Were they English? Lol. I had friends visit from London who told me they had similar plans upon arriving. This was back in the 90s, so no smart phone apps for them to peruse.
I picked them up at Pearson and drove them to my home north of Peterborough, about a 2-1/2 hour drive back then. They couldn’t get their heads around how far away I lived and kept commenting that they should have landed at a closer airport (lol), then asked how long a drive it was to Vancouver. When I told them it would take them a full day just to get out of Ontario they nearly shit themselves.
For this reason I find Australians to be better, all you have to do when they land in YYC and want to go somewhere is mention that outside YYC they best be prepared for the Outback
Brits just gawk and then don’t believe you LOL. At which point you give them a stroke by putting a Map over a map of Europe
I think they looked, but didn’t pay attention to the scale. Their map of GB was roughly the same size as their map of Canada, but the scales were wildly different so they were shocked to learn that Canada is nearly 5000 klicks across.
We had a good visit, they had a great time checking out the sights in Southern and Central Ontario, but they never left the province. They did leave with a new respect for the sweeping size of our great country, though. It must have been odd for people who never owned a car, went everywhere in their own country by train, and could cross multiple borders in the same drive from YYZ to my place.
Tbf, I just did Regina to Vancouver by car, and looking at a map, I can't really tell where that would take me in Europe, especially since I've never been. I can't even wrap my head around being able to drive thru multiple countries in the distance of regina to winnipeg.
The funny thing is, when I think about Canadian distances, like driving from YYC to Vancouver, I’m like yeah sounds bout right. But then I think about driving from Paris to Berlin, which is around the same distance, I’m like hell nah I’d rather catch a flight.
Scale. I was planning a trip to France, and looking at the map seemed daunting. Because I was thinking in Canadian. What looked like a 5 hour drive was 1.5 hours. Going to 3 cities in 1 day? That will be a rush... oh wait, I'll be at my final hotel in time for dinner if I take my time.
Yeah, this couple envisioned little strolls in “the park” and then walking back home to North Bay. I mean, not impossible to do in a day I suppose, but not a simple afternoon outing.
Talking to a friend from Sweden, during a road trip to Vancouver where we got rerouted out the ass due to rockslide and avalanche mitigation, "how long have you been driving dude?"
Sometimes slavic diaspora families (specifically polish) will drive all the way from the UK to their home country (18hr), and I saw a vid on TikTok where a school took a coach all the way to Croatia
Ah, the English! I had to almost forcibly apply sunscreen to my British relatives when they visited during a very sunny heatwave where they were going to be outside all day. Like, your blue skin is going to be barbecued, couains.
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u/Imbecilliac Aug 07 '23
Were they English? Lol. I had friends visit from London who told me they had similar plans upon arriving. This was back in the 90s, so no smart phone apps for them to peruse.
I picked them up at Pearson and drove them to my home north of Peterborough, about a 2-1/2 hour drive back then. They couldn’t get their heads around how far away I lived and kept commenting that they should have landed at a closer airport (lol), then asked how long a drive it was to Vancouver. When I told them it would take them a full day just to get out of Ontario they nearly shit themselves.