States Where I've Been

Create your own visited states map

First of all, HT to the Probative Blog for pointing me to the map creator.

Here are the states that I have been to, at least those I remember. It's possible I have been to North Dakota, but it was a wild weekend so I can't tell for sure (age 4). I have photographic evidence of me standing in front of Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

In college, my roommate and I used to keep a map of where we had been in the states. Our general rule was that airport layovers didn't count (so New York remains unvisited on my map, despite a few layovers at La Guardia, and Minnesota doesn't make the cut because I've never actually breathed air outside the MSP terminal). We had a rule of thumb that to qualify as having "visited" a state, you needed to have done one of the following:

(A) spent the night--outside of an airport
(B) ate a meal--outside of an airport
(C) at a minimum, purchased a beverage--outside of an airport

That prompted us to drive, one cold evening, to Franklin, Idaho (a suburb of Preston). We stopped at La Tienda, each bought a soda, then jumped in the car and headed back to Utah. I have since returned to Idaho countless times, but that quick trip qualified checking Idaho off the list.

A few notes about my current map:

• I wonder if Arizona really counts, given the above rules. I've been through the Phoenix airport a time or two. And I've driven I-15 from St. George to Las Vegas at least three times. So, you decide whether that counts or not. I don't recall purchasing a beverage in Arizona, but I'm sure I had a bottled water with me.
  
• It's obvious from this map that my half dozen or so trips to Boston have been by air.
  
• I have always wanted to visit Seattle. Unfortunately my trip to Washington state was by car from Portland into the Middle of Nowhere, WA--for a wedding reception. I did spend the night, and ate at least two meals.
  
• I think I've seen all there is to see in Nevada. It didn't take long.
  
• My fondest memories of visiting Omaha, NE involve hunkering in the basement during an F3 tornado. Dinner with our hosts started off so nice, then the sirens started wailing and the rest of the evening was eventful, to say the least.