# What states/countries have you spent the most time in? The least? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823 "2014-08-29T01:53:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/1 "2014-08-29T01:53:59Z")
When I say the least, I’m not counting places you’ve never been to. If you’ve just passed through a place, it still counts, though. States (most): 1. Illinois (I’ve lived here about 30 of my nearly 38 years) 2. Florida (lived there 6 or 6 1/2 years) 3. Maryland (lived there just under 2 years) 4. This is a tight contest–I spent a summer in Seattle, Washington, and have also been there two other times. I’ve been to California about a dozen times. If I had to guess, I’d say Washington is fourth. States (least): 1. Alabama (about one minute…we drove over the state border and immediately turned around) 2. another tight contest–probably either Delaware or Connecticut, at maybe an hour or two in each state. Countries (most): 1. United States (I’ve always lived here) 2. Canada (I’ve been there five times, for a total of one month or so) 3. tight contest between Israel and China (three weeks each) Countries (least): 1. Nicaragua (one minute…I was in a boat that crossed over from Costa Rica and turned around) 2. Mexico (about half an hour in Tijuana) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/2 "2014-08-29T02:43:25Z")
Country: USA (lots) Canada 10 years Jordan 2 years Chile, over a year Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico, 6 months or more South Africa, Romania, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, 2 months or more Least: Iraq, on a boat in Iraqi inland waters, boarded with passport checked by Iraqi officlal. Azerbaijan, on a road in Iran that technically crosses into Azerbaijan territory. States: Wisconsin, 17 years. Michigan, Texas, Kansas, Missouri, 5 years or more. California, Louisiana, Florida 2 years or more. Least: Of the lower 48, I think New Hampshire is the only one I never slept overnight in. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/3 "2014-08-29T03:17:17Z")
As an American, the answer for countries is the US. However, in just a few short years, I will have spent more than 50% of my life in Thailand. For least, that would be a toss-up between France, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein. I was hitchhiking in Europe, and a British truck driver gave me a lift on the edge of Brussels and took me all the way to Switzerland. We passed through Luxembourg and the northeastern part of France – I remember we drove through Nancy – before he let me off in Basel, Switzerland. Then later in that trip I think I passed through those countries again on an overnight train from Germany to Brussels, thus giving Liechtenstein the win, because I passed through there on a train from Zurich to Vienna and never went back through, so I’m pretty sure Liechtenstein was a shorter period. (Also, while flying from Mexico City to Managua, my flight made brief stops both ways at the airports in the capitals of Guatemala and El Salvador, so those might win, but at least with Liechtenstein I traveled the breadth of the country down on land.) As for countries I’ve actually stayed in, that would probably be Taiwan. Twice I’ve had to stay overnight in the airport hotel on my way to the US, and the last time the airport hotel had been moved a few blocks away, so I had to be stamped into the country. Macau might be a contender, as I made an overnight trip there once from Hong Kong, but the number of hours I spent in Macau _might_ exceed my total amount of time in Taiwan, not sure. And Macau was still a Portuguese colony then and has never been a country. Now for US states. The most time, unfortunately, is Texas, having lived there for 24 years, from ages 5-29. For least amount of time, that would probably be Delaware, as we passed through there while taking the train from Washington to New York. On that same trip, we also passed through New Jersey twice by train and Maryland once by train and once by car. But Delaware just the once, and that was really brief. Once the wife and I popped up into Missouri while driving around northern Arkansas and was there for an hour or two, _maybe_. I still think Delaware has it. Close though. If you count airport stops, then Washington state would win, because back when Thai Airways still flew from Bangkok to Dallas, the plane stopped for an hour in Seattle. For states I’ve actually stayed in, that would be a toss-up between Louisiana and Kansas. On family trips as a boy, we stayed overnight once in Shreveport on our way from Texas to Arkansas and on another trip overnight somewhere in Kansas on our way from Texas or Oklahoma (I think we had stayed with some friends in Oklahoma City on that trip) to Colorado. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/4 "2014-08-29T03:17:32Z")
States: 1. New York. No doubt here. I grew up in New York and I’ve always lived here. 2. That’s tougher. I grew up near Vermont and I’ve spent a lot of time there. But I’ve been going south to Texas in the winter for quite a while now. I’d estimate at this point that I’ve probably spent more days in Texas than I’ve spent in Vermont. Countries: That’s easy. 1. United States 2. Canada The only two countries I’ve ever been in. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/5 "2014-08-29T03:26:05Z")
countries. 20+ years greater china (all as an adult), US about 30 years (CA, AZ and WA) ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/6 "2014-08-29T04:24:10Z")
**Provinces / States** : 1. Saskatchewan - a stubble-jumper through and through. 2. Ontario - university and job 3. Quebec - university and language training 4. Connecticut - university 5. Nova Scotia - language training 6. British Columbia 7. Alberta 8. California 9. Newfoundland & Labrador 10. Manitoba 11. Hawaii 12. Vermont 13. New York 14. North Dakota 15. South Dakota 16. New Brunswick 17. Washington (state) 18. Yukon 19. Northwest Territories 20. D.C. 21. Kentucky 22. Tennessee 23. Ohio 24. Minnesota 25. Michigan. **Countries** 1. Canada 2. USA 3. United Kingdom 4. France 5. Australia 6. India 7. Ireland ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/7 "2014-08-29T04:35:46Z")
Forgot Massachusetts and Maryland. 15.1 Massachusetts 1. Maryland ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/8 "2014-08-29T04:36:25Z")
