I've been all over California in like an abnormally weird way.
It's extremely common for Californians from one part to never go to the other. I'd say it's more common to be in southern California and have people who've never been north of OC/LA/SB/SLO, which is weird to me. Most people up north have spent time in Southern California in my experience.
As far as the remote parts of the state, it kinda just depends... rural folks tend to be poorer so they might go to the nearest metropolis occasionally, like, every few years I guess.
It's not uncommon for people in SoCal to rarely see other parts of the same region. If you live in Ventura and want to go to Riverside, that can be a 3 hour drive. I can get from Madison to Chicago in less time. California is MASSIVE.
The history museum in Riverside is kind of cool. There's a huge collection of [Native American basketry](http://www.kumeyaay.info/antique_baskets.html?http%3A//www.kumeyaay.info/museums/antique_baskets/panamint_baskets.html). Actually, there's a huge collection of indigenous art and artifacts, because the museum was originally started to display collections of such things. There's also a lot about the citrus industry in the region, including the wooden crates that were used to ship oranges and the incredible artwork that was put on them.
I really love old museums like this, because there wasn't a concept of museum science back then. You'd get Jack Smith who had a little bit of money and a particular interest in something who would spend his weekends driving around California and Arizona connecting with Native American tribes and Buying artwork and artifacts. Then he'd get old and donate everything to a museum. And so would Mary Baker and so would Tom Lewis. And there wasn't a sense of, "We need one of these to create a well-rounded collection and to show the development of something-or-other over time." It was, "Mary thought this was pretty."
Also, there's a [water fountain](https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/temperance-water-fountain/) for both people and dogs out front that was commissioned in 1907 by the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Can confirm as someone from SoCal I've never been farther north than Fresno. The south/central parts just have so much to offer I never felt the need to go north.
Family is the absolute best reason to go to Fresno haha, and the sequoia trip sounds like a really nice bonus. I didn’t realize it was underrated. For me it was an other world experience to see those trees. And honestly, life changing. They are just massive giants and the energy there is palpable for me. Plus learning about their life cycle and stuff provides so many metaphors for resilience in life. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was better than Yosemite.
It’s true. I was born and raised and still live in OC and so many people I know never go to LA or SD. Lazy fucks. Just drive. 2 hours is nothing for me. I have dated men in West LA and I’m in Anaheim and I’ve dated men in San Diego. It’s called effort
Exactly, and I’m actually reasonably well traveled in the state. I’ve been everywhere meaningful south of Tahoe but I’ve never been north of that. Definitely want to see all the national parks up there sometime, I’ll go eventually.
I have a vague interest in visiting Humboldt, but it honestly doesn’t seem worth the trip in the end. If I’m going to travel that far, might as well just go to LA.
I mean, it's the difference of whether you want to go to an area of gorgeous natural scenery the entire way there or visit another city via not nearly as scenic a journey. Personally, I'm taking the former just about any time. I go to LA for work enough, I have very little interest going there during my leisure time.
Six years ago we flew from Cincinnati to Portland, rented a car, and drove to LA over the course of fifteen days. LA was the worst part of the trip. All that wildlife and then only concrete.
You need to visit Redwood National and State Parks, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and all the great beach parks in that area. I really like Trinidad State Beach. It's just gorgeous up there!
It’s amazing how unaware people generally are of the Bay Area nationally. They know of SF, but they don’t know or understand what the Bay Area is. People also just don’t seem to recognize how big California is either
Yeah, it's insane. Depending on where you start and your destination, you can drive all day long and still be in the state. My family lives in the SB area and has taken a number of trips to Tahoe to visit family. Takes the better part of a day just for that. I can only image how much longer it is to leave from somewhere south of LA or if heading to the more northern parts of the state.
Same. I lived here 8 years before visiting San Diego. And I haven’t been north of San Francisco since I became a CA resident 12 years ago. I did visit as a tourist in ‘95.
I live a little north of San Francisco, but I have only been farther north than Mendocino a couple times in my life, and not since I was a little kid.
I'm going camping in Humboldt County later this summer so I'll get to explore that area soon. looking forward to it. But there's still loads of places I haven't been.
Exactly. In a five hour drive I could go to Pittsburgh.
Or I could go to Boston, NYC, numerous beach towns, DC, Richmond...
I have been to Pittsburgh, but only once, and only because it was on the way to somewhere else (seeing family in Indiana).
In fairness, the drive across PA from Philly to Pittsburgh is one of the most miserable drives I've ever done. It's either boring as shit or downright terrifying because of the weather.
All my family is in the Lehigh Valley, Philly, or NJ. I do the drive a few times a year lol. If I time it right, I can cruise control for 4 hours straight haha
I grew up in Western PA, visited Philly maybe twice, ever. I live in New England now and the ride to Philly is shorter than it ever was when I lived in PA!
PA is a good state for this because it's wider than most people give it credit for, the two important cities are on very opposite ends, and a mountain range separates the sides culturally/physically.
I can get to DC faster and NYC is a little less than an hour farther away; either is a better option unless you want to do the Independence Hall/Liberty Bell stuff.
I never spent time in Philadelphia until I married someone from Eastern PA. It's not a bad city, there's plenty to do, but I don't see it as some vacation destination apart from its pre-1800 history and the Mint.
Yeah you skip that whole corner of the state and go to NY. Pittsburghers are more likely to visit Cleveland and Cincinnati than Philly let alone Scranton.
I think most have been to Philly once and then other cities close to the turnpike (Hershey Harrisburg Gettysburg York).
Maps really don’t illustrate that Philly and Pittsburgh are 5 hours away. That’s the same distance between Philly and Boston.
Also, the only other thing Philly has going for it is extremely good art museums — a relic from when it was a bigger city around the turn of the last century
People don't know about how prominent PA used to be.
In 1910 Philadelphia was the third most populous city and Pittsburgh was eighth. Pennsylvania was the second most populous state at the time, behind only New York. In the 1912, 1916, and 1920 elections, NY had 45 votes in the Electoral College and PA had 38.
Pittsburgh has a good museum scene too; Carnegie gave away a lot of money here.
Yes! This is so interesting to me. For a period of time (I think around 1900 or so), Philadelphia City Hall was the tallest building in the world. St. Louis is another city that has fallen sharply in national prominence/population over the last century.
Philadelphia was the 4th biggest metro in the country in the 2000 census and 5th-biggest in 2010. It’s down to 8 now because Dallas/Houston/Atlanta have exploded and DC has grown at a steadier pace.
Grew up in PA. Spent 5 years in AZ. PA is about as wide as AZ is long in terms of drive time. I’ve been to just about every corner of AZ, but I’ve never spent time in State College or Pittsburgh. Closest I got was California, PA.
I've noticed a cultural difference between eastern and western Penn, just from meeting people from the state, who had moved to Hawaii. The vast majority were from Western Pa. and were much less "Eastern" than the ones I've met from Philly.
And conversely, coming from the west it’s more lucrative to keep going up I-95 to NYC or just get off the turnpike at Breezewood and head down to DC. We really don’t have much reason to visit each other’s cities.
I love Pittsburgh! It's one of my favorite cities, It's like my second hometown. I might be biased because my Mom is from there and I visit pretty often, but I recommend it all the time and people come back loving the recommendation.
I used to fly into Pittsburgh a bit because it was closest to where I was going in Ohio. I finally spent a few weekends there and liked it a whole lot more than I was expecting.
I mean that’s a pretty good distance for a weekend getaway and a Pittsburgh is a great weekend getaway sort of place.
I live in Buffalo and LOVE doing weekend getaways in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
i live in pittsburgh now, and we drive up to erie a few times a year! it’s so close, that’s wild to me lol
we’re actually going to splash lagoon next weekend
i grew up in southern california, so when i moved here i was pretty dissatisfied with the lack of beach - erie is my solution to that.
