Three closest states that you have not driven in

[elsmere241]

I had to really think about this one.

Kentucky (was driven through a few times as a child, passed through Cincinnati airport in 2004)
Florida (never been)
Lousiana (never been)

That may change in the near future, as the wife wants to clinch those states, and Alaska and Hawaii at some point.  (She also wants to get the rest of Canada's provinces, she has three so far.  I'm still not sure she grasps how big and spread out Canada is.)

[corco]

Interesting, with Jim's intent in mind my list is still:

In the U.S. (though I have been a passenger):
Florida
Hawaii

Including Canadian provinces
1. New Brunswick
2. Prince Edward Island
3. Nova Scotia

I've driven to every state I've driven in from my house at some point in time.

[JayhawkCO]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

Hawai'i and Alaska. Everything else has been driven from home.

If I include Canadian provinces and territories in addition to U.S. states, without taking a ferry, these are those that I haven't driven from home:

Northwest Territories - 1,843 miles (Have not visited)
Alaska (driving to Hyder) - 2,025 miles (Flown into)
Yukon - 2,176 miles (Have not visited)
New Brunswick - 2,198 miles (Flew into PHL and then road tripped)
Nova Scotia - 2,506 miles (Flew into PHL and then road tripped)
Prince Edward Island - 2,531 miles (Flew into PHL and then road tripped)
Newfoundland and Labrador - 2,620 miles (Have not visited)

[1995hoo]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

The answer for me is none.  I love to drive and I am 99% driving.  Especially now that we have a Class A motorhome, I am the only one that can drive it.

How did you drive from home to Hawaii?

I understand Jim to be hypothesizing that you go on a car (or RV or van or whatever) trip in which you start at home and the question is, on all such trips, what states are there in which you have not driven?

Yes, that was my intent.

For several years, my only travels in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana, were on a trip where I flew to Jackson for a conference in Vicksburg.  I was able to tack on a day to my rental car to check out that area.  At that time, those states would have been part of my set.  I've driven to each multiple times on trips starting at home in the 25 years since.

BTW, for purposes of my answer to your scenario, I was assuming that connections via car ferries don't break the chain of your driving the whole way, such that (for example) taking the CAT Ferry from Portland to Nova Scotia counts as a trip where you "drove to Nova Scotia from home" even though you didn't go through New Brunswick in either direction. I view it as counting because you drive your car onto, and off of, the ferry.

[JayhawkCO]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

The answer for me is none.  I love to drive and I am 99% driving.  Especially now that we have a Class A motorhome, I am the only one that can drive it.

How did you drive from home to Hawaii?

By living in Hawai'i?

[MikeTheActuary]

From where you are living now, what are the three closest states that you have never driven even a mile in.

The only three states I have never driven in are:

• Arizona (only made a connection at PHX)
  
• Oregon (only made a connection at PDX)
  
• Utah (one connection at SLC, one lobbying trip to the Capitol where I wasn't the driver)
  

If expanded to include Canadian provinces, then the three closest would be NB, NS, and PEI.

With the alternate question of "states not driven from home", the three closest are LA, ND, and SD.   Air travel has also been involved to my trips to MT, WY, ID, UT, AZ, WA, OR, NV, CA, AK, and HI. 

In Canada, I've still only been to ON and QC, both of which have been reached in road trips that started/ended at "home".

[1995hoo]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

The answer for me is none.  I love to drive and I am 99% driving.  Especially now that we have a Class A motorhome, I am the only one that can drive it.

How did you drive from home to Hawaii?

By living in Hawai'i?

D'oh. Talk about something obvious (assuming it's accurate as to ethanhopkin14).

[ethanhopkin14]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

The answer for me is none.  I love to drive and I am 99% driving.  Especially now that we have a Class A motorhome, I am the only one that can drive it.

How did you drive from home to Hawaii?

By living in Hawai'i?

D'oh. Talk about something obvious (assuming it's accurate as to ethanhopkin14).

The question was what states have I not driven in that I drove to...short version.

The answer is none.  I have driven in every US state I have been to on a road trip.  I have not been to Hawaii. 

[Rothman]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?  My list is short: Hawaii.  I've driven to and in all others at some point on the same trip.

The answer for me is none.  I love to drive and I am 99% driving.  Especially now that we have a Class A motorhome, I am the only one that can drive it.

How did you drive from home to Hawaii?

By living in Hawai'i?

D'oh. Talk about something obvious (assuming it's accurate as to ethanhopkin14).

The question was what states have I not driven in that I drove to...short version.

The answer is none.  I have driven in every US state I have been to on a road trip.  I have not been to Hawaii.

*facedesk*

[DesertedHighwayz]

This one is easy.

- Ohio
- Kentucky
- Alabama (idk if this or Indiana is closer lol)

[ethanhopkin14]

An alternative version of the question at hand: what states have you not driven in on a trip in which you drove there from your home?

*facedesk*

What am I missing here?  The question is WHAT STATES HAVE YOU NOT DRIVEN IN ON A TRIP WHICH YOU HAVE DROVE THERE FROM YOUR HOME?

