It is commonly known that Europeans travel abroad a whole lot more than Americans do. It that because people in Europe are much more adventurous? I think the fact that nearly any two major European cities are closer than New York and Los Angeles may have something to do with it. Here’s seven comparisons in order of magnitude.

London – Paris / New York – DC

Someone from London taking a weekend trip to Paris might sound pretty fancy. The reality is, it’s not that far. Thanks to the English Channel Tunnel, you can actually drive between the two cities. London to Paris (213 miles / 343 km) is about the same distance as New York City to Washington DC (204 miles / 329 km). I have to drive farther than that to get to the closest beach.

London – Berlin / New York – Cincinnati

Let’s think about WWII for a moment, specifically Germany against Great Britain. That would kind of be like New York being at war with Ohio. London to Berlin is 579 miles (932 km). Imagine Churchill being in Cincinnati and Hitler being in NYC. The distance is very similar (565 miles / 909 km).

London – Madrid / New York – Nashville

A Londoner may wish to take a week’s vacation… I mean holiday… in the Spanish capital of Madrid. That would be pretty much that same distance as a New Yorker heading to the Country Music Capital for some Tennessee whiskey. London to Madrid is 785 miles (1263 km) and New York to Nashville is 758 miles (1220 km).

London – Rome / New York – Daytona Beach

Ah, it’s Spring Break and you take off from London for some fun in Rome. I don’t even know if they have Spring Break in Europe, but we do in the U.S., and Daytona Beach is a popular hotspot. You’d have to travel almost the exact same distance: London is 890 miles (1433 km) from Rome, and NYC is 888 miles (1429 km) from Daytona.

London – Helsinki / New York – Kansas City

Imagine you are a NY Jets fan (I’m sorry) and your team is playing the Chiefs this weekend. The distance to Arrowhead Stadium is 1128 miles (1815 km). The same distance in Europe would be like going from London to Helsinki, Finland (1132 miles / 1821 km). But you’d have to watch a different kind of football instead.

London – Reykjavik / New York – Sioux Falls

Compared to mainland Europe, Iceland seems pretty remote because… well – it is. To travel the same distance in the U.S., you’d have to go from New York City to another far away place: Sioux Falls. As far out there as South Dakota is, at least it’s not an island in the North Atlantic. London – Reykjavik (1173 miles / 1888 km) | NYC – Sioux Falls (1175 miles / 1892 km).

London – Moscow / New York – Amarillo

Ok, we did London to places like Rome and Reykjavik, but what about somewhere far. London to Moscow is 1554 miles (2500 km), that’s a pretty good distance. You know what city is the same distance from New York? Amarillo, Texas (1556 miles / 2504 km).

Notice, from New York City, we didn’t get anywhere near the west coast of the U.S.. To travel that kind of distance from London, you’d have to go to… North America. Or really far into Africa or Asia.