It’s Tough Getting to Number 20

Two weeks ago, I once again hopped on an airplane and left the Great State of Minnesota for a business trip. This is the fourth business trip I’ve taken in less than two years. Now, just keep that in mind for a minute…

 I’ve long had this low-priority goal of visiting all fifty states. I think I first formulated the goal back in the early 1990s, when I drove to Florida with my granparents. I had already been to Florida before, but this was my first time driving there, so I was able to add a few new states to my list, including Kentucky, Tennessee, and Georgia.

Two years later, I found myself in New Jersey, and that became the 18th state I had visited. Four-and-a-half years after that, I took a plane to Texas. That became state number 19.

And that, surprisingly, is where things stopped.

Ever since this century began, I have been unsuccessful at stepping foot in any state I haven’t previously been to. This is crazy, since these have been the most well-traveled years of my life. I’ve tripled the number of Canadian provinces I’ve been to during this time, and I even visited a new country. But, alas, no new states.

I’ve done a lot – a lot – of repeating. In fact, the repeating began right after my first trip to Texas. About a year later, I was in Texas again.

Then, my wife and I took a trip to Canada, with a layover in Michigan (I had already been there). Then I was in Florida three more times – in 2003, 2004, and 2006.

We took a trip down to Iowa and Illinois with my in-laws in 2009, but those also are two states I had already been to.

In fact, everyone else in my family has visited new states. Since the century began, Jennifer’s been able to check off Florida, Washington, and Georgia. And both of my kids, obviously, were able to check off new states anytime we left Minnesota (I think Owen is at 5 states and Isla is at 3).

Then I got this new position in my company, and it’s involved a modicom of travel. First I took a trip to Georgia. Due to the car trip to Florida, noted earlier, I had already been to Georgia. My wife and daughter came with me, and they were able to add the state to their lists, though. Then I took a business trip to Wisconsin. I’ve been there before, obviously. In fact, I was just there a few days ago, and that wasn’t the first time I’d been there this year.

Then I took a business trip to Illinois. Been there. And just a couple weeks ago, I took a trip to Massachusetts. Been there. I seriously thought about just taking a cab to Connecticut or New Hampshire, just to say I’d been there, but that would’ve been quite the cost. I didn’t have a rental car at my disposal, either. One of my co-workers, who was with me on the trip, even helpfully explained that the last time he had to come to Massachusetts on business he did  drive down to Connecticut, just to eat lunch there and say he’d been. But I couldn’t prevail upon him to make a return trip. He said there was no time. He was right.

But wait! – my trip wasn’t over then. Because after two nights in Massachusetts, I hopped on a plane and stopped at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Fun…but I’d already been to Pennsylvania. I spent two nights in the Keystone State, then got on a plane to come home. The trip home involved a layover in Ohio.

Ugh. Why couldn’t the layover have been in Maine, or Idaho, or Oklahoma?