Utah is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. I can understand why people whole reached there thought they found a divine paradise. Montana and Colorado are similarly beautiful. Farm fields in places like Iowa and Missouri are beautiful in their own way as well

Bitch, where?

[Quote]You can really get any kind of vacation you could imagine just staying in the US

Unless you actually want to experience different cultures. There is a whole world out there outside of America but a lot of Americans don't seem to want to try to explore it.

I think there is always the danger of our wide, open spaces becoming like the environmental stretch pants of the world. Ten tree rings away from sample size but everyone is comfortable reaching for the next ho-ho.

Most Americans have never left their state? Cupcake! This is DL, most of us have never left our basement!

I've always lived and worked in the city (not on either coast). My whole department was transferred out to my company's new building, out in some exurb in the next county. I only went along with it because I felt I had to. Anyway, the new location is just a place full of strip malls. However, I tried to educate myself a bit about the area, and there's a nice small river nearby, that's used by kayakers. And I discovered that, at the turn of the century, there was actually a nice little resort built on the river there. And, up until recently, there was a historical stagecoach inn within walking distance of my office (since bulldozed). I used to have my lunch down by the river, so I could watch the kayakers and great blue herons.

On the weekends, I can drive out of the city for a bit, and visit Amish lands, and shop at Amish farm stands. My tiny bit of advice: if you ever land in some flyover hellhole (like where I was born and raised), become a tourist in your own town. Dig into the things that make your locale unique. My city actually has an interesting history, and I enjoy learning about it.

Yes. I was blessed to be the son of a truck driver who allowed me to accompany him on his trips each summer. By the time I hit high school, I’d visited most every state in the continental US save the Pacific Northwest. I enjoyed collecting brochures of the various tourist attractions in each region.

Of course, it made for disappointment. The trips were business. There was little time for anything more than eating, sleeping, and driving. My dad did make time to show me DisneyWorld, the fireworks from Ft. Lauderdale beach one Independence Day and Mt. Rushmore. Mostly though, I just watched the amusements I longed to visit pass by in a blur.

Still, I cherish the experiences I had: chicken and waffles in LA, can collecting in Chicago, clam chowder in Massachusetts, delivering a piano in Iowa to a farm house surrounded by rows of corn, failure to decipher Mainer accents, and many more.

As an adult, I’ve traveled for school and work. I still love the road, the vistas, the people, and the time to think. I’d love to find a career befitting my skills that would afford me the chance to run the roads once again.

As an irish guy, we find it So funny when, in ur movies, the person is told "its only a 100 miles back that way"...thats like a MAJOR journey here...practicality gets us to britain lol

I have zero interest in flyover land and its inhabitants, OP.

If you want actual numbers, 11% of Americans have never left their home state. Which is depressingly high.

Yes, a three hour drive in England is MAJOR. The Americans say "It's only three hours away".

[quote]If you want actual numbers, 11% of Americans have never left their home state. Which is depressingly high.

Or you could turn it around and see it as the fact that 89% HAVE left their home state. Hope that helps you get over your depression.

I mean 99.9% of people should have left their home state r33.

You don't need to be a wealthy jetsetter to leave the damn borders of your state at least once in your life.

I wish I could have travel more when I was young. Not enough money is always the problem.

I prefer something more manageable. Too many places for people to evade the government and do bad things. Too many hidden things, secrets. There are women trafficked and being held in basements and no one knows because they're in some isolated area.

I wish America were like Singapore, but bigger, and the rest of it could be protected wilderness.

Boston to Washington, 1 city with 300 million people. Vertical farms. Maglev trains. Compact, sustainable. Maybe a much smaller megalopolis on the west coast as well.

CCTV everywhere. No cash (all transactions recorded and taxed).

Perfect order but space for dissent so there's evolution and innovation (things from the periphery get adopted by the center).

Drones monitoring the protected interior, with trespassers returned to the megalopolis.

China and Russia are kind of the same aren't they? I have seen some amazing places on TV, places in other countries that I never dreamed existed.

[quote]If you want actual numbers, 11% of Americans have never left their home state. Which is depressingly high.

We had a country cottage 50 minutes from London. Our gardener hadn't been to London since 1962.

and I remember my mother lived in the Cotswolds for a few years. Her cleaner/maid had never been to London. My mother needed her to help her move or something like that. I collected her from Paddington Station and had her sitting next to me seeing London for the first time. That was something.

