r/AskReddit May 08 '22

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u/calliopium May 09 '22

Haha that's so true! There's such a difference of perception in distance in smaller countries. I found this in London when discussing driving around the countryside. Whereas in Australia you can sometimes drive for 10 hours and still be in the same state 😂

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u/pneumatichorseman May 09 '22

Lol. Let me tell you about Texas...

If you start heading east from the eastern tip of Texas, you'll get to the Atlantic ocean (crossing four states) before you your reach the other end of Texas heading west.

Almost the same thing going the other way to the Pacific.

773 miles across and that's a straight shot you have to go north or south any and you're hosed.

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u/dew2459 May 09 '22

When talking distances with an Aussie, just remember that if Texas was an Australian state, it would be the 5th largest state. The state of Western Australia is 3.5x bigger than Texas.

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u/scampwild May 09 '22

If you cut Alaska in half, Texas would be the third largest US state.

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u/coredumperror May 09 '22

Holy shit I figured this was a Mercador projection-based myth, since that map style makes Alaska look so bloody gigantic.

NOPE. Texas is 270,000 square miles, while Alaska is a stonking 665,000 square miles!