Kingsport Spirit

Somehow, my social media feed has been flooded with British takes on America and Americans—many of them reconsidering deep-seated stereotypes. One of the more common ones? That Americans don’t travel internationally much. But as some Brits are discovering, there’s a reason for that: the sheer scale of the U.S.

They explain to their friends back home that U.S. states are the size of European countries, making international travel less of a necessity. When they map it out, they find the scale of America mind-boggling.

That got me curious, so I found a website called The True Size Of that lets you drag a state anywhere in the world and see it at its actual scale. Naturally, I used Kingsport, Tennessee, as my reference point (I know that shocks you). Then, I mapped out how nearby European cities would align with U.S. locations:

• Kingsport, TN → Zurich, Switzerland
• Knoxville, TN → Bern, Switzerland
• Cleveland, TN (near Chattanooga) → Geneva, Switzerland
• Middlesboro, KY → Basel, Switzerland
• Washington, DC → Prague, Czechia
• Roanoke, VA → Munich, Germany
• Richmond, VA → Vienna, Austria
• Indianapolis, IN → Brussels, Belgium
• Fort Wayne, IN → Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Greenville, SC → Milan, Italy
• Orangeburg, SC → Florence, Italy
• Bennettsville, SC → Venice, Italy
• Athens, GA → Turin, Italy
• Macon, GA → Monaco
• Augusta, GA → Genoa, Italy
• Auburn, AL → Marseille, France
• Huntsville, AL → Lyon, France
• Mobile, AL → Barcelona, Spain
• Evansville, IN → Paris, France
• Springfield, IL → London, England
• Lake Charles, LA → Madrid, Spain
• Dayton, OH → Cologne, Germany

Seeing it laid out like this really drives home why so many Americans don’t feel the need to travel abroad—when distances between U.S. cities mirror those between major European capitals, the “foreign” experience can exist right at home.

That said, Americans shouldn’t be intimidated by the scale of Europe, either. While countries may seem like distinct worlds on a map, traveling between them is similar to crossing U.S. state lines. A European trip doesn’t have to be overwhelming—think of it like a road trip between neighboring states, just with different languages and a bit more passport stamping.