Did I actually Visit that State?

Hey, if you were inside a state's borders long enough for a Flock camera to record your presence, you were there. ;)

That said, if you have a connection on a direct flight and don't get off the plane, I would not count that state. But if you get off the plane, you visited.

Layovers don't count, unless you actually leave the airport.

I'm somewhat close to hitting all 50 states with just under a dozen remaining - Maine, Arkansas, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma (been in the OKC airport), Idaho, Wyoming, and Oregon. I ticked off Alaska and Vermont in the past year.

Yeah, we don’t count layovers. You gotta leave the airport for it to count on my board.

Airports are a sort of Purgatory anyway, so I agree. You’ve been to Hell a few times probably, but not the State outside lol

I think the Las Vegas airport does a good enough job of representing its city that we can count a layover there as "visiting the state". Seriously, how many other airports allow gambling and smoking past security?

The rule of thumb I use is that you have to set foot on the ground in order to count for visiting the state. That means an airport layover doesn't count, but it also means that it doesn't count if you pass through the state in a car or on a train without stopping. It is possible to occasionally find exceptions to this rule (such as disembarking a plane without using a jetway or somehow getting from the airport to a hotel without going outside), but when in doubt, allow common sense to prevail.

By my rules, I have visited forty-two of the fifty states, with those I have not yet visited being thus: Delaware, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont*, West Virginia. Three of those (RI, VT, WV) I've been inside but never set foot on the ground, and two of them (LA, MS) I expect to check off on a trip I'm doing next month.

*This one is uncertain as I was on a group trip and I can't remember with certainty whether we made the rest stop in NH or VT.

For me, I only count it if you actually DO something in that state. And not just anything, but something representative of that state, so not just a gas station or a hotel. This usually means I find myself at museums, tourist traps, parks, and yes, theme parks.

Sure, this probably means I've been to more states than I say I have, and my personal metric is a little ridiculous, but what's the point of saying I've been there if my only experience with Maryland was a rest stop?

I have only been to Florida, at least 25 times, but do have relations in Arizona, Texas and North Carolina. I have spoken to them on the phone while they have been at home so does this count?

I have driven through a few states but only stopping in places in Kentucky and Tennessee so count those as actually visited.

The obvious issue here is that there's a giant gray area.

We all seem to be in agreement that layovers at airports don't count as a state visit, which makes sense. Besides a regional restaurant here and there and different sports team merch being sold, most airports in the US feel pretty similar.

However, AJ's rule that "you have to set foot on the ground to count for visiting the state" intrigues me. If all I do in a state is visit a gas station, convenience store, or a McDonald's, did I really visit the state? Are gas stations really any more representative of their state than an airport? I once drove six hours through Utah, and the only time I left the car was to get gas right on the state border. I'd hate to think that wouldn't count as a visit just because I'd gotten gas five minutes earlier.

On the other hand, I've only ever driven through Arizona on US Interstate 15. I never left the car, but it was a stunningly beautiful drive, and I saw a lot of amazing scenery. Why should a visit to Arizona only count if I'd stopped to get gas there for five minutes before I drove into Utah?

Counting "driven through" states poses its own problems, though. What if you were asleep when you drove through that state and didn't experience any of it, or it was dark out and all you could see was the black of night?

All that is to say: I still think driven through states should count as a "visited state".

Juan you are making me laugh.... "If I fell asleep".....

So now Juan has me thinking...

I went to the Hoover Dam and this -
State Line: The center of the dam marks the border between Clark County, Nevada, and Mohave County, Arizona.

I did walk the entire dam and I took all the dam pictures I wanted and asked many dam questions.... (Vegas vacation Movie Lines)

Wow I might count AZ.....

"If all I do in a state is visit a gas station, convenience store, or a McDonald's, did I really visit the state? Are gas stations really any more representative of their state than an airport?"

There is a case to be made there due to the exposure factor. While the location may be fairly ordinary, you're still in an open environment rather than the controlled setting of an airport terminal. You've got a much higher chance of finding something unusual, encountering a local, or learning something about the place you're at on one of these stops. Also...

"I once drove six hours through Utah, and the only time I left the car was to get gas right on the state border. I'd hate to think that wouldn't count as a visit just because I'd gotten gas five minutes earlier."

The spirit of the rule is that you're likely spending a substantial amount of time in the state if you're stopping somewhere in it, so it's as much about the journey as it is about the destination. It's also to eliminate edge cases where a routing might take you through the corner of a state but you wind up seeing so little of it that it's indistinguishable from other locations. Of course, that leads into your next point...

"On the other hand, I've only ever driven through Arizona on US Interstate 15. I never left the car, but it was a stunningly beautiful drive, and I saw a lot of amazing scenery. Why should a visit to Arizona only count if I'd stopped to get gas there for five minutes before I drove into Utah?"

I've driven that exact stretch of roadway on many a ski trip and I understand the argument there. This is one of those rare cases where despite being in a state for only a half hour or so, what you're experiencing is so unique it's distinctly memorable. The question now becomes whether something identifiable is sufficient to count it as visiting a state, which I think would be a valid addition or substitution to my general rule. As I said, "It is possible to occasionally find exceptions to this rule, but when in doubt, allow common sense to prevail," and this is a situation where common sense would probably say it's fair to count it.

As for the last question...

"What if you were asleep when you drove through that state and didn't experience any of it, or it was dark out and all you could see was the black of night?"

I suppose the distinctly memorable test could be applied here, but it's also one of the reasons for having the stop rule. If you're asleep the entire time you're in a state, are you actually experiencing anything tied to the state?

"I went to the Hoover Dam and the center of the dam marks the border between Clark County, Nevada, and Mohave County, Arizona. I did walk the entire dam and I took all the dam pictures I wanted and asked many dam questions....Wow I might count AZ....."

Totally valid either way. I know people who would visit Carowinds and not consider themselves to have visited South Carolina due to the park's official address being in North Carolina, and I also know people who think such a concept is utterly ridiculous.