JUMPING-OFF PLACE

{n. phr.} 1. A place so far away that it seems to be the end of the world. * /Columbus' sailors were afraid they would arrive at the jumping-off place if they sailed farther west./ * /So you visited Little America? That sounds like the jumping-off place!/ 2. The starting place of a long, hard trip or of something difficult or dangerous. * /The jumping-off place for the explorer's trip through the jungle was a little village./