A Quest to Visit All 50 States

 

I want to visit all 50 states. Don’t know why exactly, but ever since I was a kid it seemed like it was something I had to accomplish. By the time I was 10 years old, I had visited 10 states, 20 states by the time I hit 20, and on it went until I hit 39 and stalled out. Despite this barrier I remain obsessed with this dumb little quest.

When a business trip took me to Boston, I added an extra day so I could swing through Maine and New Hampshire. I volunteered for a singularly unglamorous trip to Cincinnati simply so I could cross the bridge into Kentucky. I can’t look at a U.S. map without mentally calculating which states I must visit and in what order. I’m running out of time to hit all 50 by 50; maybe for a midlife crisis I could rent an RV and disappear for a month.

Thanks to a handy web app, I mapped my visits below:

amChart

The last state visited was West Virginia and, to be fair, I pretty much just stepped in and out. And my only trip to Washington didn’t get past Seattle’s airport (is that cheating?). But now I’m desperate to get to the remaining 11. I can’t imagine when I’d have a work trip to the Dakotas or the Deep South. There’s rarely a reason to fly from my home in Arizona to Delaware, Vermont, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Oregon’s the closest to home, so I assume that could be number 40.

I’m curious if I’ve visited more or less states than the average Ricochet member. Make your own map and let me know if you beat the magic 39. I’d also like to hear how many countries you visited. I’ve only crossed a few miles into Mexico and Canada, so I want to live vicariously through your travels to exotic ports of call.

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  1. Misthiocracy Member
    Misthiocracy
    @Misthiocracy

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: I volunteered for a singularly unglamorous trip to Cincinnati simply so I could cross the bridge into Kentucky.

    So, driving through a state, even for a short period of time, counts?

    In that case:

    map

    • #1
  2. Trink Coolidge
    Trink
    @Trink

    Get thee to Mount Rushmore.

    • #2
  3. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    • #3
  4. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    how do I post my map? And where’s Puerto Rico? It’s a steak after all, ain’t it?.

    • #4
  5. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    Good God Man.  You haven’t been to Tennessee and visited Graceland?

    • #5
  6. John H. Member
    John H.
    @JohnH

    Yes, visiting only an airport is…inadequate, but your quest is neither dumb nor little. I have been to all 50 states. All 50 American states. Also, all 26 or 27 Brazilian ones. (No one knows if the Federal District is a state. Yes, it has the regulation three senators, but still. Anyway, I have been to it too, and can cross it off, which is definitely what you want to do with Brasilia.) I might mention that the latter feat is held in more awe than the former. Nevertheless, a Brazilian, otherwise impressed, quizzed me: had I been to Fernando de Noronha? I retorted – and by the way, retorts come out naturally in Brazilian Portuguese – that I had been to Pernambuco, to which state that archipelago belongs.

    But chega to all this. You go for all those states! I guarantee you you will feel a fine and fully merited sense of accomplishment.

    • #6
  7. user_1029039 Inactive
    user_1029039
    @JasonRudert

    No, MLH. Puerto Rico is not a steak. It is an island.

    • #7
  8. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    MLH:Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    Spoil sport.  You will have a great career as an internet regulator.

    • #8
  9. user_1029039 Inactive
    user_1029039
    @JasonRudert

    No way I’m going to be able to post that map, so: OR CA AZ NV ID MT WY CO UT TX FL MD NY IL IN WI are all the states I’ve at least eaten lunch in.
    On the back of RVs you’ll sometimes see a decal where people can assemble a map of the states they’ve been to. Maybe we can attach such a thing to our avatars.
    What I wonder is: is there anyone on Ricochet who has never left his home state?

    • #9
  10. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Jason Rudert:No, MLH. Puerto Rico is not a steak. It is an island.

    I’d argue but I can’t find the Roseann Roseanna Danna clip. . .

    • #10
  11. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    Jason Rudert:No way I’m going to be able to post that map, so: OR CA AZ NV ID MT WY CO UT TX FL MD NY IL IN WI are all the states I’ve at least eaten lunch in. On the back of RVs you’ll sometimes see a decal where people can assemble a map of the states they’ve been to. Maybe we can attach such a thing to our avatars. What I wonder is: is there anyone on Ricochet who has never left his home state?

    Second the question.  I was thinking this too.

    • #11
  12. Dave Member
    Dave
    @DaveL

    Been to all fifty states, and twenty plus foreign countries. Thanks to Uncle Sam and a certain wanderlust in my youth. Accomplished this by age forty, I do have a few more countries I would like to visit on my bucket list.

    • #12
  13. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    blank generation member:

    MLH:Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    Spoil sport. You will have a great career as an internet regulator.

    Does it pay well? You know, so I can travel more?

    • #13
  14. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Dave L:Been to all fifty states, and twenty plus foreign countries. Thanks to Uncle Sam and a certain wanderlust in my youth. Accomplished this by age forty, I do have a few more countries I would like to visit on my bucket list.

    Century Club?

    • #14
  15. Belt Inactive
    Belt
    @Belt

    I just going to mess with your head and declare that it doesn’t count unless you eat a meal in the state.

    • #15
  16. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    Trink:Get thee to Mount Rushmore.

    Rico Meet-up at Mount Rushmore.

    • #16
  17. Belt Inactive
    Belt
    @Belt

    Jules PA:

    Trink:Get thee to Mount Rushmore.