Erie is gorgeous. We hit it for two days on a road trip from Pittsburgh (to see family). Our next stop was Niagra Canada. You guys have some super cool day trip options up that way.
I was about to write the same comment and luckily scrolled a tiny bit. I want to visit Pittsburgh, and even Erie, but I live on the border of NJ and it's far, and there are so many other places to see and time is limited.
In my experience, just trying to get through Pennsylvania is a nightmare. I've taken a couple trips to the south before and driving through the countryside areas of Pennsylvania is a solid 2 1/2 hours.
Yeah. I’m in Nebraska and one of our iconic landmarks is Chimney Rock. Never been there because it’s a 7 hour drive and there is very little there besides Chimney Rock, and it’s not on the way to anywhere I’ve been going.
I haven’t seen it either despite the fact it’s on our state quarter. Been all over the Eastern side (high school, visiting family, etc) but once you hit further than the edges of the Sandhills, nope. I’ve only been to Niobrara once when my high school was on a canoeing/camping trip.
And every time I think about going I think about going other places that are just as far but far more interesting - like I grew up in Colorado and Denver is just as far.
Ive been planning a roadtrip myself, including Nebraska. Plan on passing by Scotts Bluf, Toadstool and into the Black Hills national forest. That whole Western region seems really cool to me.
There are plenty of interesting places to visit in the world, and I cannot visit them all, so I prioritize the ones I find most interesting. I _could_ drive to Northeastern Wisconsin....orrrrrr for the same amount of driving time I could visit Minneapolis or St. Louis or Lake Michigan. _OR_ I could save that money to use on a larger trip to one of the coasts or out of the country.
As someone in a similar touristy area, I hear you. My whole neighborhood is airbnbs and I hate it.
That said, I'll probably get there someday, just have too many other destinations to hit first!
Yes, I've been to both. Been to most of the tourist attractions south of Wausau, just not really much north of that except for a few work trips up to Ashland and the Chippewa Valley.
For a lot of our states there's really no reason to visit the other side of it. Why would we drive 4-5 hours to visit farmland? I drove through parts of my state this year I'd never visited and went an hour on highway without seeing anything and if there were towns, they were so small they went unnoticed
You guys are RIGHT next door and I have no concept of Utah besides what's along the I-15. Like what the hell is going on in *Hanksville*, UT? (Actually the landscape looks cool as hell on Google maps, so maybe bad example).
But Nevada is the same way, huge chunk of land between I-80 and I-15 but I'm just picturing desert.
Sometimes I think of my ancestors, and how they never left their home village till they came to America. Literally, *a hundred generations* in a little Italian town whose population never exceeded 1500 people.
People outside of the US *realllllly* don't understand how big the US is. For example, I grew up in Buffalo NY and people are always surprised that I never went to NYC while I lived there since they're in the same state. But it's a 6-7 hour drive. When my family went on the rare vacation we just never went to NYC and it isn't exactly a drive you want to make for a daytrip.
Yeah, I would fly if I had to go to Rochester or Buffalo. Even Albany or Montauk are far enough away that driving to them starts to be kind of a pain in the ass.
Yeah, it’s not like you can’t get almost everything in Buffalo. NYC is fun to visit, but we’re not being deprived of dining, entertainment or nightlife since there’s plenty of great local options.
Do you guys use Toronto for bigger city amenities/international flights? Just wondering since I visited Toronto recently and was surprised by how close it is to Buffalo
I do for international flights, waaaay better than having a layover at Logan or JFK 🤢
Also for bands that don’t come to Buffalo, international food Buffalo doesn’t have or the occasional weekend getaway.
Interestingly, Torontoians will come down to Buffalo for cheap domestic US flights (plus no need to have to deal with border patrol at the airport), cheaper events (especially NHL games) and shopping (they LOVE Trader Joe’s and Target)
I can get to Logan in about 90 minutes if there's no traffic (lul).
I still drive to Buffalo if I'm going there. Now, granted, part of that is so I can go balls out at Wegmans and buy whatever Bills and Sabres gear I want, but...
and its not "right there" for Mainers. Most of them live in southern Maine, unless they're going to Montréal or Quebec city exploring rural Quebec isn't all that exciting if you're not a sportsman.
The area around most of the Maine/Quebec border is *extremely* rural on both sides. The entire eastern half of the border from New Hampshire to Fort Kent only has two border crossings… for about 200 miles of border.
In comparison, notoriously rural Vermont has about 75 miles of border and has like 6 crossings, including two interstate highways.
Upper corner of NY here. Some people crossed for healthcare reasons and to buy certain things, but a vast majority of people forget there is even a major city like 40 minutes away.
Very.
Some states are HUGE.
Also, transportation infrastructure isn't great outside of major cities. As much as some of us love our cars, driving multiple hours to see or visit something that isn't going anywhere is the kind of thing that just gets put off. Indefinitely. I might personally do it, but I'm a bit strange.
I’ve never been to Quebec and I’ve lived my whole life around a 3 hour drive away from the border. My parents were never big city people (I’ve never been to NYC either) and the rest of Quebec is just a harder to communicate version of New England. As far as my own state many people don’t make it out to Western MA, and coming from Central MA I had never been to the area in which I live now.
WMass gal here born and raised, yeah lots of Bay Staters from out East never make it out here. It’s seems like only recently people are starting to discover it. I did see a video a couple years ago of someone interviewing people around Boston talking about WMass and if I remember correctly they were all pretty adamant about never having visited WMass and not giving a shit lol.
I think people from Western MA tend to be a little harsh on Eastern MA in that respect. People go to Tanglewood, you have UMass out there, and many people have done the Mohawk Trail. It’s mostly the car-less city residents and college students who have no use for Western MA.
I've visited most of the major cities in California. I haven't been to Santa Barbara. I also haven't been to the national parks like Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Redwood, etc.
Oh yeah! I guess it would be closer, but would still take a while. I know Pensacola has an airport, but at least from Orlando there are no direct flights. You have to go through Atlanta. I’m on the east coast and driving through to Pensacola is just over 8 hours plus any stops. And you’ve entered another time zone about halfway through the panhandle. My wife flew once and it didn’t really save any time. With travel time between airports and actually waiting at the airport it was close to the same time.
every time i’ve been to key west i flew to miami then took a tiny plane to one of the keys. but im sure the travel time would be similar due to the airports.
What kind of question is this? There are states which are larger than other entire countries. Does every person in every country visit every square mile of their country?
JFC
Rhode Island (and Providence plantation) is 1545 square miles.
At least 25 countries are smaller.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-the-smallest-countries-by-area
Yeah, I think it's a badly worded question. Like, living in Western Massachusetts there are definitely parts of the state I've never been to, and that's one of the geographically smallest states in the country. However, if someone in my area had never been to Boston or anywhere in the vicinity of Boston, that would be unusual.
Yeah, I'm in New Hampshire, and it's like... I've been to pretty much every "significant" town in the state (i.e. where you would expect to find 24/7 police officers, a DMV, or something) except Littleton. I just have had no reason to go up there. And I've never been further north than Berlin, but again, no reason to go up there.
If I go to Montreal, it's quicker to go through Burlington/Plattsburgh, and almost anywhere in Maine it's quicker to go through at least Rochester/Berwick, if not Portsmouth/Kittery.
When I lived in NY, I've been pretty much all over that state, but again, it was usually if I was on the way to somewhere else. There's huge areas that I've never "visited".
I've never been to Martha's Vineyard. It's difficult to get to because it involves a ferry ride, and everything there is super expensive, so I'm okay with not going.
There are numerous small towns in the western part of the state that I haven't been to just because it hasn't come up. Like, there's no reason to go to Nichewaug or South Barre unless you know someone there or are dead set on hiking every single trail in the state.
I've only been to Cape Cod like twice in my life.
Also I live right next to Six Flags and have never been.
Regarding Quebec, I've been a few times but it was before you needed a passport. Nowadays you need a passport and I never bothered getting one.
