
There's a quiz floating around, where you identify which US states you've visited and get back a map of the US, with those states picked out in red. Now, I'm a born nitpicker1, and my training in mathematics and linguistics only made things worse.
What does "visited" mean?
I have lived in the following states (5): Arizona, California, Hawaii, Illinois, Washington.
I have gone to the following states, with the intention of doing something not transportation-related there, and spent at least one night (13+1): Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin. (DC also belongs here.)
Same criterion, without spending the night (3): Indiana, New Hampshire, Virginia.
I've set foot in the following states, spending the night, while in transit (2): Arkansas, Pennsylvania.
Same criterion, without spending the night (5): Georgia, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico.
I've ridden through the following states, without setting foot in them (2): Kansas, Ohio.
Then there's that prenatal time in South Carolina...
So how many states have I visited?
1. When I was a kid - maybe about six? - my sister O. decided to quiz me on my ability to read a clock. She asked (something like) "If the big hand was on the eight and the little hand was on the four, what time would it be?" I answered, "The clock would be broken. If the big hand was on the eight, the little hand would be between the four and the five." For some reason, O. found that answer unsatisfactory.