These terms have various potential meanings. They may refer to the literal geographical distance between places but can also mean the emotional connection someone has with a place. Certain places feel more familiar due to having had more personal experience of the place, so an individual may consider this place a ‘near’ place, even if it is geographically further away. For example, I feel like parts of Devon are ‘near’ to me in terms of familiarity because I have been there many times and love the area, whereas I do not feel the same in places within the same county as me, such as Hitchin or Letchworth, as I do not have a strong connection, so they seem further from me.