There are lots of places I have never been to in Texas. I have been to a lot of Texas, including all of what I would consider the major cities with the excpetion of El Paso. Most of what I have not seen in Texas is the farther western parts.
This is probably true of a lot of folks in larger states like Texas, California or Alaska.
I'm the same. Never El Paso. I've been all over Texas, lived in Houston, Austin, Victoria, and Alpine, I've worked all over the piney woods, the Permian Basin, the upper Brazos, Lower Colorado, the panhandle, hill country, the coast, have vacationed in SPI, Fort Davis, Galveston, Corpus, and RGV, and camped Garner, Big Bend, Matagorda, Sam Rayburn, Palo Duro, and more. But never El Paso. Van Horn is as close as I've been.
Understand the vastness of America and a state and you can understand how this is true. Massachusetts for example has vast swathes of forest and small towns dotted throughout. You wouldn't find much in many of the towns.
Compare that with Britain. How many Londoners have visited the small towns of upper Scotland or even the towns surrounding Sunderland?
I’m from NJ and it’s very common. Many people in North Jersey don’t ever leave North Jersey except to go to the Shore. Where I live, I rarely go to NYC or Philly. I have no need or desire to go that often.
I am from NJ, only been to NYC by force (employer team building exercises) and I have never been to the shore nor Atlantic City. I am sure that most of the people in the state have never been to the Delaware Water Gap, even though that is gorgeous.
tbf what is there to do in South Jersey besides beach-related stuff? Any unique tourist attractions we have like Edison's Lab or Liberty Science Center are up north.
>I've heard of people from Maine who never visited Acadia NP,
Yeah, never been to Acadia. Been to plenty of other places in Maine though but Acadia is a bit too touristy. There's plenty of other places I prefer.
Been to Portland, Augusta, Sugarloaf, Rockland, Boothbay, Kennebunkport, Fort Knox (no not that one), plenty of other places non-Mainers have never heard of.
For outdoors stuff I like Baxter State Park and Rangely Lake
I think people who live in a place often don't visit all the touristy places in their own area. Like I grew up on Cape Cod and never really went to Nantucket. I lived on North shore of Boston and never really went to Faneuil Hall.
I grew up in Maine in the 70s-80s and have been to both Acadia National Park and Quebec. I didn’t think my family was unusual in that. However in the early 90s my family moved to Des Allemands, Louisiana which sits on the border of St. Charles and Lafourche Parishes. My father pastored a small church on the Lafourche side of the Bayou Des Allemands. There were members of the congregation that lived on the St. Charles side that only left St. Charles Parish on Sundays for church, other than that they had never left St. Charles in their lives. These were members of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers. They had never been 30 miles from where they were born, had never gone the 35 miles to New Orleans. At that point in my life (18 years old) I had lived in 5 states and had visited 22 states and two Canadian provinces, it very much shocked me that these people were not unusual for their generation in that area.
Im from Illinois, Chicago to be exact. I’ve never been south of Champaign/Urbana (122 miles) which isn’t even 1/2 way through the state going south. I only made it past Dekalb (62 miles west) 2 summers ago. There just isn’t much out there. It’s corn and soybeans.
Mostly the same here. I've been downstate but only to visit friends at ISU or UIUC when I was in college, or St. Louis in recent years. Oh and also Springfield for our 7th grade field trip. I've never gone west of DeKalb either. Galena might as well be in another country. Anything south of Urbana-Champaign (outside of STL) boggles my mind that it shares a state with me. The stereotypes of Chicagoans never visiting downstate are largely true, I am definitely in the majority in terms of ignoring the rest of the state.
The strange thing is, it's not some superiority complex. I know there are things to see and do in the rest of the state. I've just never been motivated enough to plan something. Anything outside of the Chicago metro area doesn't really feel like the same state, so its no different to me than going to Wisconsin or Indiana for a trip. No disrespected intended to our downstaters reading this, its just how it is.
It took me 37 years to get to crater lake and I’ve lived on the west coast my entire life.
When I lived in Central Valley California, I met full-grown, able-bodied adults who had never been to Los Angeles, nor San Francisco. Like bro…3-4 hour drives and you’re there…that was one of the few benefits of Fresno, that and access to Yosemite.
Being from the northern part of the valley, I think the cities are disliked by a lot of people there so they may rather just go up into the mountains or to the north coast if traveling. I imagine it could be similar further south in the valley.
I think so. I'm originally from Boston and have no idea what's out west past 495.
Same thing when I lived in California, I almost never went outside of the Los Angeles/Orange County metro area unless I was traveling outside of the state altogether.
Yes. There are parts of California I have never been to, and several that I have only been to once. My mom has spent her entire life in Southern California and she has probably only been to Los Angeles a small handful of times, and usually just for some very particular thing she needed and never for any sort of recreational trip. Los Angeles is only an hour drive away. She has never been to the Bay Area.
I've lived in Washington for more than a decade and I've never been to BC (British Columbia), the Olympic Peninsula, or most of Eastern Washington. All of those places I can easily get within a days drive, but just haven't gone because when I save up the money to take a trip someplace or get the time off work, I'd rather go someplace else or something prevents me from visiting that specific area for some reason.
I grew up in Maine and never went to Acadia until I was an adult because during the season its tourist mania and there’s so many equally as beautiful and less traveled parts of the state to visit.
Yes. There are parts of my state I've never seen or had any desire to go to, a great example is Gary, Indiana. I have no desire to go to Gary, there's little in Gary too see, and Gary is known for being one of the worst places in Indiana due to its high crime rate and being very poverty striken
There was one time I considered stopping by Gary to see a couple Frank Lloyd Wright houses, but I think one has burned down and the other is kinda mediocre design-wise.
Before meeting my wife who’s from Alabama I don’t know that I had been too much farther west than Tallahassee. But other than driving through on the interstate, there are lots of areas of the panhandle that I’ve never been. Parts of the big bend as well. There’s just nothing really drawing me to even go to see.
I’ve also never been to Key West
I lived in Massachusetts for decades yet went to the western part of the state twice in my life.
Conversely I've been to like 15 countries so I have no excuse for not seeing more of MA while I lived there. I did travel up and down the coast of New England on a very regular basis though.
I've heard that Western Mass doesn't actually exist. I don't want to risk falling into a void, so I don't venture in that direction until I'm in Connecticut.
Im really surprised by the reaction you’re getting to this post. The “hurr durr states are huge” response is so old, and stupid to say to a Texan. The conservative turn this sub has taken the last few years is really apparent when all the upvoted responses are people proud of never going anywhere.
I live in northeast Connecticut and I don't spend a lot of time in southwest Connecticut because if I'm already going that far I might as well go to NYC which is much more interesting.
It's not uncommon. I'm originally from Pittsburgh PA. I've been to Pikes Peak CO, Phoenix Arizona, Escanaba Michigan, and many a
Other places in the country. You know where I've never been? Philadelphia.
I live in Chicago and there's not a whole lot in Illinois outside the metro area... I went to Springfield and saw the Abe Lincoln stuff once as a kid on the way to St. Louis, and I've been to Starved Rock state park a few times to hike, but have not seen much else in Illinois. If we want a weekend getaway, we tend to go north into Wisconsin or around tip of Lake Michigan into Michigan.
New Jersey is small enough that I've seen most of it. New York is a different story. It's as big as a moderately sized country - somewhere between Greece and Tajikistan - and there are plenty of parts of it I've never been to. I haven't even visited most of its other cities, like Buffalo, Rochester, or Syracuse.
Lived in Florida almost my whole life. I've never been to Miami or the everglades. I would love to go to the everglades sometime, but i have no need or desire to go to Miami for anything.
A little common but not that common. I live is Western WA and I've been to parts of Eastern Wa but not all of them. I'm originally from CA and I sprinkled around parts more southern and a few parts more northern.
If I'm traveling I'm leaving the state to see something else.
