• Women skiers, this is the place for you -- an online community without the male-orientation you'll find in conventional ski magazines and internet ski forums. At TheSkiDiva.com, you can connect with other women to talk about skiing in a way that you can relate to, about things that you find of interest. Be sure to join our community to participate (women only, please!). Registration is fast and simple. Just be sure to add [email protected] to your address book so your registration activation emails won't be routed as spam. And please give careful consideration to your user name -- it will not be changed once your registration is confirmed.

How many cities??

SkiNana

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I read somewhere recently that the average American has been to seventeen cities in their lifetime. I was shocked! So I started counting: I have LIVED in that many! But I moved a lot as a child (I went to 13 schools in 12 years.) My list of towns and cities I have been to quickly topped 160.

I did not to count towns we merely passed through on road trips unless we did something there: visited someone or something, spent the night . . . something other that roaring through at 55 mph or landing and taking off. (I made an exception for Fort Worth, TX: our plane landed there when I was nine and they had to move everyone to a new aircraft due to the extent of my airsickness!). Rather than include my entire "visited" list, I have listed only those I've lived in. But I encourage others to put the ones they've visited if it's anything less cumbersome than . . . whatever: or would listing just foreign cities or just US ones be more manageable? Or should just the numbers be given? I think the results underestimated the true amount if traveling most Americans (and, I am quite certain, the rest of the world) have done, and thus my interest.

Or is the whole thing dumb? Here's my list, in any case. Chime in if you care to: I'd be interested.

Pasadena, CA
Chicago (Evanston), IL
Baltimore, MD
Towson, MD
Nashville, TN
Arlington, VA
Silver spring, MD
Minneapolis, MN
San Juan, PR
Cincinnati, OH
E. Lansing, MI
Bethesda, MD
Laurel, MD
Elliott City, MD
Columbia, MD
Traverse City (Kewadin), MI
Big Sky, MT :snow:
 

Skise

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I have never lived in a city and I have no idea how many I have visited. But I think I have visited 17 countries.
 

SkiNana

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Wow! Even better! I came up with 19 - counting the US, though. Would Caribbean islands count as countries or as the country that owns them?
 

abc

Banned
I read somewhere recently that the average American has been to seventeen cities in their lifetime. I was shocked!
I'm a traveller. So I've been to many countries and citis. That said, I fail to see what's so wrong if some people (ok, a whole bunch of people) never bother to set foot on anything resembling a city?

BTW, Baltimore is a "city", E. Lansing is NOT! It's nothing more than just an extension of MSU university campus. Nor is Pasadena, CA or Bethesda, MD...
 

mustski

Angel Diva
I'm a traveller. So I've been to many countries and citis. That said, I fail to see what's so wrong if some people (ok, a whole bunch of people) never bother to set foot on anything resembling a city?

BTW, Baltimore is a "city", E. Lansing is NOT! It's nothing more than just an extension of MSU university campus. Nor is Pasadena, CA or Bethesda, MD...
What population does it take to qualify as a city, or is it based on square miles/area , or on ? Just curious.
 

ski diva

Administrator
Staff member
I think the original poster was really just interested in the many places people have lived; unless I'm totally off base.

Anyhow, going with that: I lived in the same house until I went away to college. After I graduated, I moved to PA, moved a little bit there, and then moved to Vermont. So here's the list of places I've lived:

Lakewood, NJ
Syracuse, NY (college)
Lansdale, PA
Quakertown, PA
Hatfield, PA
Harleysville, PA
Plymouth, VT

So I guess I'm under the average that SkiNana originally posted.
 

Pandita

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
Interesting, My husband has been to almost all 50 states, he has not yet been to Hawaii. He has been to several different cities in the states as well. I have been to 43 states. The qualification is either spend the night or do something significant (in Massachusetts we had a few hours to spare so we went to Martha's Vineyard and did a little bike ride) So I have been to at least 43 cities. Some states we have been to more than once so more activities. The only states I have left to see are: Alaska, Hawaii, Washington, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska. I have seen so many interesting sites in the states, some skiing, some hiking, and some just being a tourist.
 

abc

Banned
What population does it take to qualify as a city, or is it based on square miles/area , or on ? Just curious.
Given the original post, I'd qualify a "city" as a place having something worthy of visiting as a city does! (and also a place people lives, for example, Yosemite is a "place" people visit, but it's not a "city")

So as an example, E. Lansing wouldn't be worthy of anyone's visit, had it not be for the university. And in reality, almost all "visitors" were there to have some activity IN the university, not in the "city of E. Lansing". It wouldn't have mattered if MSU were just a mail box, they would have come. (I went to MSU for graduate school, and had been back from time to time for alumi activity, so knows E. Lansing intimately) .
 

abc

Banned
I think the original poster was really just interested in the many places people have lived; unless I'm totally off base.