Countries: South Africa - most of my life UK - Months Saudi Arabia - Weeks Italy - Less Weeks Namibia - One Week Mauritius - Days Lesotho - Less Days Dubai - Hours In South Africa, I’ve spent most of my life in the Western Cape Province, 3 years in Gauteng, weeks in Northern Cape, Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga Provinces, and days in each of the 4 other provinces we have. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/9 "2014-08-29T04:36:53Z")
Most: 1. US 2. Israel 3. Cambodia Least (not counting airports): 1. Monaco 2. San Marino ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/10 "2014-08-29T05:49:34Z")
**States (most):** California (the only states I’ve ever lived in) Oregon (family vacations) Washington (family vacations) **States (least):** Iowa (like 20 minutes driving through) Arkansas (maybe an hour driving through) **Countries (most):** USA (live here my whole life) Italy (several weeks) England (couple of trips totaling 2 weeks) **Countries (least):** Switzerland (day trip from Italy) Canada (less than a week) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/11 "2014-08-29T06:09:38Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > countries. 20+ years greater china (all as an adult), US about 30 years (CA, AZ and WA) Grrrrr. My wife doesn’t like this answer. 😉 I’ve spend about half my life outside the States, including 25 years in Japan and 18 months in Taiwan. I’ve visited a number of countries for a couple of day, but the shortest “visits” may be transits. Paris airport for an hour or so would likely be the winner. States: I only ever lived in Utah. I stayed in California for two months. The least would be 15 seconds, give or take a bit, in New Mexico. We visited the Four Corners monument and walked around the states. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/12 "2014-08-29T08:18:07Z")
I missed the part about least. With me it would be either Delaware, Indiana, or Oklahoma. I’ve never stopped in any of these state but I’ve driven through short stretches of them so I’ve spent about fifteen minutes in each. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/13 "2014-08-29T14:14:24Z")
I could add, for least, the Mexican state of Tlaxcala, which I just drove up to the state line, and turned around. I believe now that the toll road DF-Puebla crosses the Tlaxcala line but I haven’t been on that road. The only Mexican state I have not been in is Baja-Sur. I think the state I’ve been in the longest would be Nayarit, but a lot of Tamaulipas, too, one day (or hour) at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/14 "2014-08-29T14:29:07Z")
Countries: Canada, about 43 years, all in Quebec US, about 31 years Switzerland, nearly 3 years, split between Zurich and Fribourg States: PA, 25+ years IL, 4 years NY, 2 years As for least, that is harder. It must be Nevada where I spent an hour or two on one occasion changing planes in Las Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/15 "2014-08-29T14:34:19Z")
Let’s see in descending order of time: Texas: 42 years… 21 in Houston, 5 in College Station and 15 in Dallas, more or less (adds up to 41 I know) UK: Roughly 9 weeks over 2 vacations and a study-abroad. Louisiana: About 5 weeks- worked there for a bit more than a month in 2006. Italy: Just shy of 3 weeks- vacation + delayed flight in winter of 2010. California: About 2 weeks - worked there for a week each time. New Mexico: About 2 weeks - went to Philmont as a teenager. Kansas: Probably about a week and a half total- multiple long weekend visits to my Aunt and Uncle, combined with a trip to KC & Lawrence to see friends. Czech Republic (Prague): About a week - vacation. Hungary (Budapest): About a week - vacation. Netherlands: About a week - vacation Belgium: About a week - vacation. New York (NYC, Highland Falls/West Point), Georgia, Massachusetts (Boston/Salem), and Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) - about 4 days each on long weekend trips. ---
**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:** [August 29, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/16 "2014-08-29T14:48:54Z")
Most: US: about 36 years total (25 years New York state, 5 years Colorado, 5 years Washington DC) Panama: 24 years New Zealand: 3 1/2 years Gabon: about 5 months Peru: about 4 months Least: Countries: Not counting airport stopovers of a few hours, about 2 days in Antigua. States: Probably Rhode Island, which might have taken hour or less to drive through. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/17 "2014-08-30T00:13:10Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > **For states I’ve actually stayed in, that would be a toss-up between Louisiana and Kansas.** On family trips as a boy, we stayed overnight once in Shreveport on our way from Texas to Arkansas and on another trip overnight somewhere in Kansas on our way from Texas or Oklahoma (I think we had stayed with some friends in Oklahoma City on that trip) to Colorado. I forgot Connecticut. While staying in New York City two years ago, we made a quick trip to stay overnight with friends who live in a Hartford suburb. So that was another overnighter state along with Louisiana and Kansas. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/18 "2014-08-30T01:03:07Z")
Countries: 1. US - lived here all my life. 2. Mexico - a week-long family vacation when I was a teenager. 3. Canada - a few hours when I was 5. States: 1. California (Lived there the first 34 years of my life) 2. Oregon (lived here the last 7 years) 3. Washington (lived there for two years between #1 and #2) 4. Alaska/Nevada/Arizona. For each state, I think I’ve spent a grand total of about two weeks. I’m not sure which one wins. Everything after that is just weekend trips, at most. I’m not sure which would land in the “least” spot, maybe Illinois or Utah (less than 48 hours each). ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/19 "2014-08-30T01:11:34Z")
USA the most, but I have lived in Panama for 3 years and now the Dominican Republic for going on 3 years. I have had a license to drive in 8 states in the USA and owned a house in 7 of those. The only 2 states I have never been in are Alaska and Hawaii. Been into Canada a quite a few times, maybe 12. I have driven thru all of Central America except for Belize and visited Colombia a dozen times and entered Venezuela by bus from Colombia. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823/20 "2014-08-30T01:26:52Z")
Countries (Most): 1. USA 2. Czech Republic 3. United Arab Emirates Countries (Least): 1. Kenya 2. Transnistria 3. Macau [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-states-countries-have-you-spent-the-most-time-in-the-least/696823.md?page=2)