If You Went Straight Across the Ocean, Here's Which Country You'd Hit

Maps can be a tricky thing — just ask Christopher Columbus where he took the wrong turn to "discover" America. 

Luckily for us, Mental Floss writer Jason English has put together this cool map that highlights which countries you will hit if you start out from the Americas and travel across the ocean in a straight line.

Some of the findings are surprising: Most of the western United States will end up going to Japan, while Floridians will get to the western Sahara. There are no other countries on the same level as the very tip of South America, which means travelers would end up circling the globe and landing back in Chile or Argentina.

Check out the map below and see where you might end up after an ocean voyage:

Image Credit: Mental Floss

Just looking at a flat map, it's hard to tell where we exactly are in relation to every other country; after all, the closest U.S. state to the African continent is not Florida, but Maine (really). But maps like this help us see what's straight across from our part of the world — and make our big planet feel a little bit smaller.