Anyhow, going with that: I lived in the same house until I went away to college. After I graduated, I moved to PA, moved a little bit there, and then moved to Vermont. So here's the list of places I've lived:

Lakewood, NJ
Syracuse, NY (college)
Hatfield, PA
Harleysville, PA
Plymouth, VT

So I guess I'm under the average that SkiNana originally posted.
Actually, SkiNana did talk about place people VISIT. So average of 17 is low for those who likes to travel. But as I said, lots of people don't travel, it's their choice of life style, perfectly understandable to me.

As for places one has LIVED, interestingly, although I travel a fair bit, and have VISITED probably close to a hundred cities, I haven't LIVED in that many different places (a few of the the places I lived aren't even cities!)

I've only lived in 9 different locations, 2 of which were in rural settings. So only 6 "cities", with E. Lansing being the "in between" town of sort.
 

SkiNana

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I'm a traveller. So I've been to many countries and citis. That said, I fail to see what's so wrong if some people (ok, a whole bunch of people) never bother to set foot on anything resembling a city?

BTW, Baltimore is a "city", E. Lansing is NOT! It's nothing more than just an extension of MSU university campus. Nor is Pasadena, CA or Bethesda, MD...

It is for precisely that reason that I took the liberty of adjusting the definition slightly by using the term "towns" as we'll as "cities". I didn't want to exclude those who have not lived in major metropoli. Nor do I believe that the size of the accumulation of dwellings or the term by which we refer to them, be it city, town, or village, is of particular significance here. After all, the entire subject itself is of minimal importance.

By your definition, the majority of places people live are not "cities". But how dull it would be if we discounted all those places and the people in or from them! For that matter this is not meant to be a scientific discussion or anything approximating one: feel free to list the number of countries you've been to instead, or the number of islands!
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I couldn't even begin to count... and like other people have said, don't know what we're using to determine "city". Apparently, here in Utah, any incorporated municipality that is over 1,000 people is legally a "city". Less than 1,000 people = a "town". If we're counting those - yeesh. I've been to 109 cities just in Utah (mostly for work, some sightseeing/travel) and even more "towns".

I've visited at least 20 countries, and I think there are only 6 states in the US that I haven't visited, so I can't even imagine what that adds up to in cities. Even if the definition is that of a large metropolis, it would still be a big number. And I've lived in 12 cities.

I wonder where they get those statistics though (saying that the average American has only been to 15 cities). I read something the other day that the average American only eats 15 different foods per week ("food" being defined as a plant or animal source). I counted up all the different veggies and whatnot and my breakfast was 15, and the previous 5 or so meals got me up to over 60. The whole thing just made me wonder where they came up with that?
 

mustski

Angel Diva
Ok ... the lived in list;;;
Montreal, Quebec
Trois Riviers, Quebec,
Perth, Ontario (more town than city)
Ottawa, Ontario
La Jolla, California
San Clemente, California
San Juan Capistrano, California
Oceanside, California
Hanalei Bay, Kauai

Like most of you, the visited list is really too long to list.
 

Lilywhite

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've only ever lived in one town! Ramsgate in Kent GB, closest CITY being Canterbury.
If we go the visited list not just passing through then Canterbury and Maidstone both in Kent,
London,
Oxford,
Paris France,
Krakow Poland
Amsterdam Holland,
Thats it just 7. I have passed through many more when a plane has landed but thats not really visiting.
I've been to plenty of small towns of course, where I live there are at least 5 within easy walking distance and I do mean walk to the dentist etc and spend half an hour before walking back as opposed to hike for hours. I like fresh air not smog as a consequence of that I found you ladies! Unless there is a purpose to visiting a city- wedding/show/concert or whatever it is not something I would do for pleasure, no crowds or shopping centres for me thanks.
 

Skise

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I've lived in 5 different municipalities (one of them is legally defined as town/city, there's is only one word in Finnish).
 

marzNC

Angel Diva
Only lived in two places, more or less. Grew up in New York City, meaning Manhatten. Moved to the Triangle of central North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill) in 1972 and stayed.

My parents loved to travel. My father was a professor who didn't teach in the summer. So even the list of countries is too long to remember since it covers all the inhabited continents. My family of four spent an entire summer in Europe in 1967, driving from Paris to where my uncle lived in southern France, then through several eastern European countries (Soviet area), finishing up in Paris. My father knew professors in all the countries, so we had local hosts in many places. As for North America, have been to a lot of places.

In recent years, going abroad means going to China to visit relatives. Trying to figure out when to take my daughter to Europe . . . preferably during ski season. :becky:
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
I've been to plenty of small towns of course, where I live there are at least 5 within easy walking distance and I do mean walk to the dentist etc and spend half an hour before walking back as opposed to hike for hours. I like fresh air not smog as a consequence of that I found you ladies! Unless there is a purpose to visiting a city- wedding/show/concert or whatever it is not something I would do for pleasure, no crowds or shopping centres for me thanks.