    Rico Meet-up at Mount Rushmore.

    I could actually get behind this.  I haven’t been on a real vacation for years, and the Black Hills remains one of my favorite places to go to.

    • #17
  18. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    Belt:

    Jules PA:

    Trink:Get thee to Mount Rushmore.

    Rico Meet-up at Mount Rushmore.

    I could actually get behind this. I haven’t been on a real vacation for years, and the Black Hills remains one of my favorite places to go to.

    I could get behind this.  Haven’t been there.

    • #18
  19. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    MLH:

    blank generation member:

    MLH:Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    Spoil sport. You will have a great career as an internet regulator.

    Does it pay well? You know, so I can travel more?

    You are hired.

    • #19
  20. Sam Thatcher
    Sam
    @Sam

    If you come to Delaware, we’ll treat you to lunch or dinner and drinks. We are just over the line in Maryland now, but I am a native Delaweenie.

    • #20
  21. user_1029039 Inactive
    user_1029039
    @JasonRudert

    My Rushmore…and Devil’s Tower.

    • #21
  22. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    MLH:Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    I had lunch in the Seattle airport. I’M SO CONFUSED!

    • #22
  23. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Jason Rudert:My Rushmore…and Devil’s Tower.

    Your Rushmore? You devil, you!

    • #23
  24. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    John H.:Yes, visiting only an airport is…inadequate, but your quest is neither dumb nor little. I have been to all 50 states. All 50 American states. Also, all 26 or 27 Brazilian ones. (No one knows if the Federal District is a state. Yes, it has the regulation three senators, but still. Anyway, I have been to it too, and can cross it off, which is definitely what you want to do with Brasilia.) I might mention that the latter feat is held in more awe than the former. Nevertheless, a Brazilian, otherwise impressed, quizzed me: had I been to Fernando de Noronha? I retorted – and by the way, retorts come out naturally in Brazilian Portuguese – that I had been to Pernambuco, to which state that archipelago belongs.

    But chega to all this. You go for all those states! I guarantee you you will feel a fine and fully merited sense of accomplishment.

    Brazil is on my bucket list, if for no other reason than my love of the language and bossa nova. I would like to visit all over, except the Amazon since I think the humidity would kill me.

    • #24
  25. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    My bucket’s half-full. I’ll keep filling it.

    I’ve never had a goal to reach all 50 states, but without any exceptional effort I’ve been to the following for family or work:

    1. PA,
    2. DE,
    3. NJ,
    4. MD,
    5. NY,
    6. CT,
    7. NH,
    8. VT,
    9. RI,
    10. ME,
    11. MA,
    12. OH,
    13. IN,
    14. IL,
    15. WI,
    16. CA,
    17. NV,
    18. AZ,
    19. VA,
    20. NC,
    21. SC,
    22. GA,
    23. FL,
    24. CO,
    25. WV,
    26. KS,
    27. MO,
    28. MI,
    29. NM,
    30. UT

    still need to visit:
    both Dakatos, MN, IA, TN, KY, AL, MI, LA, AR, TX, OK, NB, ID, WY, WA, OR, MT, AK, HI

    My fave US trip was the train from Denver, CO, through the Rockies UT, NV and CA to Sacramento, Oakland, and the ferry to San Fran.

    My fave international was Rome, but also have a large place in my heart for Wien.

    been to foreign places:

    Toronto, Ottawa, Niagara Falls, Canada;
    London, UK;
    Paris, Tours, Caen, Carteret, Mont-St-Michel, France;
    Wien, Salzburg, Berchtesgaden, Austria;
    Heidelberg, Germany;
    Rome, Italy;
    Prague, Czech Rep;
    Zermatt, Lausanne, Basel, Switzerland.

    • #25
  26. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:

    John H.:

    Brazil is on my bucket list, if for no other reason than my love of the language and bossa nova. I would like to visit all over, except the Amazon since I think the humidity would kill me.

    I think that humidity is the least of your worries.

    • #26
  27. Julia PA Inactive
    Julia PA
    @JulesPA

    hmmm. When I look at my list, I count myself incredibly blessed beyond anything I deserve.

    • #27
  28. MLH Inactive
    MLH
    @MLH

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:

    MLH:Airports do not count. I think an overnight stay makes a visit valid but I guess lunch would do.

    I had lunch in the Seattle airport. I’M SO CONFUSED!

    To clarify, it is my new job: any meal at an airport does not a valid visit to a city, state or country.

    • #28
  29. Matede Inactive
    Matede
    @MateDe

    As part of my bucket list I also want to visit all 50 states. Being from the northeast I was able to bang through all 13 original colonies pretty easily, but it’s those pesky Middle states that are so allusive. I really have zero reason to visit Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma or many of the other plain states other than that I have to or I won’t visit all 50. Perhaps I want to do this because I am originally from New York and folks from New York tend to think the sun rises and sets over the lower part of the state and everywhere else is a pathetic backwater. Well, I want to judge for myself. I’ve got 26 under my belt right now.

    • #29
  30. blank generation member Inactive
    blank generation member
    @blankgenerationmember

    I have a question for any Arkansas members.  I’ve got a good buddy who goes there for family reasons, but they don’t like it much.  Wade Hubbell recommends the barbecue, but he would say that wouldn’t he?  The place looks great if you’re an outdoorsperson (PC hey), but Little Rock is a little out of the way.  What’s to do?

    • #30
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