R36 If you like "perfect order" and the expected, you'll probably be unhappy in the US.

But if you like head-scratching kitsch contrasting natural majesty, welcome!

[quote] If you want actual numbers, 11% of Americans have never left their home state.

What percentage of Americans have never left the US?

In American films people are always crossing the border into another state and "getting away with it".

If you calm down and relax, you can even see the beauty in the Midwest.

The Rocky Mountains are beautiful...so much is beautiful and sometimes even the people are beautiful, they are not all stupid deplorables.

What’s a duck duck go?

Even the orchestra is beautiful!

[quote]What percentage of Americans have never left the US?

They don't have much choice. Canada and Mexico and even they are 1000s of miles away from most places in the USA.

R41 While blasting this. But cops are always busy giving tickets to old people with headlights out.

Ever heard of air travel, R45?

You surely don’t know it but you are a shining example of American parochialism.

[quote]Ever heard of air travel, [R45]? You surely don’t know it but you are a shining example of American parochialism.

Not so much considering I'm English.

[quote] In American films people are always crossing the border into another state and "getting away with it".

I think that has something to do with certain counties or states being “dry”, i.e., they don’t allow alcohol sales.

[quote] Not so much considering I'm English.

Is English, like, near Britain and where Princess Meghan lives?

I've been to every state in the US except Alaska and Hawaii. I feel bad for those who say they have no interest in anything other than the coasts. The Badlands and Black Hills of South Dakota are stunning. Colorado is, I think, the most beautiful state in the nation. I wouldn't want to live in the South, but every state from Texas to South Carolina has beautiful areas worth seeing. And all of it is so different. I think that's what I like most, America isn't just big, it's full of unique places in every state.

R48 Even less reason for making such a stupid statement.

[quote][R41] While blasting this. But cops are always busy giving tickets to old people with headlights out.

It's funny you used that song to illustrate your point. I was thinking of the film "Take The Money and Run" when I wrote that.

[quote] NYCers, isn't it correct that there are many people who never venture outside their residential boroughs, some not out of their neighborhoods?

I’ve known a couple of people who’ve never left New York City and some that have rarely left their borough.

[quote][R48] Even less reason for making such a stupid statement.

Oops, always the stupid who are the first to call people stupid. It's a universal law.

According to that same survey r40, it is 40% of Americans who have never left the country. So bad, but not that bad.

I do. Say what you will about our people, but our land is VAST.

The prairie is like a endless sea of grass. It goes on and on and on.

Yes r37. China, Russia, Canada, Australia and Brazil are all vast as well.

After that there is a steep drop off in size

[quote]What percentage of Americans have never left the US?

What percentage don't have passports?

China, Russia, and Australia are vast but the the majority of the land isn't used. Brazil and Canada use similar amounts of the land as we do

We were poor growing up, and I never made it out of California (except briefly to Nevada) until I was on my own at 22. Now I've been it all but five states, and around the world.

Did you know the entire planet could live in Texas and it would have the same population density as the city of Houston, TX.

I mean everyone currently living on earth. The rest of the planet would be empty and Texas would be one giant Houston.

[quote] Brazil and Canada use similar amounts of the land as we do

Canada? Not even close.

R57 We do have huge tracts of land. This is true.

[quote]Canada and Russia scoff at your 'vastness'

R6 insists that America is...half-vast.

Yes, I love the vastness. I love cities, but I also love areas that are desolate. The drive from Los Angeles to Las Vegas can give you that feeling of desolation, in a good way (to me).

I am calling you, R68.

[quote]Canada and Russia scoff at your 'vastness'

Oh, I guess that means a great white shark is not a huge oceanic predator because KILLER WHALE.

[quote] and around the world.

I’ve been around the world for a number of reasons. Seen it all, the change of seasons.

Unfortunately, OP, there's also a lot of space between the ears of many Americans.

An important reason why fewer Americans travel abroad or even to other states is the absurdly high cost of air travel in the this country. If you live in the UK and you want to go to Rome, It would cost anywhere from $65-$255, however to fly a similar distance from Atlanta to Mexico City costs between $438-$652, or lets just look at flying in the country, lets say St. Louis to NYC it costs between $280-$426. In addition, Amtrak is often as expensive or more so than air travel.

Yes, Europeans are spoiled by the short distances around here. I live in the teeny-tiny Slovenia and people here consider every place in the country that involves more than 60 minutes of driving to reach to be far away. I went to viamichelin just now to see how long it takes to drive from one farthest point of Slovenia to the other - it takes exactly 3.5 hours.

