Have Job, Will Travel

Since becoming a missionary, I've found that I do a lot more traveling than I ever did prior to becoming a missionary. This is partly due to work related travel such as deputation, conferences, and training. But also because for the first time in my life my wife and I both have full-time salaries (and frequent flyer miles) that allow us to go places that simply were out of the question back when we were students.

On a recent plane trip, I tore the maps out of the back of American Way magazine and checked off every U.S. state, Canadian province, and foreign country that I have visited during my lifetime. I've posted the results of that exercise below. The only criterion for including a location on the list as that I have actually, physically, been within the geographical boundaries of the stated state, province, or country in question. Places where I've actually resided are marked with an asterisk (*) and places where I have never gotten outside of the airport are marked with a number sign (#). I've also attempted to note the approximate date of my first visit to each location and, where possible, subsequent dates. For places I've been numerous times, I've simply used the designation "multiple visits." A date followed by a number sign indicates that the visit was an airport layover. Dates followed by an asterisk indicate dates of residence. As I continue to travel, I will make it a point to update this post on a regular basis.

U.S. States

1. Colorado* (1969-1993*, 1998-2000*, 2005-06*)
   
2. Wyoming (early 1970s, multiple visits)
   
3. Idaho (early 1970s, multiple visits)
   
4. Utah (early 1970s#, multiple visits)
   
5. California (1980, multiple visits)
   
6. Tennessee (1982#, 2002)
   
7. Washington, D.C. (1982, 1990, 1991, 2007)
   
8. Virginia (1982, D.C. area, multiple visits)
   
9. Texas (1982#, numerous layovers in Dallas-Fort Worth, 2009 Houston)
   
10. Nevada (1982, multiple visits)
    
11. Arizona (1982, multiple visits)
    
12. New Mexico (1982, multiple visits)
    
13. Hawaii (1985#)
    
14. New York (1990# layover in NYC, 2005 Rochester area)
    
15. Nebraska (1990, multiple visits)
    
16. Iowa (1990, multiple visits)
    
17. Illiniois (1990, multiple visits)
    
18. Wisconsin (1990, 2000, 2005 Green Lake Conference Center)
    
19. Minnesota (1990, multiple visits)
    
20. South Dakota (1990, multiple visits)
    
21. Ohio (1991#, 2005 Huntington, WV area)
    
22. Kansas (1993, multiple visits)
    
23. Missouri (1993, 2007)
    
24. New Jersey (1999, multiple visits)
    
25. Pennsylvania (1999, multiple visits)
    
26. Florida (2000, multiple visits)
    
27. Maryland (2004)
    
28. Massachusetts (2005)
    
29. Oregon (2005, Portland area, Vale area)
    
30. North Carolina (2005#, 2007# layovers on U.S. airways)
    
31. West Virginia (2005, 2007)
    
32. Georgia (2006)
    
33. Kentucky (2007)
    

Canadian Provinces

1. Quebec (2005, 2008)
2. British Columbia (2008)
   

Foreign Countries

1. New Zealand (1985)
   
2. Mexico (1987-88)
   
3. Dominican Republic* (1993-95*, multiple visits)
   
4. Haiti (1993)
   
5. Puerto Rico* (1993#, 1994, 1995-1998*, numerous layovers in San Juan)
   
6. Bahamas* (2000-2004, 2006-present)
7. Canada (2005, 2008)
   
8. Antigua (2007)
   
9. Jamaica (2008)
10. United Kingdom (2009#, overnight layover at London Heathrow Airport)
11. Italy (2009)