Visiting All 50 States

Me in Alaska, my last of 50 states

All right, I've been promising it for a few days, but last week I officially hit a major milestone in my bucket list.  Landing in Anchorage, Alaska, and then taking a bus ride to Seward, I hit my 50th state.  While I have 100 total things (literally) on the bucket list I made the week I turned 25, no thing on the list has captured people's attention quite like this one, and so getting it done is both an incredible sense of accomplishment, as well as a bit daunting because I still have 76 things to get done on the list as I approach a milestone birthday at the end of next month.  I wanted to commemorate this on the blog with a post, and figured the best way to do so would be to talk about what I learned, and some advice if you're trying to accomplish this yourself.

First, and foremost, going to all fifty states takes planning.  When people hear about this project, and they're actually interested, it leads to the inevitable "which states have I been to?" look up online for themselves.  I notice two things when this happens, and they aren't actively pursuing this.  The first is that there's almost always a region of the country that they have skipped.  Usually, since I'm in the Midwest, this is some stretch of the South, though recent transplants to Minnesota will have potential gaps in the Rocky Mountains or New England as well.  There are certain states (New York, California, Florida, Texas, Illinois) that because of their population and large list of major national monuments, people see pretty early on in life.  With the exception of Texas, I had hit all of these by the time I was 25.  But usually this means that a road trip is going to be your best step to approach at least a portion of this.  Road trips are fun (I love them, and have been on six major ones to accomplish my combined state & presidential library projects), and unless you have a job that deals directly with a lot of travel, are your best strategy to get this goal finished.

The other thing I notice is people having most of a section of the country done...but are missing a state in the region.  Places like North Dakota, New Mexico, Delaware, Alabama...these states tend to get lost in the hustle for a variety of reasons (lack of a major airport, the amount of work it takes to get to their major cities, no marquee tourist attractions), but in doing so they make a road trip really hard.  I had this with Idaho toward the end, where I basically just booked a night in Boise, and did almost nothing of note in the state (other than drive an electric vehicle for the first time), in order to get it off of the list.  This is why you need to be planful.  People get to 35-40 states without really trying.  But if you're crossing a fiftieth state off of your list (and are not a long-haul truck driver), you did it on purpose.

This goes without saying, but one of the aspects of this list you kind of need to get past is that part of it is a little dull.  There are states I have been to, like Delaware, where I did nothing of note (I literally went to a Starbucks).  People plan vacations largely off of things that they really want to do; you only get so many weeks off each year unless you're retired, and this is an expensive project (I've spent thousands of dollars on plane tickets, gas money, & hotel rooms) to complete.  Again-getting to those 35 states is easier, but you'll need to come to terms with at least a component of this project being "getting Starbucks in Delaware."

Part of the way to do that is to have some routines around each state.  Before I go to a specific state, I always google four things: Planetware Things to Do, movie theaters, bookstores, & local cuisine.  I find Planetware is a good site to go because while it's nowhere all-encompassing, it gives you a nice buffet-style approach to a state where you get the top items, and maybe get an idea for a place like Connecticut where there's not a "Disney World!" or "Ellis Island!" to grab your attention.  Movie theaters and bookstores are fun because you get a little bit of local flavor (also because I like going to the movies and reading books...find your own version of this if those aren't appealing).  

And lastly, you'll want to look up local cuisines.  I'm not a foodie, and so I don't put the kind of pressure on myself to have "authentic" cuisine at every meal...it's too hard, especially on a road trip, to have every meal be an experience.  But you want at least one really cool restaurant on your trip, or if a region is famous for something (like Kansas City with ribs or having a peach pie in Georgia), add a little color to your story in that regard.  You'll be shocked how often people ask for a specific memory of a random state, and food is always good for memories.

Speaking of people, they are going to have opinions on "what counts" in going to all fifty states.  For me, my definition was "standing on the ground in the state."  I didn't count if you drove through it but didn't stop, but I didn't put a time minimum on how long something counted.  There are other people who do this project and want to put something more (or less) concrete-some people count a drive (or even a train ride) through a state, while some will only count if you have a meal there, if you spend the night there, or if you go somewhere...but the airport doesn't count.  

The airport question, specifically, comes up and people have shockingly strong opinions on it.  As someone who has some very funny airport stories (including my grandma breaking behind a Delta security line in hopes of getting a cup of coffee in Atlanta...a move she also somehow pulled at the US Capitol on a different trip, and in both cases got the cup of coffee), I think this is silly, but for the record, I do not need to count a state solely on an airport.  My last "airport state" was Washington and I spent multiple nights anchored in Seattle, exploring the state, before I went to Alaska.  With the strange exception of New Hampshire, I have eaten at a restaurant (though in some cases it was a fast food place or a gas station) in every state in the country at least once, and in terms of spending the night, I've hit all but ten (NH, ME, VT, RI, WV, NJ, DE, OH, IN, and technically Alaska since every night I spent there was on a cruise, though in at least one case I was asleep while docked at a port so that might count).

This means that some states I've spent only a matter of minutes (Delaware would be the shortest in terms of my feet on the ground, with New Hampshire & West Virginia are not far behind), while others (like Minnesota or New York) I've lived there long enough to pay taxes.  Either way, though, my last bit of advice is to always assume you'll never go back.  This is actually my advice for all traveling, but it's particularly true for the state project.  There's a whole world of travel outside the states-this is one item in a category that makes up the majority of most people's bucket lists. (I'll start getting the European stuff done in the next decade, God-willing), and it doesn't take into the account that sometimes I go on vacations to see family & friends, or just to go to a place I like to visit.  People assume with travel that they'll be back, but the reality is that many of these states-that was a one-time thing.  So always go with the idea that you want to push yourself to see one more thing, that even if you're tired you should still check out that restaurant or see one more museum.  And don't be cool-if you're in Seattle, see the Space Needle...if you're in Texas, go to the Alamo.  Touristy stuff is popular for a reason-it's what the state is known for, and gives you a billboard experience of the place even if it's what most people associate with the state.  The one state I know I am going back to is Louisiana, because I regret not doing New Orleans and don't need my entire experience in the state seeing the many strip malls of Shreveport.  If you're doing this project, do it your way, have fun...but assume it's a one-time adventure, and save the sleep for when you get home.