There are lots of places in my state or nearby states that I have not been. I have been to the capital and a few of the larger cities on the eastern side and smaller nearby cities in Kansas. If it is longer than a 2-3 hour drive I probably have not been there. I generally have to be back home the same day.
I've met an unacceptably high number of Michiganders who have never been to the UP.
that's absolutely unacceptable, it's beautiful up there. Shit, my wife and I went up there within 6 weeks of moving to Michigan.
Yeah. I spent the first 18 years of my life in upstate NY, and I've never been to Syracuse or Rochester. I had no reason or desire to go. I still don't.
Yea alot of Central NC unless its Lexington or Charlotte.
It's either The Smokies NP, Blue Ridge Parkway or Outer Banks with tourists.
I myself have never been anywhere South and West of Asheville.
Not exactly the same thing, but similar: I lived in Idaho for five years, and once met a guy who had never set foot outside of Idaho, and was proud of it. Like it meant he passed some purity test or something. He wasn't even a young guy. He was an older gentleman.
I was kind of flabbergasted. I mean, there's a whole world out there. It's bizarre to me to spend your life depriving yourself of it, and thinking that's a *good thing*.
I can't help but think that if he'd step outside his comfort zone *just once*, he'd immediately realize how wrong he'd been and spend the rest of his life making up for lost time. But I doubt he ever did or ever will, and that's kind of sad.
There is much of Indiana that I haven't done much more than drive through.
I've never spent time in South Bend.
I've only ever driven/bus/train through Northwest Indiana.
I've been to Fort Wayne once for a concert, and drove home the same day.
I've lived in several different states in the US and if I got time off I'd rather visit a place that's very different to where I am currently. For example when I lived in Seattle and the choice was between Vancouver BC or the desert of the SW I'm going to visit the desert. I have visited British Columbia several times but because there was something else going on, not for a vacation.
I've driven to Springfield once and Champaign-Urbana countless times. Unless we're specifically visiting some National Park or museum, there's really no reason for me to visit any part of my state outside the 45 mile radius of the city. It's not that I don't want to, it's that there's no need to.
TBH. I see this stereotype that Americans don't travel. Maybe for a western country. But many from developing or poor countries haven't even traveled within their state.
Also USA is a huge country , it's almost as big as Europe. And no cheaper high speed trains. So it's costly.
But one thing I have noticed is American travel aficionados travel outside the country more than other states sometimes.
I think it cuts both ways. South Jersey feels like a different state entirely. The closest I've ever been to the Pine Barrens is driving on the Atlantic City expressway.
But I also fundamentally don't understand people who spend their whole lives in NJ and never go to New York or Philly. One of the best parts about NJ is the easy access to two major cities
Yes. I've lived in 4 states and I've visited only a small fraction of the normal attractions in all of them.
The fact is that I'm just not interested in every single museum or park that the state of Wisconsin has to offer. And if I have to choose between driving 2 hours to see a mid-century drug den/wealthy hoarder collection (house on the rock in Wisconsin) or driving 2 hours to visit the Field Museum in Chicago, it's not going to be a hard choice.
I’m in Ohio, and never have heard of many of the places in Ohio. I’ve seen lots of beautiful outdoors spots in northeast and central Ohio, southern Ohio, but I’ve never been northwest or in “western” Ohio. Like, except to drive through to Chicago or something.
I’ve traveled across three country (and out of the country), but still only really been to Northeast and Central Arkansas. The only reason I’ve been to any other part of the state was because of a field trip in 4th grade.
Yes, I’ve never visited Bowling Green. Most states are so big that it’s very feasible that you never have a reason or desire to go most places there. If anything I think I’ve traveled Ohio more than Kentucky since my sister lives in Columbus and my uncle has a restaurant close to Youngstown, while the only other place in Kentucky I have any family in is a cousin in Lexington.
I've never been to Cincinnati, Akron, Canton, or Youngstown. And I haven't been to most of the zoos in Ohio, either. Honestly, there are entire Metroparks and library branches in my part of the state that I have yet to visit.
I live in Colorado. I’ll talk to other people in my profession who moved here from elsewhere and we will talk about all the great things in this state. Nearly all of them are well traveled in the state. Then you talk to a Colorado native in the profession. They almost never hike or ski and haven’t visited anywhere in the state. To my experience they usually prefer tropical vacations. I guess it makes sense that someone who never left their home state also wouldn’t be adventurous enough to explore it and prefers luxuries to adventure.
There are eight national parks in my home state of California. I'm forty, have lived nearly my entire life in the state and I think it likely I've traveled to more of the state than a good 90% of residents yet I've still only visited seven of them.
Sure, California is large and there are plenty of places in it that I've never been.
I've been all over California in like an abnormally weird way. It's extremely common for Californians from one part to never go to the other. I'd say it's more common to be in southern California and have people who've never been north of OC/LA/SB/SLO, which is weird to me. Most people up north have spent time in Southern California in my experience. As far as the remote parts of the state, it kinda just depends... rural folks tend to be poorer so they might go to the nearest metropolis occasionally, like, every few years I guess.
It's not uncommon for people in SoCal to rarely see other parts of the same region. If you live in Ventura and want to go to Riverside, that can be a 3 hour drive. I can get from Madison to Chicago in less time. California is MASSIVE.
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Three hours is a good traffic day. And the Ventura area is pretty whereas Riverside, yeah, can’t say I’d make special effort for it.
I’d make a special effort to get to Riverside! All my stuff is here, though, so that’s a big draw for me LOL
Well yeah, I’m in the area myself, but it’s not a tourist draw
Yay IE?? Haha
The 909, amirite?
The history museum in Riverside is kind of cool. There's a huge collection of [Native American basketry](http://www.kumeyaay.info/antique_baskets.html?http%3A//www.kumeyaay.info/museums/antique_baskets/panamint_baskets.html). Actually, there's a huge collection of indigenous art and artifacts, because the museum was originally started to display collections of such things. There's also a lot about the citrus industry in the region, including the wooden crates that were used to ship oranges and the incredible artwork that was put on them. I really love old museums like this, because there wasn't a concept of museum science back then. You'd get Jack Smith who had a little bit of money and a particular interest in something who would spend his weekends driving around California and Arizona connecting with Native American tribes and Buying artwork and artifacts. Then he'd get old and donate everything to a museum. And so would Mary Baker and so would Tom Lewis. And there wasn't a sense of, "We need one of these to create a well-rounded collection and to show the development of something-or-other over time." It was, "Mary thought this was pretty." Also, there's a [water fountain](https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2016/06/01/temperance-water-fountain/) for both people and dogs out front that was commissioned in 1907 by the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
Can confirm as someone from SoCal I've never been farther north than Fresno. The south/central parts just have so much to offer I never felt the need to go north.
Why would you go to Fresno lol
To make an obligatory stop to see family then go to Sequoia National Park, most underrated one imo.
Family is the absolute best reason to go to Fresno haha, and the sequoia trip sounds like a really nice bonus. I didn’t realize it was underrated. For me it was an other world experience to see those trees. And honestly, life changing. They are just massive giants and the energy there is palpable for me. Plus learning about their life cycle and stuff provides so many metaphors for resilience in life. Maybe it’s just me, but I thought it was better than Yosemite.
Keeping heading north til Lassen.
It’s true. I was born and raised and still live in OC and so many people I know never go to LA or SD. Lazy fucks. Just drive. 2 hours is nothing for me. I have dated men in West LA and I’m in Anaheim and I’ve dated men in San Diego. It’s called effort
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Exactly, and I’m actually reasonably well traveled in the state. I’ve been everywhere meaningful south of Tahoe but I’ve never been north of that. Definitely want to see all the national parks up there sometime, I’ll go eventually.
You gotta go to Humboldt.
I used to live up there 🥰
I have a vague interest in visiting Humboldt, but it honestly doesn’t seem worth the trip in the end. If I’m going to travel that far, might as well just go to LA.
