You've Traveled Billions Of Miles Through Space Without Leaving Home

Have you ever wondered just how many miles you've travelled over the course of your life? A new website helps to determine just how far, but there's a catch: It doesn't map your journeys to school and work and back. Rather, it calculates the distance you've travelled through space.

Welcome to the Cosmic Odometer, a fascinating tool that reveals the astronomical distances we all rack up simply by existing on planet Earth. While you may think you're sitting still while reading this article, the site reminds us that you’re actually hurtling through space at mind-boggling speeds!

How It Works

Our planet is like a cosmic vehicle with no brakes, carrying all of us on several overlapping trips through the universe. First, there's Earth's daily rotation, spinning us eastward at roughly 1,040 mph at the equator. That alone means someone living for 50 years has traveled about 455 million miles just from the planet's spin.

But that's just the beginning. Earth orbits the sun at an average speed of 67,000 mph, completing a roughly 584-million-mile circuit each year. A 30-year-old has already completed 30 laps around our star, covering more than 17.5 billion miles in the process.

The Solar System's Galactic Road Trip

Even more impressive is our solar system's movement through the Milky Way galaxy. The sun, dragging all its planets along for the ride, travels through space at approximately 514,000 mph relative to the cosmic microwave background. This galactic cruise adds an additional 4.5 billion miles to your odometer every single year.

Beyond The Galaxy

According to the Cosmic Odometer's calculations, someone born in 1990 has indeed traveled over 21 billion miles just from Earth's solar orbit, but when you include the solar system's galactic motion, that number jumps to more than 155 billion miles. A person who lived to 80 years old would have covered approximately 40 trillion miles through space.

A New Perspective On 'Idling'

If you’ve got the winter doldrums and are wishing that you were on some exciting journey, the Cosmic Odometer is a good reminder that, actually, you are! Even during your most sedentary moments, you're actually moving faster than any jet, rocket, or spacecraft we have ever built.

So whether you're stuck in traffic, working from home or simply relaxing on a lazy winter’s day, take comfort in knowing you're simultaneously embarking on the ultimate road trip through the universe. And if you want to calculate your mileage as exactly as possible, check out the Cosmic Odometer’s website here.

Senior writer Chris DeWeese edits Morning Brief, The Weather Channel’s newsletter.