Visiting Places

Visiting Places
by Rob Cottignies

Camelback Mountain, Arizona

I’ve been to Ireland.

What does that mean to you? Do you think I spent a month traveling to different areas of the country or did I spend one weekend in Dublin?

How do you define visiting a place?

I've gotten varied responses to that question: Some say it's spending at least a week learning the culture by living with a family and/or taking a class. Others say it's spending time in various places within the city, state, or country (multiple nights, multiple tours, etc.). And some folks say it's simply setting foot or tires on the ground (i.e. saying you've been to Chicago because you had a two-hour layover at Midway).

Who’s correct? Everybody and nobody. But here’s what I think:

In 2012, I spent ten days exploring six places in Alaska. Many folks have taken cruises that stop in two or three places in the state for a bit of time before reboarding the ship. Do I have more of a claim to say I've visited Alaska than cruise people?

To be fair, there are things such as glaciers along Alaska's coast which can only be seen from the water. Though it may be a breathtaking experience, can they truly say they've been to Alaska?

(Side note: Many residents of Juneau can't stand cruise people but count on them financially so if you go, pretend to not be with a cruise or at least don't act like a clueless tourist.)

And how does this break down when comparing visiting a city and a state or country? I spent two wonderful days in Copenhagen so I've definitely been there, but did I visit Denmark? One can certainly spend a week exploring Manhattan, but could that person really say they've visited the state of New York or even the United States as a whole?

My version of visiting a city is staying at least two nights, using the full day to explore, preferably on foot. Visiting a state means at least two distinct stops or day trips with some exploration at each. Visiting a country would be at least two spots with ground travel within.

Fully visiting a country- even a small one- is difficult. There are so many places to see. One would have to go through every city, town, and village. This would be very time-consuming and probably not worth it unless you had a special attachment to the country.

In Belgium, I've stayed in four cities, visited two others, and rented a car to drive around the west, but I've not gone to any of the east nor most of the south. Have I been to Belgium? All over a third of the country, but what about the rest?

Part of that driving experience took me to Lille and Wasquehal in France for about 2.5 hours. I've never been to Paris nor any other French locale. Can I say I’ve been to France?

This is all, of course, pointless because everyone has their own definition. The real point is that you should go out and travel, no matter how you define it.

Lone Cypress- Pebble Beach, California