A lot of students will probably find themselves sitting around the house during winter break, enjoying the holiday spirit, but I must tell you, there’s another way. There are five famous geographical lines just waiting for you to visit them. And they will be pleased to see you.
The Equator
It’s hard to talk about famous geographical lines without mentioning this instant classic. Coming in at zero degrees latitude, this is probably my favorite geographical line and the top line for many Geoliners out there. Not many lines can say that they span the entire circumference of the globe, and do so in such a major way. We call it winter break, but cross over the equator and they’re celebrating something I like to call summer. I recommend visiting the equator in either Ecuador, Kenya or anywhere in the Pacific Ocean–it’s one of our finest oceans.
Prime Meridian
If you ever wanted to build a giant knife and chop the earth in half, this is where you would want to do it. Sitting at zero degrees longitude, this cut would effectively split Great Britain in half (fine by me, they’ve had it too good for too long.) I recommend visiting the Prime Meridian in Ghana, because it has easy boat access into our middling Atlantic Ocean, where you can go out to the famed “Prime Meridian-Equator intersection.” This is a wonderful opportunity to visit the equator again. The equator will appreciate it.
Montana-Idaho Border
This one goes out to all the Americans out there. This is a top three U.S. state border that doesn’t play by the rules. It’s both extremely crooked and quite curvy, and best of all, it looks vaguely like a face on the Montana side. As far as borders go, this is one of the least controversial out there–and we should applaud them for that.
Arctic Circle
Don’t let the name fool you-—sometimes lines make circles. This is easily one of the coldest of the famed geographic lines—bring mittens. I recommend visiting this line on the winter solstice where every year, the sun decides not to show up for an entire day. That’s pretty cool.
International Date Line
This is one funky line. On one side of it, it’s another terrible Tuesday and on the other, it’s wacky Wednesday. Coming in at 180 degrees longitude, the International Date Line is like the evil twin of the Prime Meridian (feel free to use that one). While the Prime Meridian is straight as can be, the International Date Line is shifty and crooked, accommodating Oceania as well as the longness of Russia. If you’ve ever wanted to be as far away from the Prime Meridian as possible, this is the place to be.
Tropic of Cancer (Don’t go to it!)
I really only included this one in here to say that it’s completely overrated and that you shouldn’t visit it. People always tell me, “Oh, I just visited the Tropic of Cancer–best vacation of my life!” and then they show me a bunch of pictures of them at the line. Big whoop. As someone who’s visited the Tropic of Cancer, take it from me—there’s really nothing there.
Skip the holiday festivities this year, and talk to your local travel agent about visiting these famous geographical lines (except the Tropic of Cancer). You’ll have plenty of line anecdotes to share when you return to campus!