Personal Project · Sep 2022 – May 2026

50 States, One Wild Ride 🗺️

Over three years and eight months, I set out to visit every U.S. state, mostly solo, mostly on a budget, and almost entirely for the people and stories along the way. Here's how it went, told through the numbers and the moments behind them.

50 / 50
states visited
72
total trips
90%
traveled solo
44
months, start to finish

Why all 50?

I decided to go to all fifty states because I realized just how huge the U.S. really is, and I wanted to actually understand a little bit about the culture and history of each state, not just read about it. I already loved traveling, and I especially love traveling frugally: figuring out the cheapest flight, the best hostel, the way to see the most with the least. I never rented a car either, just public transit and the occasional Uber or Lyft, and I never checked a bag: one backpack, every trip, the whole way.

Most of these trips were solo. That wasn't the point, but it became one of the best parts: I made a lot of friends living all over the country, and this project gave me a real reason to go meet them, state by state. Looking back, I think this whole thing says something about how I operate generally:

"If I set out to do something, I would do it." On why a 50-state checklist turned into a 3-year, 8-month habit

No grand plan, no sponsor, no matching luggage. Just 72 trips, one state at a time, until the map was full.

The Journey

From a single weekend in Boston to a final flight into Anchorage: the shape of a challenge that grew faster every year.

November 2022
🥇 State #1: Massachusetts
It started with a trip to Boston, no plan yet to hit all fifty, just the first stamp on what would become the map.(I'd technically already been on U.S. soil since September 7, 2022, when I landed in San Francisco to start grad school at Stanford, but moving day doesn't count as a trip. Boston was the first place I went out of my way to visit.)
2023
Finding the rhythm: 11 trips, 6 new states
Nevada, Washington, Illinois, New York, and Pennsylvania joined the list. (California is technically the sixth, but it doesn't really feel like a "new" state since I'd already been living in Stanford since September.) I also made a quick trip to Washington, D.C., close enough to the 50-state spirit even though it isn't technically a state. The idea of "all fifty" started to feel real.
2024
Picking up the pace: 15 trips, 7 new states
Texas, Louisiana, Oregon, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado, and Wisconsin checked off, while a move from Stanford, CA to East Lansing, MI shifted the home base, and the flight paths.
2025
🧳 The big year: 33 trips, 27 new states
By far the most productive stretch of the whole project: more than two new states a month, on average, from Tennessee in January to Vermont in November.
May 1, 2026
🏔️ State #50: Alaska
Anchorage closed the list. Three years and eight months after first landing in the U.S., the map was finally full, 50 for 50.

The Data Behind the Trips

72 trips leave behind a lot of numbers. Here's what they say about how, and how cheaply, this project actually got done. (Figures below cover the 50 states plus a side trip to Washington, D.C.; they leave out international and Canada travel.)

Trips per Year

1
2022
11
2023
15
2024
33
2025
12
2026

2025 alone accounted for 27 new states, almost half the whole map in one year. (2026 is still in progress; trips planned for later in the year aren't counted yet.)

Where I Slept

35 hostel trips
  • Hostel 49%
  • Airbnb 32%
  • Hotel 18%
  • Friend's place 1%

107 hostel nights at an average of $46.80/night. Favorite brand: Hostelling International (HI).

How I Got There

Delta
21
United
13
American
12
Alaska Air
7
Spirit
7
Train/Bus
6

Plus JetBlue, Frontier, Southwest, and Avelo picking up the shorter or cheaper hops. Never a rental car in the mix, just transit, rideshares, and a single backpack.

Solo vs. Together

90% went solo
  • Solo 65
  • With friends 6
  • Group trips 1

Solo travel made the schedule flexible enough to actually finish. The "with friends" trips are how the project also turned into a way to stay in touch with people scattered across the country.

Busiest Months

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

September edges out January and November as the favorite month to disappear for a long weekend, likely thanks to shoulder-season flight prices.

Fun Facts & Milestones

🥇
First state
Massachusetts · Boston, Nov 2022
🏔️
50th state
Alaska · Anchorage, May 1, 2026
🏙️
Most-visited city
San Francisco, CA · 6 visits
🗺️
Most-revisited state
California · 11 trips
✈️
Most-used airline
Delta · 21 trips
🤑
Priciest U.S. trip
Boston, MA (2022) · $869.42
🛏️
Hostel nights
107 nights · avg $46.80/night
🧳
Most productive year
2025 · 33 trips, 27 new states
🏛️
Beyond the 50
Washington, D.C., Oct 2023, the one non-state stop that still made the trip log
🤝
Solo travel rate
65 of 72 trips (90%)
💰
Total spend, 72 trips (flights + lodging)
$26,762 ($372/trip avg)
🚌
Getting around
Never rented a car. Public transit and the occasional Uber or Lyft, every trip.
🎒
Packing style
Personal item only, every trip. No carry-on, no checked bag.

All 50 States ✅

Every state below was visited at least once, hover any one for the city and date of the first trip there.

AL✓
AK★
AZ✓
AR✓
CA✓
CO✓
CT✓
DE✓
FL✓
GA✓
HI✓
ID✓
IL✓
IN✓
IA✓
KS✓
KY✓
LA✓
ME✓
MD✓
MA★
MI✓
MN✓
MS✓
MO✓
MT✓
NE✓
NV✓
NH✓
NJ✓
NM✓
NY✓
NC✓
ND✓
OH✓
OK✓
OR✓
PA✓
RI✓
SC✓
SD✓
TN✓
TX✓
UT✓
VT✓
VA✓
WA✓
WV✓
WI✓
WY✓

What's next?

Fifty down. The travel habit isn't going anywhere. Next up: more international stamps, and probably a return trip or two to the states I rushed through the first time.

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