How to visit all 50 states before turning 50 while seeing as much as possible?
This land is your land, this land is my land…
It helps to start traveling early in life but if you’re like me and didn’t meet your perfect travel companion until later, packing in a lot of trips in a short time, with kids and a full-time job – it can all sound overwhelming. I only been to 15 states in 40 years which meant I had exactly 10 years to visit 35 states.
The real question is, how do you take advantage of everything possible in the time you have? It has been a lot of fun trying to figure that out and I’ve learned some things along the way.
What does it mean to “visit” all 50 states? That’s up to you to decide. I discovered that some states I need to visit again to truly experience. For example, New York City is nothing like upstate New York and just because I’ve been to coastal North Carolina doesn’t mean I’ve experienced all that the mountains of NC have to offer. My family’s rule of thumb has always been simple: Visiting a state means getting out of the car and planting two feet on the ground.
Here’s a collection of our families’ itineraries to encourage you to write your own travel story.
1-2 Day Trips
We call hip and historic Frederick County, MD home – which is a great destination itself. Frederick County, MD is within a day’s drive of 1/3 of the U.S. population. The Mid-Atlantic region is full of great spots to visit when you’re short on time.
2-5 Day Trips
This is my favorite kind of trip to plan! I love when the weekends are longer with a day or two off from school and work. Sometimes we drive, but sometimes flying is more ideal. Sometimes we have the kids but sometimes we don’t. These suggested itineraries are full of ideas on how to get the most out of your extended weekend trip.
5+ Days
An ideal situation would have us taking long vacations all the time, but jobs and school prevent that from happening often. If we are lucky, we plan for two, week-long vacations per year. I am not a fan of visiting the same places twice but would make an exception for Disney.
Lucky Ladybug Travel Blog 