What are your geographic extremes

[muon2]

Thanks to Morden I'll also copy and paste.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, Brazil)
East: 37.8 E (Moscow, Russia)
West: 122.9 W (Sonoma County, CA)

I should set a new western limit this summer with plans to go to NW WA and Victoria BC.

[muon2]

North: Fairbanks AK
South: Melbourne Australia
East: East of where? Ankara Turkey.
West: Same question. Tokyo since I flew west I guess.

I just assume that E-W means the longitude counting those points one has been on the ground. As others have noted, flying from the US to Europe takes one quite far north, but it doesn't count unless one lands.

[muon2]

Updated after my trip to the Pac NW.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, Brazil)
East: 37.8 E (Moscow, Russia)
West: 123.5 W (Butchart Gardens, BC, Canada)

[muon2]

I can make an update for 2015 as well.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland, UK, 1995)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, 1994)
East: 37.7 E (Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989)
West: 122.9 W (Sonoma County, CA) 123.5 W (Butchart Gardens, BC, Canada, 2015)

[muon2]

West: Manila, Philippines

East: New Delhi, India

South: Sydney, Australia

North: Seattle, Washington

The usual accounting is by longitude not how you arrived. Of the cities listed Sydney is easternmost and Seattle is westernmost.

[muon2]

First of a number of updates this month. Yesterday I was at Ka Lae on the Big Island, the southernmost point in the 50 states at 18.9 N.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland, UK, 1995)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, 1994)
East: 37.7 E (Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989)
West: 123.5 W (Butchart Gardens, BC, Canada, 2015) 156.0 W (Kona Airport, Kalaoa, HI, 2018)

As of 3/14/18 - 156.7 W (Ka'anapali, HI)
As of 3/19/18 - 157.1 W (Molokai Airport, Kaunakakai, HI)
As of 3/21/18 - 158.0 W (Pearl Harbor, HI)

[muon2]

how do you guys travel so much? literally the furthest west I've been is 40 miles from the house I lived in as a teenager lol

And I thought you were rich. I guess our families just have different priorities. Anyway, growing up it was normal for me to take a few flights a year to see relatives (the nearest of whom were 600 miles away). A family trip a year was normal as well. I studied abroad in Spain once, and spent a year working in Shenzhen, China. I suppose growing up an only child, family flights are cheaper than road trips, so I flew a lot of places.

I guess the problem is that my family all live in Tennessee and Alabama then xD

Also like everyone in my family are homebodies.

No worries. When I was growing up we only traveled to visit family. The only reason that I traveled so much when I was young is that my dad got transferred for work, but we still drove to see family. Later in HS I marched with a drum and bugle corps and that took me lots of p!aces throughout the Upper Midwest. I only got out of the central time zone when I went to grad school.

[muon2]

First of a number of updates this month. Yesterday I was at Ka Lae on the Big Island, the southernmost point in the 50 states at 18.9 N.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland, UK, 1995)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, 1994)
East: 37.7 E (Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989)
West: 123.5 W (Butchart Gardens, BC, Canada, 2015) 156.0 W (Kona Airport, Kalaoa, HI, 2018)

As of 3/14/18 - 156.7 W (Ka'anapali, HI)
As of 3/19/18 - 157.1 W (Molokai Airport, Kaunakakai, HI)
As of 3/21/18 - 158.0 W (Pearl Harbor, HI)

West: 159.8 W (Barking Sands, Kauai, HI 2018)

[muon2]

N: Chicago
E: Madrid
W: Phoenix
S: Key West

Madrid is almost as far north as Chicago, and the Pyrenees are further north than Chicago. If you drove about two and half hours north from Madrid you'd be at about the same latitude as Chicago.

[muon2]

In the US:
N: Boston, Massachusetts
E: Boston, Massachusetts (or Fajardo, Puerto Rico)
S: Key West, Florida (or Puerto Rico's North Coast, don't know the exact furthest South)
W: Santa Barbara, California

Worldwide (not counting layovers):
N: Boston, Massachusetts
E: Palma de Mallorca, Spain
S: Cusco, Peru
W: Santa Barbara, California

PR (18 N) is well south of Key West (24 N).

[muon2]

As long as we're nerding out on this, here's my United States-only.

                                          48.604°N: International Falls, Minnesota

159.779°W: Kekaha, Kaua'i, Hawai'i                            68.202°E: Bar Harbor, Maine

                                           19.216°N: Pahala, Hawai'i, Hawai'i




And my CONUS-only. It's always funny to me to be on the Navy base in Key West and look north at the tourists clamoring for a photo at the "southernmost" monument.