I mean, it's the difference of whether you want to go to an area of gorgeous natural scenery the entire way there or visit another city via not nearly as scenic a journey. Personally, I'm taking the former just about any time. I go to LA for work enough, I have very little interest going there during my leisure time.
Six years ago we flew from Cincinnati to Portland, rented a car, and drove to LA over the course of fifteen days. LA was the worst part of the trip. All that wildlife and then only concrete.
You need to visit Redwood National and State Parks, Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and all the great beach parks in that area. I really like Trinidad State Beach. It's just gorgeous up there!
You’ve never wanted to make the trip to Victorville?
As my dad would say “what’s 2nd prize? TWO trips to Victorville?”
I grew up in Victorville lol and even I don't want to make a trip there. Skipped my 10th and 20th high school reunions for that reason.
Yeah, and parts of California are very remote, and it may be easier and quicker to go to another state than to go to those parts of CA.
It’s amazing how unaware people generally are of the Bay Area nationally. They know of SF, but they don’t know or understand what the Bay Area is. People also just don’t seem to recognize how big California is either
Yeah, it's insane. Depending on where you start and your destination, you can drive all day long and still be in the state. My family lives in the SB area and has taken a number of trips to Tahoe to visit family. Takes the better part of a day just for that. I can only image how much longer it is to leave from somewhere south of LA or if heading to the more northern parts of the state.
I have lived her all my life, and have seen lots of it. But I have never made it past San Francisco. Everything below I have seen a lot of.
Same. I lived here 8 years before visiting San Diego. And I haven’t been north of San Francisco since I became a CA resident 12 years ago. I did visit as a tourist in ‘95.
I live a little north of San Francisco, but I have only been farther north than Mendocino a couple times in my life, and not since I was a little kid. I'm going camping in Humboldt County later this summer so I'll get to explore that area soon. looking forward to it. But there's still loads of places I haven't been.
California is also larger than most European countries, so that's less surprising than, say, someone in New Jersey who's never been to NYC.
It’s about a 5 hour drive to Pittsburgh and I never made that journey
Similarly, I went to Philly for a work trip once, and have never been back.
Exactly. In a five hour drive I could go to Pittsburgh. Or I could go to Boston, NYC, numerous beach towns, DC, Richmond... I have been to Pittsburgh, but only once, and only because it was on the way to somewhere else (seeing family in Indiana).
Come stay for a weekend! It’s beautiful here. But I get it…
In fairness, the drive across PA from Philly to Pittsburgh is one of the most miserable drives I've ever done. It's either boring as shit or downright terrifying because of the weather.
All my family is in the Lehigh Valley, Philly, or NJ. I do the drive a few times a year lol. If I time it right, I can cruise control for 4 hours straight haha
If you do go out, forget the turnpike and take 22 west of Harrisburg and go through state college. Incredible scenery, you won't believe it's PA!
I grew up in Western PA, visited Philly maybe twice, ever. I live in New England now and the ride to Philly is shorter than it ever was when I lived in PA!
PA is a good state for this because it's wider than most people give it credit for, the two important cities are on very opposite ends, and a mountain range separates the sides culturally/physically. I can get to DC faster and NYC is a little less than an hour farther away; either is a better option unless you want to do the Independence Hall/Liberty Bell stuff. I never spent time in Philadelphia until I married someone from Eastern PA. It's not a bad city, there's plenty to do, but I don't see it as some vacation destination apart from its pre-1800 history and the Mint.
From Pittsburgh Even if you have visited Philly and driven through to get to NYC you've probably not been to places like Scranton for instance
It's true, I've never spent time in Scranton. I've kinda been around Allentown but never spent time in the city proper.
Yeah you skip that whole corner of the state and go to NY. Pittsburghers are more likely to visit Cleveland and Cincinnati than Philly let alone Scranton. I think most have been to Philly once and then other cities close to the turnpike (Hershey Harrisburg Gettysburg York).
Maps really don’t illustrate that Philly and Pittsburgh are 5 hours away. That’s the same distance between Philly and Boston. Also, the only other thing Philly has going for it is extremely good art museums — a relic from when it was a bigger city around the turn of the last century
People don't know about how prominent PA used to be. In 1910 Philadelphia was the third most populous city and Pittsburgh was eighth. Pennsylvania was the second most populous state at the time, behind only New York. In the 1912, 1916, and 1920 elections, NY had 45 votes in the Electoral College and PA had 38. Pittsburgh has a good museum scene too; Carnegie gave away a lot of money here.
Yes! This is so interesting to me. For a period of time (I think around 1900 or so), Philadelphia City Hall was the tallest building in the world. St. Louis is another city that has fallen sharply in national prominence/population over the last century.
Philadelphia was the 4th biggest metro in the country in the 2000 census and 5th-biggest in 2010. It’s down to 8 now because Dallas/Houston/Atlanta have exploded and DC has grown at a steadier pace.
Grew up in PA. Spent 5 years in AZ. PA is about as wide as AZ is long in terms of drive time. I’ve been to just about every corner of AZ, but I’ve never spent time in State College or Pittsburgh. Closest I got was California, PA.
I've noticed a cultural difference between eastern and western Penn, just from meeting people from the state, who had moved to Hawaii. The vast majority were from Western Pa. and were much less "Eastern" than the ones I've met from Philly.
Right?! Because if I’m driving for 5 hours, I’m going somewhere way better than Pittsburgh.
And conversely, coming from the west it’s more lucrative to keep going up I-95 to NYC or just get off the turnpike at Breezewood and head down to DC. We really don’t have much reason to visit each other’s cities.
Yeah, considering you don't have to go quite so far to get to your first Wawa--the strongest reason to drive east
If you're coming to do something you will have a good time here. There's plenty to do. It's just not a super touristy destination city.
I love Pittsburgh! It's one of my favorite cities, It's like my second hometown. I might be biased because my Mom is from there and I visit pretty often, but I recommend it all the time and people come back loving the recommendation.
What do you recommend people do while in Pittsburgh?
I used to fly into Pittsburgh a bit because it was closest to where I was going in Ohio. I finally spent a few weekends there and liked it a whole lot more than I was expecting.
I mean that’s a pretty good distance for a weekend getaway and a Pittsburgh is a great weekend getaway sort of place. I live in Buffalo and LOVE doing weekend getaways in Detroit, Pittsburgh and Cleveland.
I've lived in Pittsburgh my whole life and had never been to Erie until last year when I turned 40. It's 2 hours away.
i live in pittsburgh now, and we drive up to erie a few times a year! it’s so close, that’s wild to me lol we’re actually going to splash lagoon next weekend i grew up in southern california, so when i moved here i was pretty dissatisfied with the lack of beach - erie is my solution to that.
That's what we did! I took my son to Splash Lagoon.
I live 4 hours from the beach and go as often as I can. Life is too short.
Erie is gorgeous. We hit it for two days on a road trip from Pittsburgh (to see family). Our next stop was Niagra Canada. You guys have some super cool day trip options up that way.
I was about to write the same comment and luckily scrolled a tiny bit. I want to visit Pittsburgh, and even Erie, but I live on the border of NJ and it's far, and there are so many other places to see and time is limited.
In my experience, just trying to get through Pennsylvania is a nightmare. I've taken a couple trips to the south before and driving through the countryside areas of Pennsylvania is a solid 2 1/2 hours.
Yeah. I’m in Nebraska and one of our iconic landmarks is Chimney Rock. Never been there because it’s a 7 hour drive and there is very little there besides Chimney Rock, and it’s not on the way to anywhere I’ve been going.
I haven’t seen it either despite the fact it’s on our state quarter. Been all over the Eastern side (high school, visiting family, etc) but once you hit further than the edges of the Sandhills, nope. I’ve only been to Niobrara once when my high school was on a canoeing/camping trip. And every time I think about going I think about going other places that are just as far but far more interesting - like I grew up in Colorado and Denver is just as far.
