Road Trip! What’s on the Same Latitude as Lansing?
OK, I'll admit it.
I can be a little bit of a nerd. All right. Maybe a lot.
Sometimes when I'm alone, I find myself just staring out onto the horizon, wondering what's going on around the world. Wondering if there's someone on the other side of the world looking my way, wondering the same things.
I got curious. If I were to draw a line around the world, directly east from Lansing, where would I go? How many countries would I visit before circling back to Michigan? Let me tell you—turns out it would be quite the tour.
We'd see a little of Canada first, as we made our way through southern Ontario.
We'd re-enter the United States just south of Buffalo, New York, right around Orchard Park, where the NFL's Buffalo Bills play. Our trek across New York would take us through Schenectady, and then into Massachusetts. We would take off across the Atlantic Ocean from around Newbury, Massachusetts.
Our European tour begins on the coast of Spain. A few hours inland, we'd see Pamplona—depending on the time of the year, we might even be able to take in the famous "Running of the Bulls"! After that, we'd travel through southern France and sail across the Mediterranean Sea south of Marseilles, scraping the northern tip of Corsica.
Back on land, we'd spend some time in Italy. After a brief jaunt across the Adriatic Sea, we're on to Serbia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Montenegro and Kosovo are next, with the picturesque capital of Sofia, Bulgaria, to follow.
After crossing the Black Sea, we'd visit Georgia and part of Russia. A trip across the Caspian Sea is next, with visits to Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan after that.
China and Mongolia take up a lot of real estate, before we're briefly back into Russia. Just across the Sea of Japan, we're onto the Japanese island Hokkaido and then across the North Pacific Ocean.
We'd re-enter the United States around Port Orford, Oregon, then thread a line between Twin Falls and Pocatello, Idaho. We'd cross Wyoming just south of Casper, then travel for a few hundred miles on the southern side of the South Dakota/Nebraska border. Other cities along our route would include Vermillion, South Dakota; Waverly, Iowa; and Platteville, Wisconsin.
We'd reach Lake Michigan just to the north of Racine, Wisconsin, and re-enter Michigan right around Macatawa before returning home to Lansing.
That was quite the trip!
Scroll through this gallery for a sampling of what you'll find around the world at roughly 42.7 degrees North latitude, the same level on the globe as Lansing.