This happens even domestically within the US. Plenty of people don't understand how big states on the West Coast are or have a full grasp of US geography in general. Along the East Coast, you can drive through 5-6 states in one day. On the West Coast, you could do a full day's drive and not leave some states. But they think because there's only three states in the Continental US that border the Pacific while there are 14 states on the East Coast that border the Atlantic Ocean, things must be closer on the West Coast.

While we were living in Seattle, an extended family member was getting married in Los Angeles. Her parents (living in Michigan) asked if we'd be coming to the wedding since we were on the West Coast. I had to explain that just because we were on the West Coast didn't mean we were close and that the distance between Seattle and LA was equivalent to the distance between Detroit to Orlando, to put it in perspective for them. It's not "far" but it's not around the corner either.

Another example: when we got notice we would be moving from Ohio to Seattle, a family member living in Colorado remarked that it'd now be easy for us to come visit them in the Denver area. I had to point out to them that we were about as close to them living in Dayton, Ohio as we would be once we got to Seattle.