When I was travelling around the US I met some guy who said he had to commute two and a half hours each way to get to his workplace and back daily. I asked him why he won't simply move to that other place to save on time and his reply was: "It's not really that far away".

I'd rather be unemployed and living under a bridge than having to spend 5 fucking hours in a car every day just to get to work.

I used to think it was weird that people drive two hours to get into the city for work and then drive two hours to get home!!? Why not just live in the city...I am talking Atlanta or Chicago.

Traveling through America is best done in a Chevy!

I’m either charmed or frightened by R36’s naïveté. Haven’t decided.

What R36 is describing, sounds like hell to me.

I think a lot of people here do not understand poverty on the lower end of ladder. A good percentage of US citizens are just scraping by - don't own cars and don't have a couple of hundred dollars to travel.

Some states are that large that it IS an effort and expense to leave.

I grew up back east and when I moved out west it was a big change to get used to the distances. Living in the desert, the drives between desert cities through empty desert that separates them I enjoy now. Some of the mountains that sit in the middle of the desert and you can see from the interstate, you wonder if anyone has actually ever set foot on some of the peaks. My cousins from Britain were completely freaked about emptiness between Las Vegas and Phoenix, and Phoenix and Palm Springs. When we drove through they were very unsettled by how empty it is and were constantly worried we would be stranded and never found.

R77 he's just describing Mega-City One....nothing original.

The desolation of living in some of those places is profound. When I think of all the people who live like that - so far removed from neighbors and forced to be independent, I realize how different the world must seem to them.

R36 here. Random thoughts:

It's just unbearable to me that so many horrible things go on in rural areas that we don't know about. I saw "Death on a Factory Farm" on HBO, and the awful people who work on pig farms... those are the types engaging in all sorts of criminality.

The interior is largely lawless. It's terrifying.

I want a panopticon society, where there is no lawlessness, no hidden cruelty.

I find it insane that people use the right to privacy to commit horrible acts.

How is it that people are allowed to have dogs and cats without a proper license? There are people in rural areas with stray dogs running around their yards, and they shoot at them. It's insane.

The interior is frightening and unacceptably lawless and disordered. I can't believe that it's 2019 and our government is unable to know where everyone is, who everyone is, and whether they're engaged in criminality.

Were we my ideal society, we'd have a national mission to do the same to every nation -- megalopolises in Europe, Asia, etc. Through financial incentives and/or ... some other means I can't come up with yet. We could protect 95% of the earth's land from human encroachment. Animals could be free of us. The forests etc. could heal. We could administer proper health care and education to everyone in such a compact area, and we could start decreasing our population by making birth control and education available to all.

R83 You really sound like a fascist totalitarian.

Yes, I'm from a coast and live on that coast, but I've seen a large chunk of the rest of the country and I love the differences. Los Angeles is a sea of people, but drive a few hours and you're in high desert Nevada and some of the emptiest places in the country. I love the sharp snowy peaks of the Olympics and the low old mountains of Applachia. And while the U.S. is smaller than Russia and Canada (we can argue about China), the geographic range is greater--the Arctic north in Alaska; the tropics of Hawaii and Florida.

I've been to 30 states and every one has something beautiful and distinct. I prefer mountains and oceans, so I find Illinois flat, but Chicago floating at the edge of Lake Michigan is a wonderful site. Minnesota's also flat, but has thousands of little lovely lakes. The prairie states aren't awe-inspiring like Alaska, but the big sky and sense of wide openness impresses in its own way.

As for the people, well, we're all just temporary.

I agree with a lot of what you write, R83, but for different reasons.

R86, what's your take and what are your reasons?

Time to up your meds, R83. I can assure you the middle of the country is no where near "lawless" for the love of God.

The vast, varied geography of the US is one of its better qualities, particularly the west (which I would not limit to just the coastal area) ⸺ big country with epic scenery. The whole country has its charms: forests, farmland, prairie, great lakes, bayou, quaint towns. I feel lucky to have visited 42 of the 50 so far.

Yeah, I'm not sure what interior R83 is talking about--Omaha? Iowa? Maine is very rural, but it also has low homicide and gun-ownership rates. Meth labs, maybe?