                                    48.604°N: International Falls, Minnesota

124.414°W: south of Forks, Washington                           68.202°E: Bar Harbor, Maine

                                 24.545°N: Truman Annex, Key West, Florida

Clearly we need a meet up in AK someday so we can both fill that in.

At least we should get you to a Canadian crossing somewhere along the 49th parallel. Of the four I've done, I recommend the International Peace Garden, since you don't even need to pass through Canadian customs to visit both sides of the border at that point.

[muon2]

Northernmost: Seattle, Washington (been to the temple)
Southernmost: Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico
Easternmost: Boston, Massachusetts (been to the temple)
Westernmost: Portland, Oregon (been to the temple)

Fun fact: I’ve only spent about a week and a half out of the country my entire life. That how patriotic I am.

Did you fly (or drive from the east) separately to Seattle and Portland or did you by any chance take I-5 between them? If you drove between them you've been farther west than Portland, by about the same amount that Portland is west of Seattle.

[muon2]

In the US:
N: Boston, Massachusetts
E: Boston, Massachusetts (or Fajardo, Puerto Rico)
S: Key West, Florida (or Puerto Rico's North Coast, don't know the exact furthest South)
W: Santa Barbara, California

Worldwide (not counting layovers):
N: Boston, Massachusetts
E: Palma de Mallorca, Spain
S: Cusco, Peru
W: Santa Barbara, California

PR (18 N) is well south of Key West (24 N).

I am well aware of that, but I included both due to whether you want to count PR in this discussion for US extremes.

Got it. I was confused by the statement that you didn't know the exact furthest south. In that case I imagine you'd go with Fajardo for southernmost if PR counts, since it is south of any point on the north coast of PR.

[muon2]

Furthest north: Mystic, Connecticut
Furthest south: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Furthest east: Long Island, New York (I forget which exact town it was)
Furthest west: Langhorne, Pennsylvania

I don't travel much.

Interestingly, Montauk Point NY at the eastern point of LI is at 71^o51' W (Mystic CT is 71^o58' W so it might have been further east than your visit to LI). Punta Cana DR is at 68^o21' W (at the airport), so Punta Cana is your easternmost as well as southernmost extreme.

[muon2]

I reached a new extreme this year, north of the Arctic Circle.

North: 56.7 N (Montrose, Scotland, UK, 1995)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, 1994)
East: 37.7 E (Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989)
West: 159.8 W (off the coast of Barking Sands, Kauai, HI, 2018)

North: 66.9 N (Bettles AK, 2020)

[muon2]

The furthest I've visited in each cardinal direction is:

North: 55.8 N (Izmajlovo, Moscow, Russia)
South: 24.5 N (Key West, Florida)
West: 81.8 W (Key West, Florida)
East: 37.8 E (Izmajlovo, Moscow, Russia)

I'm boring lmao

Not at all, I only went as far east in the city as Kolomenskoye, about a tenth of a degree west of Izmajlovo.

[muon2]

The furthest I've visited in each cardinal direction is:

North: 55.8 N (Izmajlovo, Moscow, Russia)
South: 24.5 N (Key West, Florida)
West: 81.8 W (Key West, Florida)
East: 37.8 E (Izmajlovo, Moscow, Russia)

I'm boring lmao

Not at all, I only went as far east in the city as Kolomenskoye, about a tenth of a degree west of Izmajlovo.

Wow. My father and I went to Izmajlovo because he wanted to buy souvenirs at the fake Kremlin. Actually I've just realized that the Domodedovo Airport (which we used both to go and to leave) is one tenth of a degree east of Izmajlovo, so I must edit my post.

Domodedovo airport would have been far more convenient to my primary destination of Protvino near Serpukhov. In 1989 and 1990 (the two years I visited there) Sheremetyevo airport was the only one that allowed flights from the West. It probably doubled the drive time to and from Protvino.

[muon2]

N: Barrie, Ontario
E: DC
W: Chicago
S: El Salvador

Depending in where you were, El Salvador may also be your western extreme. Chicago is at 87.6 W (O'Hare is at 87.9 W), while San Salvador is at 89.2 W.

[muon2]

I just realized 2 of my extremes have been attained in the air (via i.e. by plane)

Most collectors of geographic points require being on the surface of Earth. I suppose if you had a GPS tracker you could claim points while in the air.

