Meaningless milestone

I'm not a big fan of "I've been to X different states" checklists. Manhattan is very different from Niagara Falls, and the idea that visiting either one of them is representative of New York as a whole is laughable. Ditto on Flagstaff and Tucson. Even in my relatively homogeneous home state, Detroit and Traverse City have a very different feel to them, and neither one of them feels like Escanaba.

But I confess that I am excited, because in less than two weeks I will get to set foot on another continent for the first time in my life. Just five more to go...