Yes. Our family took a lot of road trips. We'd keep a picnic basket and cooler in the car, eating lunch at parks along the way. My parents had enough curiosity that we'd stop at roadside markers to read up on local history. Loved it. My last job involved a fair amount of travel, mostly by air, but occasional road trips. I enjoy the variety you can find in one day in the U.S. by getting in the car. I still haven't driven out west, though. That's next.

The vast land gives you room to think for yourself and not be part of a Borg-like hive mind that people such as r83 think ideal.

R90, watch this. This is what it's like.

R92, the US, functionally only has two political parties. Education is underfunded; by all metrics, American children are doing worse than most other developed countries. And Evangelicals are a significant voting bloc. Those are not signs of an intellectually healthy nation, that enables people to think for themselves.

New England in Autumn looks like real-life HD; it's absolutely wonderful! I do not like the hot places.

It's weird how you never hear about the vastness of Canada.

R95 - it's as though Canada doesn't even exist sometimes.

R95 I don't want the natural wonder of lonely mounties in isolated outposts to be spoiled by public overexposure. It's something only the most dedicated should experience.

I grew up in New Mexico. I can remember our family driving to Albuquerque, and there being a stretch of just over 100 miles of absolutely nothing (not even a gas station). Pretty vistas. We moved to Los Angeles., so went from nothing to endless urban sprawl.

As a Brit. I once drove to SF from LA along the scenic route.

Great beauty.

BUT, my GOD! It went on and on and on and on...

[quote] Brazil and Canada use similar amounts of the land as we do

60% of Brazil is Amazon rainforest, so I would think most of the country is, more or less, inaccessible. Brazil has always seemed to have a hard time attracting residents towards its interior.

[quote]60% of Brazil is Amazon rainforest, so I would think most of the country is, more or less, inaccessible.

But when they try to cut it down like most countries have - the world SHRIEKS at them.

The Flint Hills are gorgeous, the ancient ocean floor now an ocean of grass.

That's because cutting down the rainforest is seriously destructive to the planet--we need all those trees to process carbon dioxide. Also, get rid of the forest and the land below isn't actually very good.

R99, I've done that drive so often that it's almost mundane, though if you go on 1, it's a slow drive--but about as beautiful as a drive can get.

[quote]though if you go on 1, it's a slow drive--but about as beautiful as a drive can get.

There can be too much beauty - which is the case in this instance.

[quote]Time to up your meds, [R83]. I can assure you the middle of the country is no where near "lawless" for the love of God.

Oh I think it’s oretty near that in many places. People are finally having the bravery to point it out.

Look what is revealed in the Netflix doc “The Innocent Man.” It seems perfectly clear that innocent people were railroaded into prison because the real killers were connected to illegal activities by local police officers.

And of course there’s “Making a Murderer.” They can’t say it on the air but I think we all know who really killed that poor woman, and why.

[quote] China and Russia are kind of the same aren't they?

There's a good book, [italic] Travels in Siberia [/italic], which describes the difficulty of traveling through Siberia, with its taiga forests, swamps, steppe, tundra, and some difficult ice roads. Sounded beautiful but also rather inaccessible.

Who r105? And why?

[quote]China and Russia are kind of the same aren't they?

People don't talk much about the "open roads" and huge skies of China and Russia much (nor Canada, for some reason).

People don't say let's drive across Russia, it'll be a gas!

[quote] Ever heard of air travel, [R45]?

Do you even conceptualize that a quite large percentage of people in the US can not afford air travel?

Other than Mexico & Canada and the Caribbean foreign travel for many Americans is not even remotely affordable. In Europe going from country to country on the continent is like Americans going from state to state. It's easily affordable. Most Americans don't even have a passport for one good reason, they don't need one.

[quote] Other than Mexico & Canada and the Caribbean foreign travel for many Americans is not even remotely affordable.

I agree with your point about air travel being prohibitively expensive for many Americans, but when you actually factor in the cost of domestic hotels, restaurants, bars, entrance fees in the US, a tourist probably ends up spending more here than if they were to fly (expensively) to a cheaper country. Unless you road-trip and camp/RV in the US -- that's the cheapest, bare bones way to do it.

Interstate 5 ("I-5"), which runs north/south in California is underrated with some beautiful views. I've never tried Highway 101 or Highway 1, never wanted to. I-5 takes long enough.