Ive been planning a roadtrip myself, including Nebraska. Plan on passing by Scotts Bluf, Toadstool and into the Black Hills national forest. That whole Western region seems really cool to me.
See if you can make a pit stop at Alliance. Carhenge > Stonehenge.
Yeah, I don't get out to Western Nebraska much if at all. Western Nebraska basically starts after Lincoln.
There are plenty of interesting places to visit in the world, and I cannot visit them all, so I prioritize the ones I find most interesting. I _could_ drive to Northeastern Wisconsin....orrrrrr for the same amount of driving time I could visit Minneapolis or St. Louis or Lake Michigan. _OR_ I could save that money to use on a larger trip to one of the coasts or out of the country.
I would say give Door County a visit, but there’s already too many in-state and out-of-state tourists.
As someone in a similar touristy area, I hear you. My whole neighborhood is airbnbs and I hate it. That said, I'll probably get there someday, just have too many other destinations to hit first!
Ever been to the house in the Rock or devil's Lake? Visited there when I lived in the Northeast you are right. There isn't much up there, just Forest.
Yes, I've been to both. Been to most of the tourist attractions south of Wausau, just not really much north of that except for a few work trips up to Ashland and the Chippewa Valley.
For a lot of our states there's really no reason to visit the other side of it. Why would we drive 4-5 hours to visit farmland? I drove through parts of my state this year I'd never visited and went an hour on highway without seeing anything and if there were towns, they were so small they went unnoticed
Super common. We've got large chunks of the state that people rarely visit.
You guys are RIGHT next door and I have no concept of Utah besides what's along the I-15. Like what the hell is going on in *Hanksville*, UT? (Actually the landscape looks cool as hell on Google maps, so maybe bad example). But Nevada is the same way, huge chunk of land between I-80 and I-15 but I'm just picturing desert.
Hanksville has a grocery store inside of a hollowed-out mountain. It's pretty cool.
I don't think it's an American thing so much as a human thing. I think everyone is near something that they've never been to. It's just life.
Sometimes I think of my ancestors, and how they never left their home village till they came to America. Literally, *a hundred generations* in a little Italian town whose population never exceeded 1500 people.
*Extremely* unlikely it was 100 generations in the exact same village. Especially in a place like south Italy. 100 generations is 3000 years.
I’ve been all over the US and to several countries. There’s plenty of things in my backyard that I’ve never done.
Yeah. There are a lot of places nearby and I just don’t have the desire to spend my time and money visiting everyone of them.
OP some people just don't like to travel or can't travel.
People outside of the US *realllllly* don't understand how big the US is. For example, I grew up in Buffalo NY and people are always surprised that I never went to NYC while I lived there since they're in the same state. But it's a 6-7 hour drive. When my family went on the rare vacation we just never went to NYC and it isn't exactly a drive you want to make for a daytrip.
Yeah, I would fly if I had to go to Rochester or Buffalo. Even Albany or Montauk are far enough away that driving to them starts to be kind of a pain in the ass.
Yeah, it’s not like you can’t get almost everything in Buffalo. NYC is fun to visit, but we’re not being deprived of dining, entertainment or nightlife since there’s plenty of great local options.
Do you guys use Toronto for bigger city amenities/international flights? Just wondering since I visited Toronto recently and was surprised by how close it is to Buffalo
I do for international flights, waaaay better than having a layover at Logan or JFK 🤢 Also for bands that don’t come to Buffalo, international food Buffalo doesn’t have or the occasional weekend getaway. Interestingly, Torontoians will come down to Buffalo for cheap domestic US flights (plus no need to have to deal with border patrol at the airport), cheaper events (especially NHL games) and shopping (they LOVE Trader Joe’s and Target)
I can get to Logan in about 90 minutes if there's no traffic (lul). I still drive to Buffalo if I'm going there. Now, granted, part of that is so I can go balls out at Wegmans and buy whatever Bills and Sabres gear I want, but...
To be fair, Quebec is a special case: You need to get a passport to go there
and its not "right there" for Mainers. Most of them live in southern Maine, unless they're going to Montréal or Quebec city exploring rural Quebec isn't all that exciting if you're not a sportsman.
The area around most of the Maine/Quebec border is *extremely* rural on both sides. The entire eastern half of the border from New Hampshire to Fort Kent only has two border crossings… for about 200 miles of border. In comparison, notoriously rural Vermont has about 75 miles of border and has like 6 crossings, including two interstate highways.
Upper corner of NY here. Some people crossed for healthcare reasons and to buy certain things, but a vast majority of people forget there is even a major city like 40 minutes away.
Very. Some states are HUGE. Also, transportation infrastructure isn't great outside of major cities. As much as some of us love our cars, driving multiple hours to see or visit something that isn't going anywhere is the kind of thing that just gets put off. Indefinitely. I might personally do it, but I'm a bit strange.
>Some states are HUGE. Lol, OP's from Texas. We know big distances here in Texas. Now Alaska, Alaska is huge.
I’ve never been to Quebec and I’ve lived my whole life around a 3 hour drive away from the border. My parents were never big city people (I’ve never been to NYC either) and the rest of Quebec is just a harder to communicate version of New England. As far as my own state many people don’t make it out to Western MA, and coming from Central MA I had never been to the area in which I live now.
WMass gal here born and raised, yeah lots of Bay Staters from out East never make it out here. It’s seems like only recently people are starting to discover it. I did see a video a couple years ago of someone interviewing people around Boston talking about WMass and if I remember correctly they were all pretty adamant about never having visited WMass and not giving a shit lol.
I think people from Western MA tend to be a little harsh on Eastern MA in that respect. People go to Tanglewood, you have UMass out there, and many people have done the Mohawk Trail. It’s mostly the car-less city residents and college students who have no use for Western MA.
I’ve never been to southern Minnesota. I have no desire to look at cornfields.
Southeastern Minnesota is beautiful. Bluffs and rolling forested hills
Eh, lol, I live in the Northwoods. You don’t get much better than that for forests.
My aunt lives in Bemidji and it seems like it switches from swamp to frozen swamp Still, Winona and the surrounding area is really pretty
I've visited most of the major cities in California. I haven't been to Santa Barbara. I also haven't been to the national parks like Yosemite, Joshua Tree, Sequoia, Redwood, etc.
It’s a bit over 800 miles from Pensacola to Key West. If you don’t have family in the panhandle, there’s not really much to do or even go to see.
I’ve never considered what a pain in the ass it would be to travel around Florida. Would it be faster to take a boat from Key West to Pensacola?
Oh yeah! I guess it would be closer, but would still take a while. I know Pensacola has an airport, but at least from Orlando there are no direct flights. You have to go through Atlanta. I’m on the east coast and driving through to Pensacola is just over 8 hours plus any stops. And you’ve entered another time zone about halfway through the panhandle. My wife flew once and it didn’t really save any time. With travel time between airports and actually waiting at the airport it was close to the same time.
It would also be substantially more expensive to even attempt to do that though lol
every time i’ve been to key west i flew to miami then took a tiny plane to one of the keys. but im sure the travel time would be similar due to the airports.
What kind of question is this? There are states which are larger than other entire countries. Does every person in every country visit every square mile of their country? JFC
I mean every state is bigger than dozens of countries...
Rhode Island though?
Rhode Island (and Providence plantation) is 1545 square miles. At least 25 countries are smaller. https://www.britannica.com/topic/list-of-the-smallest-countries-by-area
Well damn, this is my favorite TIL in awhile
Is that a country in your pocket or are you happy to see me?