So, excluding the states I have not been to (North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Iowa, Oregon, Alaska and Hawaii) because obviously they don't count due to the nature of the question because in order to be not driving in the state (the way that is worded is you are in the state but not driving), you have to be in the state....  With that, every state I have driven to from my house, I have driven in at some point.  Maybe the first time I visited I was a passenger, then years later I returned on a trip originating from my house and drove in that state on that separate trip.  But every US state, I have driven in when I was on a road trip.  I still have not driven in Tamaulipas or Nuevo Leon; I either was a passenger or was carless in those situations. 

Basically, the question is you were on a road trip across multiple states, and you traded off driving responsibilities.  One tradeoff, your driving buddy took the reins across the entire state of ____.  This was true for me the first time I went to St. Louis.  My friend and I switched out in Illinois, and he drove all the way across Missouri.  I woke up and we were in Oklahoma, and we switched again.  Just a few months later my brother and I drove through Missouri, and I was driving so that got crossed off the list. 

That's how I read the question.  A state I visited but didn't drive in it; qualifier: it has to be a road trip originated from my residence, so flying to a location, renting a car and driving around doesn't count. 

[hotdogPi]

I'm still confused. As soon as you enter a state that you drove from your home... you've driven in it. The list should be empty for everyone.

[Jim]

Wow, I guess my variation was much more ambiguous than I thought.  Sorry about that.  So I guess there are three categories for candidate answers.

1) The original: what states have you not driven in?
2) My intent: what states have you never driven to from your home (whether or not you've been there or not by other means)?
3) One alternate interpretation: what states have you been to but never driven in from your home?

Interesting case that state of Hawaii.  I guess it would be the case that people who have lived there have driven there from home.  Those who've lived only in Hawaii haven't driven anywhere else from home.  Personally, I'd count a ferry where I and my car traveled together.  I don't know if such a thing exists from the North American mainland to Hawaii accomplished by something like booking passage for yourself on the same cargo ship that's transporting your car.

[pderocco]

Only state I've not driven in is Alaska, and if I ever do, I don't think I'll be taking the AlCan to get there.

[formulanone]

Closest states to home in which I haven't driven in at all:

Nevada (didn't drive), Alaska (haven't visited); but have personally driven a vehicle in every other US state (48). Outside the US, probably my closest not-visited estado/province from home is either Tamaulipas or Quebec. A rough check on Google Maps shows they're about a 10 mile trip difference in mileage, which really surprised me! 

Driven to from my home:

I have not driven directly to Oklahoma nor Texas from home, and I suppose Maryland would be the next closest. I've personally driven from my home to "only" 21 states + DC; either I fly for work to many states, or I was just a unlicensed passenger through several others.

[1995hoo]

I'm still confused. As soon as you enter a state that you drove from your home... you've driven in it. The list should be empty for everyone.

That depends on how literally you are taking the words "you drove." If it means you sat behind the wheel and operated the vehicle, then you're right. If instead means you travelled by motor vehicle the entire way in a trip originating at home, then you're wrong because if the possibility of being a passenger in a car being driven by someone else (that is, if my wife described our trip to St. Louis a few years ago, she'd almost certainly say "we drove" even though she didn't actually do any of the driving despite our taking her car–and I don't think there's anything wrong with her saying that, either, because that's how normal people talk).

[index]

Counting states I had been in with my parents driving when I was a child:

1. Alabama (212 mi)
2. Indiana (220 mi)
3. Illinois (336 mi)

Counting states I have only driven myself in:

1. Ohio (143 mi)
2. Alabama (212 mi)
3. Indiana (220 mi)

[02 Park Ave]

Michigan, Kentucky, and Missouri

[ilpt4u]

Louisiana
Oklahoma
South Dakota

[andrepoiy]

For me:

US States: New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia

Canadian provinces: Nova Scotia, PEI, and Manitoba.

I have also visited Rhode Island but I relied solely on public transit and my two legs for that trip.
There are a bunch of other states and provinces (including some of the above) I have visited by vehicular transport but I was not the driver.

[gonealookin]

There's a whole row of them from North Dakota down through Oklahoma that I've never set foot in, even to change planes at an airport, never mind driving.  The "flyover states" are named that for a reason.  Except I did go to Kansas when I was in Kansas City, MO, to buy a Coke or something, just to check Kansas off the list, but I couldn't have driven more than 5 miles in that state.

So the 3 closest would be:
Nebraska
Oklahoma
South Dakota

Having lived in California or Nevada since I got my driver's license I have never driven my own car east of I-25.

[ethanhopkin14]

The "flyover states" are named that for a reason.

Spoken like a true Californian......or Nevadian on the state line.

The disrespect is strong. 

[NWI_Irish96]

The only two US states I haven't driven in are the only two I haven't been to at all: Alaska and Hawaii

Including Canada, the three closest I haven't driven in are the three closest I haven't been to, which are Manitoba, Quebec and Saskatchewan.

[StogieGuy7]

States?
-North Dakota
-Alaska
-Hawaii

And that's it.

Now, if we include Canadian provinces then it would be Manitoba and Saskatchewan. I've driven in most of the rest of the provinces (though no territories).

[jlam]

wyoming
nebraska
kansas

lol