Some Places in the United States I Have Seen
The United States is the land of my birth and will likely be the land of my death, though that is just a prediction. Having lived there all of my life, my
viewpoint on the subject is probably a little biased as to how I see it. I have travelled all across the country, having
thus far been to thirty states and hoping to see the rest at some point. I have been travelling back and forth around this
great land from the time I was born. My mother is from Illinois and my father is from Ohio, so, going to these places from Colorado was nothing unusual.
We would travel all around, and I think my parents felt it was important to make us travel a lot as children, so we would go on cross country trips to
California, or British Columbia, Or to Washington DC in the East. My parents' love of travel, surely inspired a great deal of it in the three of us. As I got
older, we would continue to go on trips, primarily in the West and to Illinois, but this exposed me to a lot of the country.
Additionally, my brothers took to moving all over the country themselves, and at the time of writing this, my brother Marc has thus far lived in seven states
in his life, and visited 48 of them. Their living in various places, like California, Massachussetts, Maryland Wyoming, and North Carolina, drew me out to visit them
and expose myself to a large portion of the country I hadn't visited, primarily in the East. Altogether, I've had a good deal of exposure to the following
states: Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Nevada, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri,
Lousiana, Tennessee, Ohio, Michigan, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, and Massachussetts (as well as Washington D.C.).
I hope eventually to see the rest, but particularly, Alaska, Maine, Georgia and Texas, which I think would be thrilling.
The United States to me is somewhat overwhelming, and I feel fortunate to have been born there to appreciate such a culturally wealthy and diverse nation. Many people say that the US has no culture, but the more I travel abroad, the more I realize this is an utter lie. The US has loads of culture that changes dramatically the more East you go. It is true that most of the American cities (especially in the West) do look more or less the same, but even here, each city certainly has a different feel to it. San Francisco, feels extremely different to Los Angeles and Denver. Seattle, has a good and pleasant feel to it, and Boston has a very different, yet similar feel to that. Washington DC can be very overwhelming in and of itself to see so many recognizable symbols within a square mile from where you stand. New Orleans is loaded with a very saturated and fun culture, which varies considerably from the feel of Raleigh, or Asheville for that matter. One thing about Americans is that they are very different from each other, but they understand and appreciate one another's past in a very profound, and moving way. New York,is hardly like majestic nature of Montana, yet they are all American.
America definitely has a sense to it that is unique around the globe (in my travels anyway), although the world wants to be America in many ways. The American people are a mystery to me, and I presume this is like seeing the forest through the trees, being an American myself, and being exposed to mostly Americans in my life, more than any other single nationality. Americans are a hard group to categorize, because they are so diverse, both ethnically, and culturally. A Texan has a different way of seeing things than a New Yorker, but they are still (for the most part) very patriotic people. Being an American myself, I sometimes wonder what it is and how that affects me in going through life. In their own way they certainly have a sometimes wasteful and selfish attitude, but can also be the most generous and caring people as well. I sometimes find Americans to be ignorant and unreasonable, because they will not consider the points of view of other nations, and feel somehow superior. One thing I find really refreshing about Americans is their belief in their own constitution. They support the freedoms represented in their constitution a great deal, and although the political climate at the time of writing this, is not so supportive of the constitution, Americans absolutely champion the cause of free speech, opinions and religion (at least on a theoritical level) more than anyone else.
The climates are wonderful, and change dramatically, with just a few hours drive (depending on where you start), you can be in the desert of the South West, or the deep green forests of the East. I particularly adore the Rocky Mountains, but then, that's my home and what I've been raised near. America, does have ample coast lines, with great beaches, and beautiful landscapes. Of course, you also have the wasteland of Wyoming, but in the same state, you have Devil's Tower, and Yellowstone National Park. The sights can be both breathtaking and ugly. The architecture, likewise can be both breathtaking, and ugly, with most cities, even in the West having at least some Victorian houses and buildings, and on the East you have much older houses, of the Colonial age and so on. America is a land of utility, and beauty, serving for both the form and function of it's inhabitants. As America progresses, it is becoming more beautiful daily, with the architecture, meant to be more aesthetic and clever, or the countryside being reforested in areas and so on.