It's always struck me in both Lord of the Rings and in The Wheel of Time that characters boasted (or worried) about being X distance from home which in the grand scheme of things was hardly any distance at all. In both cases it was said to show how little they had traveled until then - and how far they went after that.

What's the furthest YOU have gone from home?

A few years ago I was convinced USAir was going to go bankrupt and wanted to use up my remaining miles as fast as humanly possible. So I looked at a map to see how far I could possibly get on the miles I had. It ended up being Costa Rica.

here's a distance calculator -

http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/calculate-distance.html

(ignore the pop up ads, I hate sites with pop-ups)

That's 2362.1 miles.

But then a few years later I went to my grandmother's birthplace in Ukraine, so that is much further!

4493.3 miles

so that's the furthest I've ever been from home! I *adored* Ukraine. I would go back there in a heartbeat.

(The site didn't like my input!)
I have been to the Galapagos Islands, but think that my furthest trip was to Kenya, particularly when you consider that I flew through Amsterdam to get there.
I'm a birder, and when you have seen just about all of the birds there are around home you have to start travelling to see more.

I think China, but my husband and children were with me. I cashed in frequent flier miles for airline seats and we went exploring together.

Best,
Candyce
Adventure Living Editor

I think my grandparents were from the Ukraine too. I've always wanted to take my kids and go the the shtetl where part of the family originated.
What was it like being there? could you find the actual village or town?

Best,
Candyce
Adventure Living Editor

Wow, Kenya must have been awesome!! Our African Culture editor worked there in the peace corp! You should post in her forum about what it was like there when you went! She is thinking about going back in a few years ...

Candyce - it was SO great, I loved it there. My grandmother's sister was still alive when we went (although she died soon afterwards) so yes we got to see the whole extended family. I have tons of photos here -

http://www.lisashea.com/lisastrips/yr2006/ukraine/

Here is an image from an open air recreation village which showed life in the 1800s -



I could have stayed in that village - or in the relatives' homes which weren't *that* far off - for years It is very relaxing, very peaceful

The greatest distance I've traveled was to Vancouver, BC via RV and it was 2167.9 miles.

I live in Atlanta and the furthest away I have been is when I went to China last fall. Now that is a long trip. I'm not exactly sure the mileage but with all the flights and layovers (ATL to LA to Taipei to Hong Kong) it was nearly 30 hours total!

I live in California and over the millennium i went to Antarctica. It was incredible!