I was about to queue up a Trip Peek for today’s post when it occurred to me that a follow on to last week’s post on Hugh Donovan completing visits to all 3134 U.S. counties might be better. I had actually thought I might include something about my own county counting when I began writing about Hugh’s counting in An Awesome Travel Accomplishment but, in the end, I didn’t. The truth is that neither the counts nor the counting are all that similar. There are, you see, quite a few differences between a man on a mission and a guy just wandering into places.

For one, I am not an Extra Miler Club member. That’s not because I don’t think it is a good organization or because I don’t respect its goals. It’s because I do not see visiting every U.S. county as realistic for me personally. It might have been feasible if I’d started when I was 30 or 40 or, like Hugh’s grandson, 15, but not now. That doesn’t mean I don’t track the counties I visit. The map above is mine from Mob‑Rule.com (a.k.a., Why do you think they call them counties?) which anyone can use to track their travels free. There are 1731 counties marked on the map. That’s just over 55% of the total. Hugh’s count was a bit less than that when I first learned of his quest back in April, but that didn’t last long. My “live” map, which also contains numeric counts by state, is here. 

For another, I’ve never made a trip or plotted a route specifically to accumulate counties. On the other hand, if I see that an unvisited county is just a few miles away, I’ll quite happily make a jog or even drive straight there and back for the score. Again, that doesn’t mean a lack of respect for folks who plan their travels primarily or exclusively to reach different counties. After all, I’m a guy who will turn around to drive a missed bit of old alignment that looks exactly like the road I was already on.

If we weren’t all crazy, we would go insane.
    Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes,
    Jimmy Buffet, 1977