Hello! A week ago I announced that my Substack, which is now called Inconspicuous Consumption, had relaunched. I’ve published a bunch of additional IC posts since then, including one today about a very weighty question: If you’re keeping a list of the U.S. states that you’ve visited, what does and doesn’t count as truly having “been in” a state? I have some strong opinions on this topic, and you can read about them here. This piece is not paywalled, so it’s available to all. And as always, you can see all of my IC posts on my Substack home page.
Meanwhile: I had previously said that all of the remaining membership cards would mail out by the end of last week. But our print shop had a delay, so now I’m saying that everything will mail out by the end of this week. Thanks again for your patience. — Paul
Good topic. I think it comes down to “have I been in this state” really meaning, “have I visited it”. Was it the, or one of the destinations on my trip.
Here’s a “does it qualify” question:
Back in 1989, I and a couple buddies were on a cross-country driving trip from Albuquerque, NY back to Long Island. We’d planned to stop in a number of states along the way, but because we were delayed by a couple days in starting, we basically did the entire trip in two and a half days.
One of the places I had hoped to stop was Tulsa — I even created a mix tape that opened with Clapton’s “Tulsa Time” which I promptly inserted into the deck once we crossed into Oklahoma. We did end up stopping on the outskirts of Tulsa, at a Truck Stop to purchase gas and some sundries in the truck stop shop.
I *count* this as having “visited” Oklahoma, even thought it doesn’t strictly fall under the guidelines PL laid out. But what if the *INTENT* was to visit a state, including actually driving across it, AND stopping in-state (and purchasing some local fare, albeit at a truck stop), does that actually count?
I’ll await everyone’s final decision…
I would say if you intended to stop and visit some location on road trip, but ended up not doing so (for whatever reason), then it doesn’t count, regardless of the intent.
Now the truck stop part does provide a little wiggle room. I suppose some truck stops can represent part of the culture or local flavor of place? But I would still say no, because I don’t think a “truck stop” is some place you make plans to visit or is the sole purpose of a trip. I also say stopping over during a long road trip and spending the night in hotel/motel, regardless of if it is a chain or local establishment, doesn’t really count.
To me those all fall under the asterisk of sort of being there. It is much close to being there then a layover at an airport. But I think it still just qualifies as passing through a state rather than being in the state.
In my personal case, I have physically been in Rhode Island and Connecticut numerous times travel from NJ to Boston, even having stopped for food or fuel, but don’t consider either of those states on the list of places I have been.
I think if you stopped at a particular restaurant you wanted to try on your trip, that would count, same if you stopped for a few hours to take in an attraction or scenic area that was on your itinerary.
I’d say it doesn’t count. But that’s just me — my rules are for myself, and everyone else can have their own rules!
Paul’s rules are very personal. Honestly, I am pretty much “out” on all but one of them – but those are not my things. For me it is seeing and stopping at a really cool roadside attraction or oddity or something unique to the state. A meal at a historic/famous roadside establishment is also a plus, but not a requirement, Phil. had you stopped at a gas station with a Muffler Man, you would have qualified!
Funny you mentioned Tulsa. I stopped there on a flight from Denver to Houston a few years ago. I never got off the plane, so I have a hard time saying that I’ve actually been to Oklahoma seeing as how I never even touched the ground there.
Definitely not… but I have been known to walk outside the airport in Iceland to make it count a little more. That was pre 911, of course.
As long as your feet touch the earth, that should count. But for me personally, the big thing is jumping in a body of water in each state.
It’s only an official visit if you got drunk there. :)
It’s only an official visit if you had sex there. ; )
I have that as a separate tally. :)
I consider “being in a state” as anything more than simply passing through – it was a planned destination. Ideally, it should include at least one overnight but not necessarily – I live 30 minutes from Delaware and have gone dozens of times over the years, school trips to Blue Rocks games to tax-free shopping, but I have never spent the night there. Airport layovers do NOT count in my tally.
Paul’s rules are very personal. Honestly, I am pretty much “out” on all but one of them – but those are not my things. For me it is seeing and stopping at a really cool roadside attraction or oddity or something unique to the state. A meal at a historic/famous roadside establishment is also a plus, but not a requirement, Phil. had you stopped at a gas station with a Muffler Man, you would have qualified!
I’d say driving through, occasionally stopping, definitely counts. Airport layovers, not so much. Kind of a fine line there. I get that.
Hey Paul! Thanks for the update. Also thanks for everything you did to get Uni Watch up and the community it is. I’ve been here for almost 2 decades, and glad you left it in good hands.
I never got to say that back in May because by the time I did, comments were closed.
I recently did a little “ballpark chasing” over the Fourth of July, and made a little road trip out of it. I saw MLB games in Atlanta, DC, Pittsburgh & Cincinnati, and an MiLB stop in Charlotte, also stayed with a friend in Virginia for a day. So I’d say I “visited” Georgia, DC, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Ohio, and only “passed through” South Carolina and (for about 10 minutes) West Virginia on the way.
*And visited North Carolina.
My rules are similar. I have to get out of the car and touch the grass. Throw some up in the air at least. I try to at least get a meal in the state. My only exception to this was Arkansas. There was no effing way I was stopping in West Memphis for any reason.