planning

Pre-marital competition: Estimating Distances

New layout thanks to web designer Ashley Joost!

While planning WVT (Still missing: an officiant and venue for actually getting married), it has become distressingly apparant that neither of us is very good at estimating distances between two cities. You can see the obvious problems this could pose when planning a six-week road trip. At first, our strategy was for me to ask Harrison “About how far is it between X and Y?” and then confirm his answer with GoogleMaps. We eventually realized that it’s far easier to ask GoogleMaps in the first place.

In general, Harrison is better at estimating distances than I am (except for small measures of length, such as one foot). Estimating one foot Estimating one foot

I suspect this is because he grew up in the suburbs and spent a lot more time on the roads than I did in the formative driving years of 15-18.

So, today, in the spirit of good-natured pre-marital competition, we will attempt to estimate the distances between two locations on Wedding Victory Tour and see who is closest based on directions from GoogleMaps.

Chicago, IL to Seattle, WA

Chicago to Seattle Estimates

Harrison: 1,750 miles
Mica: 750 miles

Google Maps says 2,064 miles. (Harrison!)

 

Boston, MA to New York, NY

Boston to NYC

Harrison: 275
Mica: 230

Google Maps says 216 miles. (Mica!)

 

Richmond, VA to Hanover, NH

Richmond to Hanover

Harrison: 600
Mica: 325

Google Maps says 597 miles. (Harrison! Full disclosure: He already knew the distance between Richmond and Boston.)

 

San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA

San Francisco to LA

Harrison: 450
Mica: 680

Google Maps says 381 miles. (Harrison!)

 

San Diego, CA to Las Vegas, NV

San Diego to Las Vegas

Harrison: 300
Mica: 475

Google Maps says 326 miles. (Harrison!)

 

San Antonio, TX to Atlanta, GA

San Antonio to Atlanta

Harrison: 1,200
Mica: 863

Google Maps says 989 miles. (Mica!)

Lightning Death Round! Paris, France to Sydney, Australia (as the crow flies)

Paris to Sydney

Harrison: 10,000
Mica: 30,000

WolframAlpha says 10,537 miles. (Mica! Harrison!)

 

Final results – Harrison: 5, Mica: 2

Oh well, good thing I’m not getting a Master’s in estimating distances….

 

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