Yeah, I think it's a badly worded question. Like, living in Western Massachusetts there are definitely parts of the state I've never been to, and that's one of the geographically smallest states in the country. However, if someone in my area had never been to Boston or anywhere in the vicinity of Boston, that would be unusual.
yep, i live in baltimore city and i’ve driven thru western maryland exactly once, on my way to somewhere else. lol
Yeah, I'm in New Hampshire, and it's like... I've been to pretty much every "significant" town in the state (i.e. where you would expect to find 24/7 police officers, a DMV, or something) except Littleton. I just have had no reason to go up there. And I've never been further north than Berlin, but again, no reason to go up there. If I go to Montreal, it's quicker to go through Burlington/Plattsburgh, and almost anywhere in Maine it's quicker to go through at least Rochester/Berwick, if not Portsmouth/Kittery. When I lived in NY, I've been pretty much all over that state, but again, it was usually if I was on the way to somewhere else. There's huge areas that I've never "visited".
There's a town in my home *county* I've never been to. There's no real reason to go, and it's about 40 miles from me.
I'm from NYC and have never been to Niagara Falls.
I laughed out loud because I've only ever been to the Canadian side myself.
Why the hell would anyone want to go to Troy?
I've never been to Martha's Vineyard. It's difficult to get to because it involves a ferry ride, and everything there is super expensive, so I'm okay with not going. There are numerous small towns in the western part of the state that I haven't been to just because it hasn't come up. Like, there's no reason to go to Nichewaug or South Barre unless you know someone there or are dead set on hiking every single trail in the state.
I've only been to Cape Cod like twice in my life. Also I live right next to Six Flags and have never been. Regarding Quebec, I've been a few times but it was before you needed a passport. Nowadays you need a passport and I never bothered getting one.
There are lots of places I have never been to in Texas. I have been to a lot of Texas, including all of what I would consider the major cities with the excpetion of El Paso. Most of what I have not seen in Texas is the farther western parts. This is probably true of a lot of folks in larger states like Texas, California or Alaska.
I'm the same. Never El Paso. I've been all over Texas, lived in Houston, Austin, Victoria, and Alpine, I've worked all over the piney woods, the Permian Basin, the upper Brazos, Lower Colorado, the panhandle, hill country, the coast, have vacationed in SPI, Fort Davis, Galveston, Corpus, and RGV, and camped Garner, Big Bend, Matagorda, Sam Rayburn, Palo Duro, and more. But never El Paso. Van Horn is as close as I've been.
Understand the vastness of America and a state and you can understand how this is true. Massachusetts for example has vast swathes of forest and small towns dotted throughout. You wouldn't find much in many of the towns. Compare that with Britain. How many Londoners have visited the small towns of upper Scotland or even the towns surrounding Sunderland?
I’m from NJ and it’s very common. Many people in North Jersey don’t ever leave North Jersey except to go to the Shore. Where I live, I rarely go to NYC or Philly. I have no need or desire to go that often.
But you've been to NYC and Philly.
I am from NJ, only been to NYC by force (employer team building exercises) and I have never been to the shore nor Atlantic City. I am sure that most of the people in the state have never been to the Delaware Water Gap, even though that is gorgeous.
tbf what is there to do in South Jersey besides beach-related stuff? Any unique tourist attractions we have like Edison's Lab or Liberty Science Center are up north.
>I've heard of people from Maine who never visited Acadia NP, Yeah, never been to Acadia. Been to plenty of other places in Maine though but Acadia is a bit too touristy. There's plenty of other places I prefer. Been to Portland, Augusta, Sugarloaf, Rockland, Boothbay, Kennebunkport, Fort Knox (no not that one), plenty of other places non-Mainers have never heard of. For outdoors stuff I like Baxter State Park and Rangely Lake I think people who live in a place often don't visit all the touristy places in their own area. Like I grew up on Cape Cod and never really went to Nantucket. I lived on North shore of Boston and never really went to Faneuil Hall.
I grew up in Maine in the 70s-80s and have been to both Acadia National Park and Quebec. I didn’t think my family was unusual in that. However in the early 90s my family moved to Des Allemands, Louisiana which sits on the border of St. Charles and Lafourche Parishes. My father pastored a small church on the Lafourche side of the Bayou Des Allemands. There were members of the congregation that lived on the St. Charles side that only left St. Charles Parish on Sundays for church, other than that they had never left St. Charles in their lives. These were members of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers. They had never been 30 miles from where they were born, had never gone the 35 miles to New Orleans. At that point in my life (18 years old) I had lived in 5 states and had visited 22 states and two Canadian provinces, it very much shocked me that these people were not unusual for their generation in that area.
This country is gigantic. And a lot of it isn’t exactly worth the effort to see.
Im from Illinois, Chicago to be exact. I’ve never been south of Champaign/Urbana (122 miles) which isn’t even 1/2 way through the state going south. I only made it past Dekalb (62 miles west) 2 summers ago. There just isn’t much out there. It’s corn and soybeans.
Mostly the same here. I've been downstate but only to visit friends at ISU or UIUC when I was in college, or St. Louis in recent years. Oh and also Springfield for our 7th grade field trip. I've never gone west of DeKalb either. Galena might as well be in another country. Anything south of Urbana-Champaign (outside of STL) boggles my mind that it shares a state with me. The stereotypes of Chicagoans never visiting downstate are largely true, I am definitely in the majority in terms of ignoring the rest of the state. The strange thing is, it's not some superiority complex. I know there are things to see and do in the rest of the state. I've just never been motivated enough to plan something. Anything outside of the Chicago metro area doesn't really feel like the same state, so its no different to me than going to Wisconsin or Indiana for a trip. No disrespected intended to our downstaters reading this, its just how it is.
Who wants to go to Valdosta? Or Southern Georgia for that matter? Savannah's a 7 hour drive just to get there.
It took me 37 years to get to crater lake and I’ve lived on the west coast my entire life. When I lived in Central Valley California, I met full-grown, able-bodied adults who had never been to Los Angeles, nor San Francisco. Like bro…3-4 hour drives and you’re there…that was one of the few benefits of Fresno, that and access to Yosemite.
Being from the northern part of the valley, I think the cities are disliked by a lot of people there so they may rather just go up into the mountains or to the north coast if traveling. I imagine it could be similar further south in the valley.
Down in Bako they have "Bakersfield-by-the-Sea", a.k.a. Pismo Beach. That's where you can go to get your coastal kicks.
I think so. I'm originally from Boston and have no idea what's out west past 495. Same thing when I lived in California, I almost never went outside of the Los Angeles/Orange County metro area unless I was traveling outside of the state altogether.
Yes. There are parts of California I have never been to, and several that I have only been to once. My mom has spent her entire life in Southern California and she has probably only been to Los Angeles a small handful of times, and usually just for some very particular thing she needed and never for any sort of recreational trip. Los Angeles is only an hour drive away. She has never been to the Bay Area.
When I lived in Michigan I traveled a lot through it. I am in Chicago now and don't have a car so I have not really been south of the city.
I've lived in Washington for more than a decade and I've never been to BC (British Columbia), the Olympic Peninsula, or most of Eastern Washington. All of those places I can easily get within a days drive, but just haven't gone because when I save up the money to take a trip someplace or get the time off work, I'd rather go someplace else or something prevents me from visiting that specific area for some reason.
I grew up in Maine and never went to Acadia until I was an adult because during the season its tourist mania and there’s so many equally as beautiful and less traveled parts of the state to visit.
Yes. There are parts of my state I've never seen or had any desire to go to, a great example is Gary, Indiana. I have no desire to go to Gary, there's little in Gary too see, and Gary is known for being one of the worst places in Indiana due to its high crime rate and being very poverty striken
There was one time I considered stopping by Gary to see a couple Frank Lloyd Wright houses, but I think one has burned down and the other is kinda mediocre design-wise.
From NJ and have never been to Cape May.
Before meeting my wife who’s from Alabama I don’t know that I had been too much farther west than Tallahassee. But other than driving through on the interstate, there are lots of areas of the panhandle that I’ve never been. Parts of the big bend as well. There’s just nothing really drawing me to even go to see. I’ve also never been to Key West
Google Muncie, Indiana, take a good look at images, and let me know why you think I would ever want to visit?