The comments about Americans never leaving their home states are sort of stacked against some Americans. I live in Cincinnati, which is in the very Southwest corner of Ohio. Greater Cincinnati spills over into Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. So, of course, I've been out of my home state, many times, since I was a child. I've been many other places, but a person in Columbus (in the very center of the state) wouldn't have been 'grandfathered' in that way in visiting other states. And, as someone upthread mentioned, I once met a New Yorker who came here for a wedding, who had never been out of NYC before. She was one of the most parochial, clueless people I've ever met. I had a fun time talking with her, though. She actually liked the city, once she got over her shock. She thought the skyline was beautiful, and was impressed by how nice people were.

I love the enormity of it.

Surprised no Canadians haven't highlighted the classic Pierre Trudeau quote: “I know a man whose school could never teach him patriotism,” he once wrote, “but who acquired that virtue when he felt in his bones the vastness of his land, and the greatness of those who founded it.”

Flights to Europe are so cheap now, especially with LCCs like Norwegian making trans-Atlantic flights.

A love of travel was instilled in me from a young age and I can’t imagine not exploring more of the world every year. My goal is to visit every country in the world by the time I’m 55 (35 right now). I just don’t understand the mentality of staying put and not wanting to go everywhere.

R111, I'm surprised anyone likes the 5. The stretches I've been on are mostly bleak and utilitarian, but maybe it's nicer up north than I remember.

In contrast to R115 - after traveling all over, at 50 I’m getting settled into a few places I like. And honestly, I could live just visiting US destinations. Stunning natural beauty, ease of travel, great cities, wonderful food. A trip to Europe once a year - but I almost consider that an adjunct to US. Like a few states that have a lot more history and interesting architecture only 6 hours away. I’m over challenging travel. I’m more than happy in the First World. And the US offers so much diversity - we are very lucky.

"it's as though Canada doesn't even exist sometimes."

We'll be annexing Canada soon anyways.

More like India every day

[quote]Who [R105]? And why?

It’s perfectly clear that the thuggish police killed her in order to frame Avery for it.

I'm British and I think this is why Americans don't often have a passport. Your country is like a small continent. You don't need to go abroad each state is a different country. It's like a fortress against the rest of the world.

I love the vastness of the Southwest. The scenery is so, so beautiful. The sky and the vistas go on forever.

I’ve driven through parts of Arkansas, Tennessee and Virginia and it’s kind of frustrating because you want to see beyond the highway you’re on but you can’t! It’s all greenery and trees, it makes me feel that we’re not advancing any and it feels closed in. Driving at night is anxiety causing.

It takes me 12 hours to drive through the state of TX for Christ’s sake 😳😳

[quote]I'm British and I think this is why Americans don't often have a passport. Your country is like a small continent.

Small? SMALL?

I think, ultimately, THIS is what makes America a great country. It's the land. Bottom line.

All countries it's about the land. Above all else that's what a country is.

Who admires Belgium?

R125 Belgium is pretty. It's a very soothing, elegant landscape with orderly but soft lines. Belgium looks like if you took the natural curly-cue, hazy qualities and textures of French landscape lines and light and blended them into the blunt, starkly lit waterside flatlands of The Netherlands. Places have ambiance because of how moisture is retained and cycled based on nearness to the ocean and the depth of valleys, relation to sea-level, how light is seen through all of this, what naturally grows in a place and "paints" the textures of place across the landscape.

Yes, The US has some visually high impact, BIG landscapes with highly contrasting features and I think both Australia and Saharan region African countries shares that quality in much of their land, as well. Canada also has some regions like this, where you have a shelf of flatland right up against mountains and dense woods.

We have some impressive mountains but so do many other countries, so I think it's not just the features but the visual impact of the high contrasts that's interesting to people; vast prairies and then -- BOOM! -- giant mountains. Desert drylands and then -- BOOM! -- chaparral scrub and green covered seaside. Rocky, nooky hills and dense woods and then -- BOOM! -- massive cornfields.

[quote]Ever heard of air travel, [R45]?

Umm... air travel is going away. Ever heard of the Green New Deal??

Emeril Lagassé @R126!!!

[quote]Umm... air travel is going away. Ever heard of the Green New Deal??

When rightwingers lie about something, you know they’re scared of it.

R129... you’re on my list.

I love living in the western US with every imaginable type of landscape within easy access. The wide open spaces were definitely one of the things I missed most when I spent a few years in Germany (although I loved the ease of visiting different European countries, and the plentiful vacation time which I no longer have...). But growing up in the Midwest, the distances felt isolating, and the landscapes were totally uninspiring. The east coast feels too crowded and stifling. Hated it. I guess what I'm saying is...west coast or bust!

