Also, I'm not pointing these things out because I think people should be able to write them. I'm pointing them out because they fit in with the observation I once read about nations in these kinds of settings often being large because Americans are used to lots of distance between things.
I always enjoy this observation. In a significant way, it is certainly true. But, it also assumes that Americans are all the same in this perspective. And we are not. There are certainly regional aspects. A couple of amusing (to me) stories to point this out;
My maternal Grandmother lived in upstate New York. When visiting her as a child, I remember us planning days in advance to go visit one of my Aunts in Vermont. It was a big trip. We took water, blankets, made sure the car was filled with gas, all that. It was about a 1 hour drive.
I grew up in the Southwest. I remember my Grandmother visiting us, and she was astonished that the closest shopping mall was 45 minutes away (at the time, late '70's). High school was a 45 minute drive, without rush hour traffic, then it was an hour to 1:15. Those drives were daily occurrences to us.
Sometime in the '00's I was working in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the siblings of a co-workers wife were coming from the northeast to visit for a 3 day weekend. And named all the places in New Mexico they had heard of and wanted to visit. They had no idea the distances involved. After all, they were all in the same state, so it couldn't be much driving right? He mapped it for them, it was something like 60 hours of straight driving. And they went "Oh".
America may be a melting pot, but it is far from homogenous!
I'm fortunate, I've travelled both as a kid with my family and for work. I understand distances, travel times, and scale. For those who want to understand how big their world/region is compared to other parts of the world, check out this website, really cool.
Compare Countries With This Simple Tool