# Who has traveled the furthest from the place of their birth? Who has stayed the closest? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102 "2011-12-22T18:52:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/101 "2015-05-21T12:51:37Z")
Born: Washington, DC Farthest traveled: Spokane, WA Straight line distance: 2,093 miles ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/102 "2015-05-21T13:08:10Z")
Just this past March, as it happens. Akron, Ohio to Melbourne, Australia–9,968.83 mile/16,042 Km per the site mentioned in the opening post. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/103 "2015-05-21T14:34:40Z")
Born in Washington, DC, furthest distance I’ve been is to Maunabo, Puerto Rico, 1593.34 miles (2564.23 km). I have, in fact, been to places that are further apart than this, but all of those places are closer to my place of birth. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/104 "2015-05-21T14:36:53Z")
2.2 miles from birthplace. The furthest I had ever lived was about 7 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/105 "2015-05-21T17:45:37Z")
Here I thought I’d be bringing some real numbers by having traveled in a land down under, but my 9,547.34 mile Lakewood, Ohio USA to Sydney, NSW Australia doesn’t even break the 10,000 ceiling. That’s 153,644.1 meters, though, which sounds more impressive. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/106 "2015-05-21T18:29:32Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > 2.2 miles from birthplace. The furthest I had ever lived was about 7 miles. 7 miles? Really?! I traveled farther than that yesterday _just to get lunch_. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/107 "2015-05-21T19:26:21Z")
Helpful reference: > **[Antipodes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes)** > > In geography, the antipode (/ˈæntɪˌpoʊd, ænˈtɪpədi/) of any spot on Earth is the point on Earth's surface diametrically opposite to it. A pair of points antipodal (/ænˈtɪpədəl/) to each other are situated such that a straight line connecting the two would pass through Earth's center. Antipodal points are as far away from each other as possible.\[note 1\] The North and South Poles are antipodes of each other. > In the Northern Hemisphere, "the Antipodes" may refer to Australia and New Zealand, and An... There are only a few places on Earth that have land antipodes. Spain and New Zealand, northern coast of Canada/Siberia/Greenland and Antarctica, China and Chile/Argentina, SE Asia/Indonesia and the Amazon basin, Hawaii and Botswana, plus a few random oceanic islands. If you’re not from one of those areas you’ll never get to travel to a land antipode from your birth. Since I was born in Seattle, the closest I can get is Kerguelen at 11,850 miles. Madagascar or Mauritius are pretty close. For Brits it’s going to be New Zealand, for East Coast Americans it’s going to be western Australia. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/108 "2015-05-21T19:40:19Z")
I’m a mere day tripper compared to many of you. My longest is: Beverly Shores, IN to Irkutsk, Siberia = 5,921.3 miles ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/109 "2015-05-21T20:31:41Z")
Hibbing MN -\> Singapore - 8910 miles ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2015, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/110 "2015-05-21T22:32:06Z")
Sacramento, CA to Rome, Italy - 6164 miles ETA: It looks like the distance shrunk by 12 miles since December of 2011…must be Continental Drift 🙂 > [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Sacramento, CA to Rome, Italy: 6176 Miles ---
**Author:** ![Kalea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b487fb/32.png) [@Kalea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalea)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2015, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/111 "2015-05-22T00:10:30Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Since I was born in Seattle, the closest I can get is Kerguelen at 11,850 miles. According to [http://www.antipodr.com/](http://www.antipodr.com/), there’s an island “French Southern & Arctic Lands” as well as “Heard Island” (both in the southern ocean) that come pretty darn close to a land antipode (antipod?) for Seattle. To the OP: Washington DC to Doubtful Sound, NZ: 9208. I hope to break the 10K barrier on my trip to Australia, but that isn’t until 2017. ---
**Author:** ![OliviaIvanoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@OliviaIvanoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliviaIvanoff)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/114 "2019-09-17T05:38:33Z")
I traveled from Poland Warsaw to Denver, Colorado USA. And then from Denver to San Francisco. So it’s [8534 km](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Warsaw,+Poland/Denver,+Colorado/data=!4m7!4m6!1m2!1m1!1s0x471ecc669a869f01:0x72f0be2a88ead3fc!1m2!1m1!1s0x876b80aa231f17cf:0x118ef4f8278a36d6?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip15zAkdfkAhVNnp4KHWKAAb4Q5y4wAHoECAoQAQ) and [2012 km](https://check-distance.com/route/denver-co/san-francisco-ca). So it’s going to be 10 546 km from home. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/115 "2019-09-17T09:24:47Z")
> [@OliviaIvanoff](#): > > I traveled from Poland Warsaw to Denver, Colorado USA. And then from Denver to San Francisco. So it’s [8534 km](https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Warsaw,+Poland/Denver,+Colorado/data=!4m7!4m6!1m2!1m1!1s0x471ecc669a869f01:0x72f0be2a88ead3fc!1m2!1m1!1s0x876b80aa231f17cf:0x118ef4f8278a36d6?sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip15zAkdfkAhVNnp4KHWKAAb4Q5y4wAHoECAoQAQ) and [2012 km](https://check-distance.com/route/denver-co/san-francisco-ca). So it’s going to be 10 546 km from home. Brisbane to St. Petersburg is 14, 500 km and that is not all that unusual. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/116 "2019-09-17T10:53:52Z")
I might have one of the smallest numbers for someone who has still done a lot of traveling, since I grew up in Western NY and have traveled to London, Madrid, Key West, western Oregon, and Los Angeles, and apparently the farthest of these is Madrid at 3800 miles. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2019, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/117 "2019-09-17T11:00:09Z")
Born in Palmerston North, New Zealand, and visited Geneva, Switzerland, 18944 km / 11771 miles. We actually drove all around Switzerland and some other parts of Europe so we may have got to a more distant point. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/118 "2019-09-17T11:28:14Z")
Born in Sheboygan, WI. Farthest from there I’ve been is Melbourne, Australia at 9691 miles. Next was Agra, India at 7449. I currently live 61.8 miles from the place of my birth. ---
**Author:** ![GoodOmens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@GoodOmens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GoodOmens)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/119 "2019-09-17T12:30:09Z")
Chicago to Auckland, basically 8000 miles. Hopefully I’ll hit Australia some day. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stainless_steel_rat/32/5727_2.png) [@The\_Stainless\_Steel\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stainless_Steel_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/120 "2019-09-17T13:07:33Z")
Akron. Oh to Melbourne, Australia–9,976 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/121 "2019-09-17T13:11:41Z")
9,293 miles, Quezon City PHL to Miami FL USA. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2019, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102/122 "2019-09-17T14:38:22Z")
Philadelphia to Sydney, 9863 miles. They give it in hundredths of a mile, which is silly since that’s not much more than the distance to my next door neighbor. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-traveled-the-furthest-from-the-place-of-their-birth-who-has-stayed-the-closest/607102.md?page=7)