R75 In college, I had a professor who lived in a small town about an hour from campus. He then scheduled his classes so that his commute would coincide with rush hour so that, that one hour drive was extended to 2 1/2 hour. I asked him why didn't he move closer to campus. But, he explained that he loved his commute. He could listen to the radio or books on tape and just relax, without interference from work or family. If he wanted to work he could dictate his writing into a digital voice recorder, which was how he wrote most of his writing. He thought the other professors slaving away writing in their offices were crazy. He was one of the most published members of his department, and he said he did all his writing in the car, except for adding citations. I remember, I thought he was crazy, but the older I get the more I agree with him. My time alone in my car is so special. I can either sing along at the top of my lungs without bothering anyone else, or I can listen to podcasts, Old Time Radio, or my new obsession The Archers from the BBC.

I love that America has deserts, white sand and turquoise water tropical beaches, mountains, unbelievably tall and huge sequoia trees, places to live where it never really gets cold, places to live where it never really gets hot, praries, states that experience arctic winters while still having summer, we have it ALL. I also enjoy the many different cultures that reside here, not only from other lands, but the different cultures that are distinctly American. The New England, Southern, Southwest, New York, West coast, western cowboy country, all of it. Being in America is like being in one country, and100 countries all at once. I love that the diversity of people from every corner of the globe residing here is not new, and is the very fabric of our nation.

I love that America has deserts, white sand and turquoise water tropical beaches, mountains, unbelievably tall and huge sequoia trees, places to live where it never really gets cold, places to live where it never really gets hot, praries, states that experience arctic winters while still having summer, we have it ALL. I also enjoy the many different cultures that reside here, not only from other lands, but the different cultures that are distinctly American. The New England, Southern, Southwest, New York, West coast, western cowboy country, all of it. Being in America is like being in one country, and100 countries all at once. I love that the diversity of people from every corner of the globe residing here is not new, and is the very fabric of our nation.

Very nice post, R134 and well worthy of a double.

No. In fact the vastness is one of the increasing number of things I hate. It's too big to manage successfully or humanely. And it's too big to ever mount any kind of effective protest or action. In Italy or France for example half of the country's population can engaged in a labor stoppage or boycott and head to the capital to stage a massive protest in a matter of hours. Here we can only get a fraction of people in any one place at one time, and it takes weeks to arrange.. And we need to have literally millions of people involved in any boycott or labor strike or other action if it's going to have any effect at all. Since our voting systems and democratic failsafes have been completely corrupted at this point, our only hope IS economic action. At least that's how it seems to me.

Thank you r135.

R134 I love what you wrote, as well. Most people forget that the reason we are called the United States, is because we are supposed to be one country made up of many individual countries. As a word state originally meant a country. The original states all declared their independence separately, before joining together.

Not really R138. That's part of the lie southerners tell to justify states rights.

I think that the high cost of Gas (Petrol) in most of Europe is also a consideration when people define places as 'A long way'.

In the US Orlando to Miami would probably cost about $15 in a medium sized car. in the UK Manchester to London (which is around the same distance) would be about £35 ($45) and take much longer because of the heavy traffic.

R139 You have never studied American history, have you? The only reason that the Constitution was ratified was because of the Tenth Amendment, which specifically limits the scope of the Federal government and protects to power of the states to regulate themselves.

I think I know what R139 is saying. My federal tax on earned income is huge.

I have traveled extensively throughout 49 of the 50 states. I have been witness to awe inspiring beauty in every single one of them. We have so many different landscapes in this country that one can see a representation of every landscape on earth, right here in the USA. This is one of the reasons so many Americans don't have a deep yearning to travel outside of the country. Right or wrong, they feel they have it all, right here.

What's amazing to me is the contrasts -- like the highest spot in the lower 48 (Mt. Whitney) is very close to the lowest point in North America.

Really the only thing traveling outside the US is useful for is cultural awareness. All the physical beauty I need is in the US. And the best of art and architecture is largely in Europe. Asia, Africa, South America and Australia are worth seeing to get a sense of culture, art and geography - but one and done is fine. Do it before 40 if possible - while you are open to learning and experiences, healthy and free. At 49, I think I’m done. My interest in traveling anywhere but US and Europe is quickly disappearing. And I used to be a travel obsessive.

