I’m not as well-traveled as others, but I consider myself fortunate to have visited a fair amount of states! If my basic counting is correct, I’m almost half-way there at 23 states visited (I have Ohio colored on the map, making it 24 total, but I live in Ohio). I’ve also been to Washington D.C.
My arbitrary definition of having visited a state: You must have stayed at least overnight. Otherwise, I could include quite a few additional states I’ve stopped in or passed through, obviously.
The states I’ve stated in include: California, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, Louisiana, Missouri, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New York, and most recently, Wisconsin.
Kansas is the shortest stay out of those, as I was only there overnight in Manhattan while on my way to Colorado. It just barely counts. I have Missouri on the map, but it’s almost as bad as Kansas because I went to St. Louis as a kid, but I don’t remember much of it! Illinois is spotty like that, too, because I went to Chicago as a kid, but also don’t remember much of it, but I did go to Illinois in summer 2020, but it was the part of Illinois that is basically Kentucky.
The most visited of the states would have to be Florida by far, as I’ve been to at least three different cities in Florida over the years including Orlando (more than once), Daytona Beach (more than once), and Destin (more than once).
New York is catching up, though, as I’ve been to New York five times now; South Carolina is probably third because of Myrtle Beach visits; and my guess is that Kentucky is fourth, largely owing to family visits when I was a kid.
I clearly have a gaping hole with much of the West, unfortunately! I’ve made some inroads with Colorado and California, both memorable trips I will never forget, but there are whole swaths of the continental United States I still haven’t visited. Top among those would be Washington, Nevada, and Wyoming (it seems beautiful!). Obviously, I want to get to Alaska and Hawaii at some point in my life, too. In fact, Alaska is probably my number one state I want to visit that I haven’t visited yet.
And somehow, I’m fortunate enough to say this: I visited Connecticut for the first time this year, Texas for the second time this year, Wisconsin for the first time this year (more on that in a second), and I will be visiting Maine for the first time this year in the fall. Quite a strong year. So, actually, Maine will bring my total to 25, half the states and Washington D.C.!
As I mentioned, Wisconsin is my latest state to visit, and I’m currently here right now. Peep the view from my hotel room:
I’m in Wisconsin Dells, which until we were coming here as a family, I didn’t realize was a huge tourist destination because of its myriad water parks, including the Wilderness Resort I’m staying at that itself has four outdoor waterparks, two indoor waterparks, an indoor go-kart track, an outdoor go-kart track, two different put-puts, pools, splash pads, and a whole lot more I hope to explore while here this week!
I’m glad we pivoted. Originally, we were going to Hilton Head, South Carolina, which I’ve been to before and it is lovely, but I’ve been there before. I always enjoy going somewhere new, and I can’t think of anything more new than Wisconsin.
Plus, for a Midwesterner like myself who doesn’t mind driving, a tad over seven hours from Cincinnati to Wisconsin Dells isn’t too shabby. The drive mostly takes you up southwestern Indiana through Chicago and then across Wisconsin (passing through Madison) for the last leg of it. In fact, as I was going through Chicago, I saw the sign for Highland Park where the Fourth of July shooting was.
What states have you been to, and which states are you still hoping to get to? You can also create your own map of states visited here.
Milam's Musings 