^This sounds much nicer than visiting a bunch of big cities! :smile:

Heh, and the walking from town to town brought back memories of my trip to the UK... I'm trying to remember where we were exactly - somewhere in Wales - maybe Betwys-y-coed, but the owners of the cute little B&B we were staying at told us there was a vegetarian restaurant "just up the road", and the girls I was traveling with were both vegetarian, so we set off on foot without asking the actual distance... 2 hours later found the place and it started to pour rain. We figured we'd get a cab back, so had a great dinner, but when we were done the people there said it was too late at night to get a cab in this little bitty town, so we ended up walking the 6 or 7 or whatever miles back in a downpour - laughing ourselves about to death. Can't even remember what was so funny, but I can't ever remember laughing for so long -- or being so wet. Talk about being with the right people on a trip - I can only imagine the same experience with people who didn't see the fun in skipping through puddles with squishy wet shoes. Anyway - that place was adorable and has a lot more charm than most cities.

Anyway, not sure what my point was with that other than that I guess I don't see any point in differentiating between city and small town experiences. I mean, I think it's wonderful to experience some variety for sure - to know what's out there and figure out what really appeals to you, but that's about it.
 

Jenny

Angel Diva
Hey AG - I've been to Betws-y-coed and can't even imagine where you must have walked! I don't recall anything real nearby. At all. We based ourselves there for three or four days while we explored the area. It was gorgeous!
 

Little Lightning

Ski Diva Extraordinaire
I read somewhere recently that the average American has been to seventeen cities in their lifetime. I was shocked! So I started counting: I have LIVED in that many! But I moved a lot as a child (I went to 13 schools in 12 years.) My list of towns and cities I have been to quickly topped 160.

I did not to count towns we merely passed through on road trips unless we did something there: visited someone or something, spent the night . . . something other that roaring through at 55 mph or landing and taking off. (I made an exception for Fort Worth, TX: our plane landed there when I was nine and they had to move everyone to a new aircraft due to the extent of my airsickness!). Rather than include my entire "visited" list, I have listed only those I've lived in. But I encourage others to put the ones they've visited if it's anything less cumbersome than . . . whatever: or would listing just foreign cities or just US ones be more manageable? Or should just the numbers be given? I think the results underestimated the true amount if traveling most Americans (and, I am quite certain, the rest of the world) have done, and thus my interest.

Or is the whole thing dumb? Here's my list, in any case. Chime in if you care to: I'd be interested.

Pasadena, CA
Chicago (Evanston), IL
Baltimore, MD
Towson, MD
Nashville, TN
Arlington, VA
Silver spring, MD
Minneapolis, MN
San Juan, PR
Cincinnati, OH
E. Lansing, MI
Bethesda, MD
Laurel, MD
Elliott City, MD
Columbia, MD
Traverse City (Kewadin), MI
Big Sky, MT :snow:

How long did you live in Cincinnati? I grew up in Cincy and lived there, 57 years, until I moved to Denver. As far as visiting cities, I stopped counting at 40 US, all major cities in each state. I'm not much of an international traveler but I have visited 10 international cities in 5 countries.
 

altagirl

Moderator
Staff member
Hey AG - I've been to Betws-y-coed and can't even imagine where you must have walked! I don't recall anything real nearby. At all. We based ourselves there for three or four days while we explored the area. It was gorgeous!

This made me look to see if I could figure out online where we were staying and where we ate. I mean, this trip was.... 15 years ago. I'm sure the places are still there, it's more that I didn't do any of the trip planning (did all the driving though, however that worked out...). I should flip through some photo albums at home.

The hilarious thing is that I was like, okay, it won't be hard to find - I have this very vivid image in my mind of this B&B made of that gray slate stone with a pitched roof and flower garden in front that we were standing in front of... it's very distinctive. Hahaha, yeah, distinctive like it looks like at least 85% of all the houses, inns, etc. in the Snowdonia region. Ah, that's good stuff. Anyway - I think maybe it was The Ferns guesthouse. (Mind you, the owners the next morning were like "I'm so sorry - I didn't mean you should walk there for dinner!" I think they assumed we were Americans and had a car so that went without saying...) And I'm thinking maybe we walked to Dolwyddelan for diner, which would have been 5.7 miles. Maybe... - the direction and street views look about right. What I can remember about the restaurant is a lot more vague, because it could have just been a vegetarian dish that they recommended - hahaha and there was, you know, wood and slate stone and things like that that describe everything... But it was literally hours and hours of walking. We started out with it probably being dinnertime, and I think managed to get in just before they stopped serving dinner. And there wasn't much of anything on the way there - we kept debating turning around but would say well, what if it's just around the next corner? And it was LATE by the time we got home. Haha, you can't get yourself into adventures like that as easily nowadays with a smartphone in hand.
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
26,235
Messages
497,601
Members
8,503
Latest member
MermaidKelly
Top