I’ve been raped in all 50 states and each one was great. Why go outside the US? The other places are okay for a visit but we have the BEST country in the world with the best city in the world. Who needs anything else when you’ve got New York.

Yes, I love the vastness and amazing variety of landscapes, cultures, architecture. And the beauty is, it still feels like one country at least to me, even with all the political bullshit division. I really do adore America.

Lately I've had an odd desire to visit the Great Lakes region, where I've never been. Like Mackinac Island or something. Anyone been there?

r148 You'd feel right at home. Lots of fudge-packers.

I was over 50 when I went to Costa Rica and I loved it and learned things. My father was in his late 60s the first time he visited Africa and Tasmania. As long as you're reasonably healthy, age won't burn out your curiosity.

One of the things I love about California is how much variety there is in one state--multiple mountain ranges, serious desert, semitropical at the bottom, alpine skiing in the Sierras, the tallest trees and the oldest trees in the world are both there, along with the highest and lowest points in the continental United States; the near rain forest of the north coast and the extreme desert of Death Valley.

Canada is also vast, but its remote areas are truly remote--there's have an entire province that can't be reached by roads. 80 percent of the population lives next to the American border. Of the four largest countries, the U.S. has the largest amount of readily accessible land. Canada and Russia have a bunch of tundra/taiga without roads. China has a growing desert--it looks big on a map, but a lot of it isn't really habitable.

This list will help people visualize the scale of the United States. For instance, I am from South Carolina which is ranked 40 out of the 50 states in size, and SC is the same size as Austria, which is the 20th biggest country in Europe.

Yes, OP, I do. It makes road trips and hiking a blast.

[quote] China has a growing desert--it looks big on a map, but a lot of it isn't really habitable.

China also has large, exclusive autonomous zones where you need to seek out special permission in order to travel (Tibet, Xinjiang). The US is the easiest [italic] huge [/italic] country to navigate via roadtrip. Brazil is inaccessible, uninhabitable jungle. I don't know enough about Australia to say how it compares with its Outback? I guess Priscilla, Queen of the Desert did it, so it's possible? 🤣

You can cross Australia by road, but there aren't a ton of roads in central Australia, a bunch of it's basically hot and empty. Kind of the hot version of Canada--but people live near the coast instead of the American border.

R151, that list was fascinating--maps are always distorted, some countries are much larger than I thought they were and others smaller. Central American countries always look small on the map, but they're larger than many countries in Europe.

Yes thanks for that size map. When studying WW2 I always pictured all countries as the same size as America. I always thought Germany was the same size as the US. To see that it’s the same size as Montana makes it easier to understand how the Nazis could take over a country that size and not one as big as the US.

[QUOTE]The US is the easiest huge country to navigate via roadtrip.

You’re welcome.

[quote]I always thought Germany was the same size as the US. To see that it’s the same size as Montana makes it easier to understand how the Nazis could take over a country that size and not one as big as the US.

They took over most of Europe.

[quote] I’ve been raped in all 50 states and each one was great.

Being a volunteer pass-around-bottom in every state is not rape.

Details please R146, which state was your favorite?

OP, Our forests are too big to rake, so there’s that as a downside.

[quote]I’ve been raped in all 50 states and each one was great.

Wow. Puts me to shame.

I’ve been up and down both coasts, (excludes Gulf coast). But I’ve only been between the two by mistake, so I guess I’m not loving the vastness.

Not true R141. In fact, the only reason the Constitution was proposed was because the Articles of Confedewration, which were all about states' rights, were the biggest disaster in governance history.

R36, R83 and R136 are classic illustrations of how idealism evolves into totalitarianism.

R141 Yes, the Articles of Confederation, was too weak to work because it placed too much emphasis on the rights of the states. But the Constitution didn't get rid of the rights of the states, if it had it would never have been adopted. Have you read the Federalist Papers? The whole point of it was to assure people that the Constitution would not take away the rights of individuals or of the states. Yes, it created a stronger National government, but it still placed many limits on it and reserved rights for the states. It is why states like California can ignore Federal immigration laws, why they can pass stronger emissions standards, and why they can legalize marijuana, etc... It is also, why until the 17th amendment, the Senate was elected by state legislatures not the people. The House was the people's house, and the Senate was the state's house. Even with the direct election of Senators, they are still supposed to represent their states, due to the fact that they are elected in statewide elections.