lenleigh, never said anyone was ignorant. I was just shocked that the east coast was difficult for you.

Knowing airport codes is different from knowing where they are located.

I have enjoyed reading this thread. Ya'll have given me great chuckles for the day!
Now for travel misconceptions I have found:
My Australian friends thought there were no bugs in the US (America as they say). Don't have any idea where they got that idea from!
and
Saying you are from Florida does not mean you live in Miami. I had to start saying NORTH Florida - like it was a new state - just so people wouldn't automatically assume incorrectly.
and
Just because someone has a southern accent doesn't mean they are from Texas, Alabama or Georgia. Years ago I went to Hawaii. Having turned in our rental car I have to take a shuttle back to the airport. The van was full of people doing the same thing. I sneezed. Now all I said was "Excuse me" and "Thank you" (when someone blessed me) and for some reason the entire van thought I was from Texas! I taught them a lesson real fast - lol.

Now for something I'm embarassed to even mention that I misunderstood: Before I went to Australia I kept reading about "the bush". Now I know "the bush" can mean a geographical area but I also found out that it means "forest" or "woods". When my friends said we were going to visit their relatives in "the bush", I pictured us driving for days to the center of the continent into the desert. Turns out we were just driving up the mountain into the woods (as we say in North Florida). Very embarassing to me at the time.
Thanks again for providing me with a smile for the day.

My most embarassing geographic faux pas came shortly after the breakup of the Soviet Union. I was talking to a woman from Minsk who kept trying to tell me she was Belarusian. I thought she was saying Bella Russian, and kept asking her what that meant. I had no idea there was a country called Belarus!

Generally, I think most Americans don't realize how far north Europe is. For instance, Portugal is at about the same latitude as Nova Scotia. Britain and Newfoundland share much of the same latitude.

Yes, Europe is farther North but has milder weather because of the Atlantic Ocean currents that carry warm air to the Northeast.

And Iceland is a lot warmer than Greenland. Sometimes, it's not in the name.

Shane - quite true, but then again I've known many Europeans that assume just because the various cities in the US are further south that it means they will be warmer during the winter months. I'm friends with a British guy who moved to Chicago with that rather unfortunate misconception...

The reason Europe and Great Britain do not have the climate of the Tundra is because of the Gulf Stream.

The Gulf Stream, which originates in the Gulf of Mexico is the largest and fastest body of water in any of the oceans of the earth.

Very funny. And I've seen very cold weather in the south, that's for sure. When I followed "college" football before it totally was corrupted, I saw one Peach Bowl in Atlanta played in the snow in mid-December and one Cotton Bowl in Dallas played in a wicked ice storm on New Year's Day.

I was commenting to some friends about how late it was light during summer in Europe, especially the UK because it is so far north. I got a lot of head nodding and the "Yeah sure" looks until I showed them on a globe.

I then wound up trying to explain "How come"

By the way ejcrow there is also " you'uns" as a unisex second person :-B

Author: Peggy
Date: 10/12/2004, 01:28 pm
Message: When I was in Ireland and told some Irishmen that I was from CT and explained that it was near NYC which they all seemed to know, one gentleman said that he knew so and so in CA and wondered if I knew him! As someone on this board mentioned many Europeans have no idea of the vastness of the US b/c they can travel to another country in a couple of hours.

As a former Alaska resident, I remember more than a few, mostly from other ``fellow American'' visitors.

So many (mostly cruisers) arrive and wonder if they can use their U.S. money.

Then there are the animal rights folks who were concerned that the ``Moose Dropping Festival'' might injury animals ...

Repete, yes, we get this in Hawaii too. One member of my own family asked me if they used English everywhere here or if she would have trouble with shopkeepers who only spoke Hawaiian. I overheard one person comment recently on the election signs everywhere with an incredulous: "Oh, I see they have elections here too."

jor - Do you see now from the above few posts that I am not making up stories about the misconceptions about Canada? Obviously people have incredible misconceptions about their OWN countries, why would they not have huge misconceptions about a foreign country?

Or, maybe it was a Canadian posing as an American who didn't know that elections would be held in Hawaii.
:-?

I guess I've not lived in a part of the US that uses "you'uns" on a regular basis. I'll keep an ear out for it. Thanks! :)

This is one of my most amusing travel memories. Awhile ago, I was travelling in Colorado. I was paying my bill at the front reception of my hotel (Days Inn or Comfort Inn, something like that). The very nice desk clerk said to me that I'd got a great rate. I agreed, but said that of course, when converted into Canadian dollars, it seemed a lot more for me. She looked puzzled, and I said, well our dollar's only worth 80 cents to her dollar. She was incredulous and said aren't dollars the same all over the world? I said no, the Canadian dollar is worth less than the American dollar. She was horrified that such a thing could happen and said she wasn't sure she'd like to visit Canada. I said it would be okay for her, as her dollar would be worth more in Canada. She still seemed wary.

Now, I understand that not everyone is familiar with the value of exchange rates, but surely everyone (especially someone working in the hospitality industry) knows there IS such a thing as a different value for currency in other countries!?!

Kira, I took my 83 year old aunt to London for her first trip. Shopping in Harrod's, she remarked on a lovely blouse that seemed a reasonable price to her. "Of course, that's pounds," I said, "so it's really about $150."

She looked at me, horrified at this terrible scam perpetrated on the unwary consumer, and said, "How can they do that?!"

JJ5 : I remember learning that Iceland and Greenland changed names 100s of years ago, to thwart attacks by Vikings.

When explaining where Wisconsin is to someone in Europe, I usually say(with my hands), okay, California is over here, New York is over here, Florida is down here, and Wisconsin is right here, upper middle.
On a train in Italy, there were two mid-twenties Italian men in the compartment with me. They were on their way home from a great vacation in Ireland. When they asked me where I was from, and I said, Wisconsin, they knew where it was ---- because they had met/gotten to know some girls from Minnesota. :)

Yes exactly. And Iceland is gorgeous. When I was there I realized why they would have done that false advertising.

I always thought Eric the Viking named Greenland to con folks into settling there.
To main thread: when I was young, I went to college in southeastern Idaho; drove in during the night, woke up astonished that there were mountains, not just fields of potatoes.
I'm also a map nerd, and pretty well traveled these days.