I haven’t really counted how many states I have been to in a while but I knew that I was close to 40. I just counted and found out that I have 39.
In June, I took a business trip to Wisconsin, which was a new one for me. When you get to such a high number, it is a big deal when you get a new state, they are pretty few and far between. If I haven’t been there in 40 years, what would get me there now?
Later this month I am going to Michigan on business, and that will be state number 40. It is a pretty exciting milestone.
The official rules for counting a state are:
Visiting a destination in state
Spending the night in a state
Driving through a significant portion of the state
(Once I drove through a corner of Idaho that I used to count, but I have since enforced these rules and no longer count it).
Eating a meal in a state
(We have driven across many state lines to have dinner)
Things that don’t count:
Landing in an airplane and never leaving the airport
Driving through a small portion of a state and never stopping
Since I have lived my whole life on the east coast, many of the states I have never been to are in the middle of the country.
Here are the states I still need to go to (in alphabetical order):
Alaska
Hawaii
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan (but I have plane tickets in 2 weeks)
Montana
Nebraska
North Dakota
Oklahoma
Looking at the list, I do not wonder why I have not been to these states.