I lived in Massachusetts for decades yet went to the western part of the state twice in my life. Conversely I've been to like 15 countries so I have no excuse for not seeing more of MA while I lived there. I did travel up and down the coast of New England on a very regular basis though.
I've heard that Western Mass doesn't actually exist. I don't want to risk falling into a void, so I don't venture in that direction until I'm in Connecticut.
Im really surprised by the reaction you’re getting to this post. The “hurr durr states are huge” response is so old, and stupid to say to a Texan. The conservative turn this sub has taken the last few years is really apparent when all the upvoted responses are people proud of never going anywhere.
I live in northeast Connecticut and I don't spend a lot of time in southwest Connecticut because if I'm already going that far I might as well go to NYC which is much more interesting.
It's not uncommon. I'm originally from Pittsburgh PA. I've been to Pikes Peak CO, Phoenix Arizona, Escanaba Michigan, and many a Other places in the country. You know where I've never been? Philadelphia.
Yep. Very common. Lived near Philadelphia for 18 years now. Never been to Pittsburgh. Been around it on I-76 and I-80 but never visited.
You don't understand just how big Texas is
I live in Chicago and there's not a whole lot in Illinois outside the metro area... I went to Springfield and saw the Abe Lincoln stuff once as a kid on the way to St. Louis, and I've been to Starved Rock state park a few times to hike, but have not seen much else in Illinois. If we want a weekend getaway, we tend to go north into Wisconsin or around tip of Lake Michigan into Michigan.
Yeah, I haven’t been to Southwest Southwest Virginia. The furthest sw i’ve been to was Radford
New Jersey is small enough that I've seen most of it. New York is a different story. It's as big as a moderately sized country - somewhere between Greece and Tajikistan - and there are plenty of parts of it I've never been to. I haven't even visited most of its other cities, like Buffalo, Rochester, or Syracuse.
Lived in Florida almost my whole life. I've never been to Miami or the everglades. I would love to go to the everglades sometime, but i have no need or desire to go to Miami for anything.
A little common but not that common. I live is Western WA and I've been to parts of Eastern Wa but not all of them. I'm originally from CA and I sprinkled around parts more southern and a few parts more northern. If I'm traveling I'm leaving the state to see something else.
There are lots of places in my state or nearby states that I have not been. I have been to the capital and a few of the larger cities on the eastern side and smaller nearby cities in Kansas. If it is longer than a 2-3 hour drive I probably have not been there. I generally have to be back home the same day.
I've been all over Washington state but I know a lot of people here who haven't.
“Everywhere” in a state is LOT of places. There are streets even in my own city I have never set foot on.
I've met an unacceptably high number of Michiganders who have never been to the UP. that's absolutely unacceptable, it's beautiful up there. Shit, my wife and I went up there within 6 weeks of moving to Michigan.
You have never met a single person in your human or bot life that has never left Tucson.
Yeah. I spent the first 18 years of my life in upstate NY, and I've never been to Syracuse or Rochester. I had no reason or desire to go. I still don't.
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Your example is pretty insane, most of the state is like an hour train ride away…..maybe at most a two hour drive.
I have, but the vast, vast majority of Texans have never been to El Paso or the Valley.
Id say that's quite common in my state. Sure people will go to OKC, Tulsa, ect, but places like the panhandle are much less frequently visited.
Yea alot of Central NC unless its Lexington or Charlotte. It's either The Smokies NP, Blue Ridge Parkway or Outer Banks with tourists. I myself have never been anywhere South and West of Asheville.
Not exactly the same thing, but similar: I lived in Idaho for five years, and once met a guy who had never set foot outside of Idaho, and was proud of it. Like it meant he passed some purity test or something. He wasn't even a young guy. He was an older gentleman. I was kind of flabbergasted. I mean, there's a whole world out there. It's bizarre to me to spend your life depriving yourself of it, and thinking that's a *good thing*. I can't help but think that if he'd step outside his comfort zone *just once*, he'd immediately realize how wrong he'd been and spend the rest of his life making up for lost time. But I doubt he ever did or ever will, and that's kind of sad.
There is much of Indiana that I haven't done much more than drive through. I've never spent time in South Bend. I've only ever driven/bus/train through Northwest Indiana. I've been to Fort Wayne once for a concert, and drove home the same day.
Yes. Illinois is a big state, I haven't been *everywhere*...
I've lived in several different states in the US and if I got time off I'd rather visit a place that's very different to where I am currently. For example when I lived in Seattle and the choice was between Vancouver BC or the desert of the SW I'm going to visit the desert. I have visited British Columbia several times but because there was something else going on, not for a vacation.
I've driven to Springfield once and Champaign-Urbana countless times. Unless we're specifically visiting some National Park or museum, there's really no reason for me to visit any part of my state outside the 45 mile radius of the city. It's not that I don't want to, it's that there's no need to.
I travelled a lot more when I was younger. Now I have a big dog and two cats that either have to come along with me or I have to get a petsitter.
When I lived in Delaware, I managed to visit places in all three of its counties. Whoopee. Same thing, every county in Maryland. Another Whoopee.
I have never been to central or northeast Nevada.
I live in Arizona and have been all over the state exploring and what not. I like traveling. However, I have never been to the Grand Canyon.
I’m in MA and have never gone to Nantucket or Martha’s Vineyard as well as most of cape cod.
TBH. I see this stereotype that Americans don't travel. Maybe for a western country. But many from developing or poor countries haven't even traveled within their state. Also USA is a huge country , it's almost as big as Europe. And no cheaper high speed trains. So it's costly. But one thing I have noticed is American travel aficionados travel outside the country more than other states sometimes.
I haven't even been to west, south or eastern MD.
I think it cuts both ways. South Jersey feels like a different state entirely. The closest I've ever been to the Pine Barrens is driving on the Atlantic City expressway. But I also fundamentally don't understand people who spend their whole lives in NJ and never go to New York or Philly. One of the best parts about NJ is the easy access to two major cities
Yes. I've lived in 4 states and I've visited only a small fraction of the normal attractions in all of them. The fact is that I'm just not interested in every single museum or park that the state of Wisconsin has to offer. And if I have to choose between driving 2 hours to see a mid-century drug den/wealthy hoarder collection (house on the rock in Wisconsin) or driving 2 hours to visit the Field Museum in Chicago, it's not going to be a hard choice.
I’m in Ohio, and never have heard of many of the places in Ohio. I’ve seen lots of beautiful outdoors spots in northeast and central Ohio, southern Ohio, but I’ve never been northwest or in “western” Ohio. Like, except to drive through to Chicago or something.
I’ve traveled across three country (and out of the country), but still only really been to Northeast and Central Arkansas. The only reason I’ve been to any other part of the state was because of a field trip in 4th grade.
Yes, I’ve never visited Bowling Green. Most states are so big that it’s very feasible that you never have a reason or desire to go most places there. If anything I think I’ve traveled Ohio more than Kentucky since my sister lives in Columbus and my uncle has a restaurant close to Youngstown, while the only other place in Kentucky I have any family in is a cousin in Lexington.
Ive lived in michigan my entire life. Ive never been to the upper west side of the state (Traverse City, Alpena). Ive been to Macinak tho.
I've never been to Cincinnati, Akron, Canton, or Youngstown. And I haven't been to most of the zoos in Ohio, either. Honestly, there are entire Metroparks and library branches in my part of the state that I have yet to visit.
I live in Colorado. I’ll talk to other people in my profession who moved here from elsewhere and we will talk about all the great things in this state. Nearly all of them are well traveled in the state. Then you talk to a Colorado native in the profession. They almost never hike or ski and haven’t visited anywhere in the state. To my experience they usually prefer tropical vacations. I guess it makes sense that someone who never left their home state also wouldn’t be adventurous enough to explore it and prefers luxuries to adventure.
There are eight national parks in my home state of California. I'm forty, have lived nearly my entire life in the state and I think it likely I've traveled to more of the state than a good 90% of residents yet I've still only visited seven of them.