# What do you count as "Been There" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153 "2012-06-05T13:30:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/1 "2012-06-05T13:30:27Z")
In regards to visiting cities, areas, states, or countries. You can elaborate if you wish. (hopefully, I can get the actual poll up before any comments) ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/2 "2012-06-05T13:40:32Z")
You have to have peed there and eaten there, and not in an airport or bus terminal. I’ve half been in Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/3 "2012-06-05T13:49:37Z")
Good man, **NoClueBoy** , and a good set of options to choose from. Feet on the ground for sure, but being in a ground-based conveyance (car, truck, bus, train) even if you never actually touch the soil, counts in my opinion. Unless you go outside the airport or seaport or whatever and actually “set foot” on that ground, I’m less likely to say I’ve “been there.” Flyovers don’t count in my book. The being born in or having slept through the portion of a “ground-based conveyance” trip where your conveyance passed through the limits of the place, is a real iffy thing for me. Maybe other things I’m not thinking of at the moment, but that others will specify, would get a vote, too. Glad it’s a poll, and multiple choice! ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/4 "2012-06-05T13:50:33Z")
**tdn** ’s definition is close to mine; you have to have eaten and defecated. I agree that airports and other transit terminals don’t count. Oddly enough, I’ve also half been in Delaware. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/5 "2012-06-05T14:01:12Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > Oddly enough, I’ve also half been in Delaware. You peed at the same McDonald’s? ---
**Author:** ![Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arrogance_ex_machina/32/192_2.png) [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrogance_Ex_Machina)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/6 "2012-06-05T14:17:58Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > **tdn** ’s definition is close to mine; you have to have eaten and defecated. If this was truly the definition of having been somewhere, I’d have to remove half the places I’ve been to from my list. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/7 "2012-06-05T14:41:52Z")
My flight to Frankfort was diverted to Shannon, Ireland to re-fuel. We didn’t even get out of the plane but since I’ll likely never see Shannon, Ireland again, I count it as “been there”. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/8 "2012-06-05T14:42:29Z")
> [@August\_West](#): > > **tdn** ’s definition is close to mine; you have to have eaten and defecated. I agree that airports and other transit terminals don’t count. > > Oddly enough, I’ve also half been in Delaware. > [@Arrogance\_Ex\_Machina](#): > > If this was truly the definition of having been somewhere, I’d have to remove half the places I’ve been to from my list. Well, I’d surely have to remove some of those sorts of places from my list, too. This seems a bit of overkill to me, but I do think “interact with the place” can have some meaning without having to have had a meal there or jettisoning one acquired there (or maybe somewhere else!) and maybe that could be as simple and as silly as having collected a rock, a leaf, a sample of drinking water or some physical specimen of that sort. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/9 "2012-06-05T14:47:48Z")
I voted for everything except “In it’s airspace” and “wanker” but it depends on the context. If it’s now that I’ve been there I can remove this from my first time visits list only actual feet on the ground interacting would count. If it’s someones asking if I’ve ever been to Tuscaloosa then I would say yes but … and explain what circumstance of the others listed. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/10 "2012-06-05T14:51:39Z")
There are exceptions allowed to the rule, the spirit behind it is that you’ve spent a meaningful amount of time at a place, to the point where you are familiar with the local bathroom fixtures (or lack thereof). If one is constipated during a 2-day trip to Bora Bora, I wouldn’t presume to deny that person’s claim of having been there. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/11 "2012-06-05T14:54:18Z")
Been there: long enough to have eaten somewhere, and not in the airport/train station. Lived there: long enough to have qualified for a library card. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/12 "2012-06-05T16:22:24Z")
I count traveling through by ground transport (car, bus, train) as having “been there.” I’ve seen something of the place, even if I haven’t put my feet on the ground. (By **tdn’s** criteria, does it count if you’ve done those things on a train passing through?;)) I don’t count airports, since that doesn’t allow you to see anything of a place. I would have at least five more countries on my list if I counted layovers. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/13 "2012-06-05T16:27:44Z")
Boots on the ground and some interaction, not limited to excretion. Transit terminals don’t count at all, for any time period. 4 days at O’Hare doesn’t check off Chicago. But stopping for a burger while driving through Alabama does. As long as you get out of the car. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/14 "2012-06-05T16:36:31Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I count traveling through by ground transport (car, bus, train) as having “been there.” I’ve seen something of the place, even if I haven’t put my feet on the ground. (By **tdn’s** criteria, does it count if you’ve done those things on a train passing through?;)) No. By your criteria, I’ve been to New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/15 "2012-06-05T16:39:57Z")
My wife and I have a running competition for number of countries visited. We have very specific rules and rule #1 is airport only visits do not count. ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/16 "2012-06-05T20:13:42Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Boots on the ground and some interaction, not limited to excretion. Transit terminals don’t count at all, for any time period. 4 days at O’Hare doesn’t check off Chicago. But stopping for a burger while driving through Alabama does. As long as you get out of the car. But what if you stop for a burger at _McDonald’s_? That wouldn’t cut it for me. Now If you stopped at Fat Billy’s BBQ[sup]\*[/sup] and had a plate of pulled pork and hash, washed down with sweet tea from the pitchers on the tables, then you’ve _been there_. [sup]\*[/sup] Not, as far as I know, an actual place, but an amalgamation of all Southern BBQ joints ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/17 "2012-06-05T20:16:37Z")
[http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-19362138R-billys\_pit\_bbq-i](http://travel.yahoo.com/p-travelguide-19362138R-billys_pit_bbq-i) ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/18 "2012-06-05T20:23:48Z")
Airports don’t count. I prefer feet on the ground, but I don’t worry about eating or pooping. Since one of the reasons I like to travel is to sample food that usually isn’t a problem. The only country I can’t count because of the airport rule is China (Hong Kong). The only state excluded is Texas. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/19 "2012-06-05T20:34:56Z")
I voted for “feet on the ground” and “driving thru”…as long as the “drive” is on a street in the main area of the town or city. (Driving by on a freeway doesn’t count). ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153/20 "2012-06-05T20:42:19Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I voted for “feet on the ground” and “driving thru”…as long as the “drive” is on a street in the main area of the town or city. (Driving by on a freeway doesn’t count). What if, as was the case with me going through Delaware, we fully intended to stay on the interstate, but for a while that turned into a main street in a town? (Which was neither Dover nor Wilmington.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-count-as-been-there/624153.md?page=2)