Nepali Wanderer

When we start traveling, it’s easy to get caught up in the trend of counting countries. After all, saying you’ve traveled to four countries sounds cooler than just one, even if that one country is as massive as India. This fascination highlights how much we value man-made boundaries. In the US, this trend turns into counting states.

A few months ago, I had two contrasting trips in the US. In one trip, I spent almost 10 days traversing a single state — Alaska. In another, I embarked on an adventure of counting states, covering five new states along with the two I had previously visited. All in just three days. Today, I want to recount my counting states adventure.

If you ever want to do a counting-states tour in the US, I’d recommend the East Coast. The states are smaller, making it easier to cover more ground quickly, and the cities along the East Coast are beautiful and historic. Whether your travel preferences lean toward nature, cities, or history, you can experience a lot in a little time. My friend picked me up in New Jersey, from where we headed off to Connecticut where he lived. In the evening, we traveled to Newport, Rhode Island. Newport is a small city known for its beautiful mansions and colonial history. It is also famous for its Cliff Walk, which offers a breathtaking view of the Atlantic at night. We walked for an hour or two along the coast, enjoying the Atlantic breeze.

The next day, our plan was to visit a city in New Hampshire and then see a bit of Boston on our way back. We decided on Portsmouth, another city from colonial times, and headed there. As fate would have it, we arrived in the less happening part of the city. After looking at Google Maps, we discovered a pleasant surprise: we were literally a bridge away from entering Maine, the northernmost state on the East Coast. The temptation to do my own version of “Kashmir to Kanyakumari” in Northern USA was too great to resist.

As we set our hearts on crossing the bridge, we decided to go even further, up to Portland, Maine. Portland is a city known for its port (of course) and beautiful architecture. Since Maine is also known as the Lobster capital of the US, we tried “a bit” of lobster there. On our journey back, we explored the more vibrant part of Portsmouth. Like the earlier cities in the trip, Portsmouth had a European vibe due to its colonial history.

Many East Coast cities in the US (at least the ones I’ve visited) have this typical English feel, right from their names (Portsmouth, Manchester, New England, New York, etc.) to their architecture. You don’t even need to dig deep into history to glimpse British colonisation. And if you do dig a little, you realise the United States at its inception consisted of these East Coast states. (Fun Fact: Even the original name of the US was “These United States.”)

From Portsmouth, we headed to Boston, our final destination of the sprint tour. In a tour aligned with some of the oldest colonial cities in the US, it was fitting to end the day in Boston, a city known for the famous Tea Party that eventually led to US independence. The first view of Boston was special, passing by the bridge with a stunning view of the skyscrapers. We then did the famous Freedom Trail to experience the city’s deep-rooted history. The East Coast is also famous for its colleges and universities, including the Ivy League schools.

Since Harvard is the pick of the lot and happened to be in Boston, my friend took me there. With limited time on our sprint tour, we had to pick one place to visit at Harvard. For me, that was easy — we spent some time in the Harvard bookstore, scanning books and realising how challenging it is to select one under time pressure.

The next day, I had to return to New Jersey. So, my friend dropped me off in New York City to catch an easy bus connection. Plus, it’s New York City — so why not take a quick stroll before catching my bus?