# How far are you from your birthplace right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 26, 2007, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687 "2007-02-26T04:25:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/61 "2007-02-26T14:46:16Z")
It’s 1,780 miles by car from my home in Connecticut to the hospital where I was born in Houston, Texas. When I was living on campus at Rice University 20 years ago, I was living right across the street from that hospital. The farthest that I’ve lived from my place of birth is in Germany, about 5,250 miles from Houston by air. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/62 "2007-02-26T14:48:42Z")
See **jjimm** ’s answer. Lived all over the western part of this country, but for the last 20 years I’ve been within 10 miles of the place I was born. They tore down the old hospital years ago (something about a mob with torches and pitchforks) but the hill it stood on is still there. ---
**Author:** ![Monstera\_deliciosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monstera_deliciosa/32/109_2.png) [@Monstera\_deliciosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstera_deliciosa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/63 "2007-02-26T15:35:23Z")
It’s about 753 miles from the Bronx to the far northwestern suburb of Chicago where I now live. Sigh. I’m kind of homesick. (Not for the Bronx, since I didn’t actually grow up there, but for the New York metropolitan area in general.) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/64 "2007-02-26T15:40:59Z")
About 7,700 miles. We’ve done this before, and even with that distance I did not come in the top 5 furthest. Top 10, for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/65 "2007-02-26T18:22:26Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] Me: Boston, MA -\> Tokyo, Japan: 6722 miles [/QUOTE] For me read the reverse. If only each of those 6,722 miles was a step to enlightenment! ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/66 "2007-02-26T18:28:20Z")
I drove back home last month and logged 512 miles (853 km) on my car, so I guess that’s about right. I live in Watertown, Massachusetts, and was born in the Shenango Valley Medical Center in Farrell, Pennsylvania (but I grew up in neighboring Hermitage.) Since I work in Cambridge, Massachusetts, I guess I’m about 516 miles (860 km) from home. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/67 "2007-02-26T18:40:05Z")
2,418 miles, or 3891 kilometres from Misericordia Community Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Parkville, Maryland. ---
**Author:** ![Webner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/0ea827/32.png) [@Webner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Webner)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/68 "2007-02-26T18:46:07Z")
About 602.7 miles from Evanston, IL to Washington DC. Didn’t even live in Washington for long enough to remember it though. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/69 "2007-02-26T18:58:51Z")
Using [this website](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html) , I see it’s exactly 8401 miles, or 15,519 kilometers. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/70 "2007-02-26T19:02:30Z")
[QUOTE=Sal Ammoniac] For me read the reverse. If only each of those 6,722 miles was a step to enlightenment! [/QUOTE] Who says it’s not? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/71 "2007-02-26T19:22:53Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Using [this website](http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/distance.html) , I see it’s exactly 8401 miles, or 15,519 kilometers. [/QUOTE] Now THIS is interesting. Where I was born is not where I grew up. I grew up in Texas. But using that website, it shows the miles to be farther, but the kilometers to be less! What the …? I know it’s farther than where I was born, so I’ll assume the miles listed here from my hometown are correct, and they are: 8854 miles, or (inexplicably) 14,250 kilometers. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/72 "2007-02-26T19:25:26Z")
1400 or so miles. Offutt AFB, south of Omaha NE to Southern NH. Meager in the grand scheme of things, but further than anyone else in my family or friends. ---
**Author:** ![tiger\_lily](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/96bed5/32.png) [@tiger\_lily](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiger_lily)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/73 "2007-02-26T19:43:11Z")
According to Mapquest, I live 8.29 miles from the hospital I was born in, and 0.2 miles from the house I grew up in. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/74 "2007-02-26T19:46:01Z")
About 1300 km as the car drives, as per ViaMichelin. Or, three countries (for some reason, everybody includes both “end countries” in the count). ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/75 "2007-02-26T20:56:35Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] About 1300 km as the car drives, as per ViaMichelin. Or, three countries (for some reason, everybody includes both “end countries” in the count). [/QUOTE] Clearly, if you want the distance to look more impressive, you should drive through Italy on the way… ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/76 "2007-02-26T21:06:40Z")
2,668 miles as the Google flies. 2,072 miles for my dad, about 6,400 miles for my mom as the crow flies. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > Roughly 15 miles. Soon, about 1,267 miles. Are you back in SoCal, or did I misremember the story? ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/77 "2007-02-26T21:19:32Z")
According to [Maps.live.com](http://Maps.live.com), it’s 2571 miles from me to the place where I was born via the highways. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/78 "2007-02-26T23:01:59Z")
At least 11400 miles Thats a **long** way from home ☹ Si ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/79 "2007-02-27T00:33:45Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Now THIS is interesting. Where I was born is not where I grew up. I grew up in Texas. But using that website, it shows the miles to be farther, but the kilometers to be less! What the …? I know it’s farther than where I was born, so I’ll assume the miles listed here from my hometown are correct, and they are: 8854 miles, or (inexplicably) 14,250 kilometers. 😕 [/QUOTE] 8854 miles = 14249 km 8401 miles = 13520 km So most likely there was a typo somewhere, either from you or the website, that changed 13519 to 15519. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687/80 "2007-02-27T00:44:51Z")
As the crow flies, Reno, Nevada is 2267 miles from my birthplace just outside Washington DC. If you confine yourself to roads, it’s more like 2600 miles. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-are-you-from-your-birthplace-right-now/393687.md?page=5)