[muon2]

I just realized 2 of my extremes have been attained in the air (via i.e. by plane)

Most collectors of geographic points require being on the surface of Earth. I suppose if you had a GPS tracker you could claim points while in the air.

Agreed, I would argue layovers (where one does not even leave an airport) should not count, but the rest of you may seem to redoubt.

The policy of one notable county collector had this to say about airport layovers: "If you weren't in the county with airport, then where were you?"

I would extend that to say that if you are riding Amtrak and change trains in Chicago, then I think you you would count that layover as well as the rails on the ground as you traveled. If you were on a cruise in Puget Sound and did a layover in the port of Friday Harbor, would you count that you were in San Juan county WA. Is a layover on a train or boat any different then a layover with planes?

[muon2]

My trip to AK included a new extreme: West: 165.5 W (Nome AK, 2022)

North: 66.9 N (Bettles AK, 2020)
South: 27.8 S (Florianopolis, SC, Brazil, 1994)
East: 37.7 E (Moscow, Russia, USSR, 1989)
West: 159.8 W (off the coast of Barking Sands, Kauai, HI, 2018)

I also nearly set a new north as my flight had a stopover in Kotzebue AK (66^o 53' 26" N) compared to Bettles AK (66^o 55' 09" N). Both are north of the Arctic Circle.

[muon2]

N: Rome, New York
S: Charlottesville, Virginia (plan on breaking it this summer, b/c my family is planning on spending a day in Virginia Beach, Virginia)
E: Quincy, Massachusetts
W: Niagara Falls, New York

If you are in VA Beach from 7/17-24 look for the muon2 license plate since I'll be there, too.

[muon2]

By lat/long:
North: Keflavik Airport, Iceland
South: Singapore
East: Narita Airport, Japan
West: Off the western shore of Kauai, HI


By heading:
North: Keflavik Airport, Iceland
South: Singapore
East: Binsar, Uttarakhand, India
West: Lat Krabang, Thailand

If layovers don't count, then Denali National Park instead of Keflavik for North and Hanoi instead of Narita for East by longitude.

I would count layovers, and here's a some reasons to consider.

If you would count travel in a car, the why not in a plane on the ground? In both cases you are separated from the earth by pavement, tires, and the body of a vehicle.

If you changed planes at the airport, why is the terminal different from other buildings? Is there any difference between stepping out of a car in a garage, off a boat at a dock, or a plane on the tarmac?

If we are talking geographic extremes on the surface of the Earth, then why not treat all of the surface equally? If you weren't at those coordinates on the surface at that time, where were you?

[muon2]

By lat/long:
North: Keflavik Airport, Iceland
South: Singapore
East: Narita Airport, Japan
West: Off the western shore of Kauai, HI


By heading:
North: Keflavik Airport, Iceland
South: Singapore
East: Binsar, Uttarakhand, India
West: Lat Krabang, Thailand

If layovers don't count, then Denali National Park instead of Keflavik for North and Hanoi instead of Narita for East by longitude.

I would count layovers, and here's a some reasons to consider.

If you would count travel in a car, the why not in a plane on the ground? In both cases you are separated from the earth by pavement, tires, and the body of a vehicle.

If you changed planes at the airport, why is the terminal different from other buildings? Is there any difference between stepping out of a car in a garage, off a boat at a dock, or a plane on the tarmac?

If we are talking geographic extremes on the surface of the Earth, then why not treat all of the surface equally? If you weren't at those coordinates on the surface at that time, where were you?

I've disagreed with you on this subject before, and I'll set out my reasons here.

I have in the past flown the Dragonair route from Dhaka to Hong Kong with a thirty-minute stop in Kathmandu. I would not say that I have been to Nepal. I have never passed through Nepalese customs and I have never received a Nepalese stamp in my passport. My experience in Nepal was sitting in an airplane and looking out the window and seeing Nepalese land. A few minutes prior, I was sitting in an airplane and looking out the window and seeing Indian land. Neither you and I would say that my flying over India would enable me to count India, but in terms of my actual experience with the country, what's the difference?

My not counting airports is arbitrary, yes, but so is your counting everything on Earth's surface but nothing in Earth's atmosphere. It's just a matter of different points of view.

I respect what you are saying, but the question moves to airplanes on the surface vs other vehicles on the surface of the earth. If you aren't counting car, bus or rail travel where you don't get off, then I appreciate your consistency.

I think the being on the surface of the earth is different from flying in its atmosphere. It's a clear logical distinction. So, my geographic extremes are based on my position on the surface of the earth regardless of the vehicle I'm in.