What Counts?

My father law has done it. He's gone to all 50 states. However, before I met him, my basketball travels brought me all over the United States. I had decided to see all 50 states before I spent time exploring the globe. So for me, I was fortunate to find someone (Kim) who knew someone else (father-in-law) who can appreciate my bucket list goal.

Just the other night I had a conversation with my father-in-law regarding what it would take to visit every state. I am under the belief that to say you've visited a state one has to do more than walk inside the state limits. The reason being, Colorado borders Kansas. But most of Colorado doesn't anything look like Kansas. Just the borders do. So traveling to the border to put your feet in doesn't really give an authentic feel for the state.

Is this Kansas?

So I've adopted the philosophy that one has to experience something within the state limits. Does an airport count? No. But it is within state limits and one usually spends more time in an airport than they'd like and it does fall within state limits. I view the airport like Vatican City within Rome or a consulate (enclaves or independent city-states). 

If you real think about it, when you think of your experience in an airport, do you think you've visited another state, or just another airport? Usually you think you've visited another airport.

That leads me to thinking, if your driving across a country or into a new state, stopping at the rest stop doesn't count either. If it is a break in driving to fill up on gas or empty your contents, isn't the state just like an airport? To me the experience sounds the same.

Dino, is this Kansas?

What do you think? If you drive to let's say Alabama from the pan handle in Florida just to put your toes on the other side of the border. Did you really VISIT Bama?