# How far from where you live now were you born? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 24, 2006, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019 "2006-05-24T12:30:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Danja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@Danja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danja)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/61 "2006-05-24T23:02:43Z")
Category 6. Born: near Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine Live: Indiana, U.S.A. Too lazy to figure out the distance. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/62 "2006-05-24T23:24:59Z")
I was born about 550 miles away from where I live now, but I only lived in my birthplace for 2 years. So technically, I’m category (6). But I live now less than 200 miles from where I “grew up”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/63 "2006-05-24T23:27:51Z")
1. 200-300 miles. Actually about 230. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/64 "2006-05-24T23:50:07Z")
1. within 30 miles Actually the distance is 720 metres, as I mentioned in this earlier [thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=353643&highlight=distance+pedometer+born) ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/65 "2006-05-25T00:09:21Z")
I think you need to limit the sample to Americans and there maybe other factors at work such as more education means more likely to live far from home - to gain any kind of meaningful stats. Unless of course you just want to know about Straight dopers as a group. I’m over 10,000 miles - as are many many people who also live at the arse of the world. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/66 "2006-05-25T00:18:18Z")
Just over 2700 miles. I was born on the left coast. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/67 "2006-05-25T00:21:27Z")
[QUOTE=MelCthefirst] I think you need to limit the sample to Americans and there maybe other factors at work such as more education means more likely to live far from home - to gain any kind of meaningful stats. Unless of course you just want to know about Straight dopers as a group. I’m over 10,000 miles - as are many many people who also live at the arse of the world. [/QUOTE] May I assume that you were born somewhere other than New Zealand and then moved there early on? And if so do you have no interest in returning to your place of birth? I admit that my underlying assumption in the OP was that those who would choose to answer would be USA people, but after other country people began speaking up I amended the request to allow people from smaller countries to establish their own scale of what “far away from home” might mean. Enough Category 1 types are responding to give my basic theory some weight, but it does appear that the Dopers who have chosen to reply are helping to split the population into the **gabriela** hypothesis pretty well, too. I have yet to do a tallying up, but I see that my hypothesis is not going to win by a landslide if at all. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/68 "2006-05-25T00:32:08Z")
Category 1, about 1.25 miles(2 kilometers) as the roads go. ---
**Author:** ![MelCthefirst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eada6e/32.png) [@MelCthefirst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MelCthefirst)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/69 "2006-05-25T01:55:05Z")
[QUOTE=Zeldar] May I assume that you were born somewhere other than New Zealand and then moved there early on? And if so do you have no interest in returning to your place of birth? I admit that my underlying assumption in the OP was that those who would choose to answer would be USA people, but after other country people began speaking up I amended the request to allow people from smaller countries to establish their own scale of what “far away from home” might mean. Enough Category 1 types are responding to give my basic theory some weight, but it does appear that the Dopers who have chosen to reply are helping to split the population into the **gabriela** hypothesis pretty well, too. I have yet to do a tallying up, but I see that my hypothesis is not going to win by a landslide if at all. [/QUOTE] Yes, I was born in England - moved to NZ at age 12, lived in Japan and Australia as an adult, now back in NZ. I would guess that a vast number of NZers are just like me, although their place of birth could be China, India, Pacific Islands as well as England - that’s why I thought your sample needed to be a little more specific. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/70 "2006-05-25T02:01:43Z")
Category 6, over 400 miles. Born in Edmonton, Alberta, live in Baltimore-ish, Maryland. My sister is also more than 400 miles away from her birthplace. My parents lived in Germany when she was born, and she lives in Yellowknife, NWT. That’s still over 400 miles away from where we grew up. My husband, however, is less than 10 miles from his parents’ place. ---
**Author:** ![Zabali\_Clawbane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/ecd19e/32.png) [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/71 "2006-05-25T02:20:03Z")
At the moment number five applies to me, but we intend to move out of state in the future, which will make the answer number six. ---
**Author:** ![congodwarf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@congodwarf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/congodwarf)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/72 "2006-05-25T02:28:46Z")
Currently - 1 (19.6 miles) The vast majority of my life was 2 I hope to remain number 1 for the rest of my life. Western Massachusetts is a beautiful place. I am very comfortable here. Even though my family didn’t actually live here when I was born and I didn’t move here until I was 21, I never felt quite right when I lived in central Massachusetts. I always felt like a part of me was missing. That feeling went away when I left Worcester. My sisters and mom don’t seem to have this connection to their birthplaces as they all currently fall into 5 and 6 and they seem to be happy with this. I think this thread will have 4 pages. ---
**Author:** ![gardentraveler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gardentraveler/32/3576_2.png) [@gardentraveler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gardentraveler)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/73 "2006-05-25T03:01:14Z")
Category 1 for the first 25 years or so; Category 5 for the last 23+. I’m thinking 4 pages. GT ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/74 "2006-05-25T03:47:22Z")
should add categories for country change and continent changes. Category 6: a couple thousand miles Born Rapid City, S Dakota and live in Shanghai China. ---
**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/75 "2006-05-25T03:51:54Z")
Slightly more than 3000 miles. Born in NY state now live in far Northern CA. ---
**Author:** ![Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Sophistry\_and\_Illusion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sophistry_and_Illusion)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/76 "2006-05-25T08:07:44Z")
6+. Born in Dallas, live in Beirut. Also too lazy to figure out the exact distance. ---
**Author:** ![Dervish\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Dervish\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dervish_Jones)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/77 "2006-05-25T08:11:48Z")
I’m living over a thousand miles away from where I was born, but only 878 miles away from where I grew up. Still category 6. My parents live about 7-800 miles away from where they grew up. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2006, 9:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/78 "2006-05-25T09:23:52Z")
Category 6 for me. ---
**Author:** ![Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Silence\_of\_the\_clams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silence_of_the_clams)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/79 "2006-05-25T12:39:19Z")
I am a category 6 when it comes to where I now live as to where I was born, but to mess things up, I live within 100 km of where I grew up (from the age I startet going to school), so that would make me a category 3. If you include my earlier uppbringing I would also have to check category 4 and 5. Also I would venture that this thread will get to 4 pages. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2006, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019/80 "2006-05-25T13:16:00Z")
[QUOTE=Qadgop the Mercotan] Yes, only with a more xymolosely polydactyl tongue. [/QUOTE] OK, that’s a little scary! Given that your tongue has numerous fingers, the fact that I can’t find a definition for “xymolose” is probably a \*good \* thing. I’ve had a theory for many years that the kind of countryside (or urban environment) you grew up in (as opposed to were born in, which I don’t think really matters) gets “into your blood,” so to speak. Some folks find themselves more compelled by this than others. For example, having grown up in northern small-town New Jersey, I just never lose my preference for rolling hills and what amounts to dairy farm land. I can be comfortable in most parts of the northeastern North America, and large portions of England. Anywhere else I’ve been, while often very beautiful, never quite feels as if it “fits” quite right. My brother, on the other hand, went to the Fiji with the Peace Corps in the 70s, and fell completely and utterly in love with the south Pacific. He now lives in Hawai’i. So if he feels the pull of dairy farmland, it is not at all compelling to him. But I know both my parents feel largely the way I do, and while both have lived other places, they, like I, have chosen to return to the kind of country where they grew up. (My Dad was pretty local, but my mom grew up in Schednectady, NY). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-far-from-where-you-live-now-were-you-born/358019.md?page=5)