I loved Kristin’s post where she shared her map of states she’s lived in, visited, or driven through. In fact, I loved it so much I’ve decided to share mine, which actually tells two stories: where I’ve been and where I still need to go.
Let’s have a look:
Now let’s break it down.
I grew up on Long Island, went to college (and currently live) in Delaware, spent 6 glorious summers and one not so glorious year living in various parts of Pennsylvania so the fact that almost the whole East Coast, specifically the mid-Atlantic, is filled in shouldn’t be a surprise. I do need to finish visiting New England and although Maine isn’t filled in, I think maybe I might have been there at some point. I can’t remember so I left it out. Fun fact: my high school has graduated a number of notable alumni including Natalie Portman, Judd Apatow, and Idina Menzel. I don’t know any of them.
The western states are covered mostly due to a 6 week tour I took in high school. It started in Seattle, went up through the Canadian Rockies, and came down through Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and ended in Colorado. I got to see a number of amazing sites including the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, and Yosemite. I’ve also visited California and Colorado as an adult. Very different experiences.
The rest of the states like Michigan, Texas, Kentucky, Missouri, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Illinois were the result of family trips, college visits, or blogging or work conferences. We actually flew to Texas a few weeks after 9/11 and the plane was so empty flying home they let all 8 of us travelling sit in first class. Free upgrade FTW!!! It’s also the only time I’ve flown first class.
For whatever reason, I’ve missed most of the midwest and deep south. It’s not that I’ve purposefully avoided them, it’s just never been a priority to go there. However. Since one of my life goals is to visit every state, when I plan my cross country trip, I know which ones are mandatory to visit so if you live in those states, you need to let me know what I absolutely have to see when I visit your state.
And Alaska and Hawaii will happen, too, because I just really want to go there.
For those counting, I’ve visited 28 states. Not too shabby. But still room for improvement.
How about you guys? What does your states visited map look like?
