Half Way Around The World

For about the past four months, I have had the great and life altering experience of calling Europe my home. When I say Europe has been my home, I mean all of Europe has been my home. I feel like I have traveled to every corner, every country, and seen so many different cities in my short time here, its really quite remarkable. The unfortunate thing about coming to Europe from America, is that at some point I will have to go back home. This date is looming ever closer, and at this point, I have less than a week to relish all that is Europe.

For the majority of my time abroad, I was living in Prague, which is the capital of the Czech Republic. It was a great place to live for its location and the fact that the Czech Republic hasn't switched over to the Euro just yet. However, the country receives all the benefits that other European countries in the Euro zone receive, namely the fact that they don't check passports when crossing borders which I found quite ridiculous and definitely a sign of how powerful economic agreements can be.

If you consider that the countries in Europe, some of them have been feuding with one another for centuries, all going just going to allow people to cross over their borders now just due to the fact that they all have the same currency, it really makes you think about the power of money and how economics can really be a bridge to diplomacy.

Alright, well now that I got thoroughly off topic lets get back to my findings. By simply figuring out the distances to and from the base of my travels, I found out the complete distance that I will travel between February 4th and June 10th (127 days), my expected departure back to America. In some cases, when I knew a city through which I passed, I made the measurement through that city, almost like a point of reference.

To figure out the distance between two cities, I was assisted by MapCrow (Mapcrow.info), who easily and accurately tell the distance between two cities in the world. Pretty incredible. Now, I'll provide you with my findings and do a little discussion about what I was able to draw from it.

• The Findings

**Click the Image to see it more clearly**

• Analysis

Wow, so in the past four months, I've really kind of run around. I traveled to a total of 11 countries (thats a new country every 12 days), and over 25 cities (thats a new city every 5 days). In related news, I've amassed over 3.5 gigabytes in pictures and videos from this trip, which is a lot to say the least. They'll provide me with wonderful memories for years, though.

In the total 127 days, I will end up traveling a total distance of 18,404.88 miles (29,619.06 kilometers). Those are big numbers. If you consider that the equatorial circumference of the Earth is 40,075.02 km, I pretty much went three-quarters way around the world. If you were to stretch my trip out from Chicago to somewhere in the World, I would have ended up in Tokyo, Japan most likely (going through Europe and Asia).

When you consider that the farthest point west I traveled was Bordeaux, France and the farthest point east I traveled was Athens, Greece, based on the total distance I traveled, I could have gone between those two points over 13 times.

A large portion of my trip has to be attributed to the distance in going to and from America, however. This portion of my trip accounts for 42% of the total distance traveled. However, when you consider how far Chicago is from the rest of Europe, its quite impressive that I did over 50% of my traveling in an area much smaller than the United States.

Although I was based in Prague, I did little traveling within the country, only accounting for 0.74% of my total travels. Liberec and Novy Bor were great places though and I recommend them to any willing traveler.

My distances covered in France and Switzerland are comparable to one another, each accounting for around 6% of my total distance traveled. I really only saw Interloken, Switzerland, whereas I was able to really experience, Nantes, Bordeaux, Tours, and Paris in France.

My trips to Flensburg, Germany, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark are also of comparable distance, each accounting for roughly 4% each. In Flensburg, I was able to see a Handball Match, which I had wanted to go and check out. It probably took me just as long to get there as the amount of time I had in the actual city. Amsterdam was without doubt one of my most favorite trips in all of Europe. Copenhagen was an incredible city that I enjoyed so much. Very well run, beautiful, and Christiania.

The two biggest traveling distances are attributed to Italy and Greece which each have about 10% of my total distance traveled. Greece was a little easier to scale. The main distances were covered by plane, which was quick and painless. In Italy, however, I really did travel each and every one of those 1791 miles (2882 kilometers). I went from the North of the country to the South all via train. Finally got back to Prague by air, but even still, thats quite a far journey.

Smaller distances were accounted by my trips to Berlin, Germany, Vienna, Austria, and travel back from Budapest, Hungary, which each comprised around 1.5% of total distance traveled. These are both quick trips that can be made from Prague. Vienna was actually my first trip to a country in Europe, and what an amazing experience! I stayed in Budapest on my way back from Athens, Greece, so it wasn't a direct pathway back home, therefore, I count it as a separate journey.

Finally, the smallest traveling distance came from my trip to Malmo, Sweden. I went with some friends from Copenhagen across to this city for a day trip. In order to get there you have to cross a very long bridge over the gap between Denmark and Sweden and it is considered an architectural and engineering marvel. Only 33 miles (54 kilometers) and 0.184% of the trip.

• Conclusion

I'm really impressed with the large distance that I was able to travel during my short time in Europe. It was such an amazing adventure. Even more so, I think that this is a testament to modern transportation and how far humans have come in just a matter of decades. I was able to travel, on average, 144 miles (233 kilometers) a day. Now, I realize that I didn't actually traverse this distance on a daily basis (even though sometimes it feels like I did), but the sheer concept that I averaged over 100 miles a day boggles the mind.

Years ago, people would be born, grow up, and die in their little villages not being able to leave or see anything outside of a 50 mile radius, at best. Today, you can get on a plane, take a train, or ride a bus to anywhere your heart desires. I know I did.