Matt Holthe's Fleeting Thoughts

Here is my list of the 18 states I visited (stepped foot at least) in 2010: AL, CA, CO, DE, GA, IL, IN, MI, MO, NC, NJ, NV, NY, OH, OK, PA, TN, TX Additionally, I visited Ontario and Quebec (Canada). Here is the list of the 23 airports I spent some time in (at least one departure or arrival in each): ATL, BMI, BNA, CLE, DEN, DFW, DTW, EWR, LAS, LAX, LGA, MGM, OKC, ONT, ORD, PHL, PIA, RDU, SJC, SNA, STL, YUL, YYZ When you combine this with the States/Airports/Countries 2009 , I have spent time in 5 cities outside the US, Washington (DC), and 26 different states in the past 2 years. I have also spent some time in 35 different airports in the past 2 years.

In the last two years I've at the very least stepped foot (filled up the car with gas, had dinner, etc) in 26 of the 50 states. In my lifetime, I've been to 40 of the 50 states. Here are the states where I've spent the night in the last several years: AL, AZ, CA, CO, FL, GA, HI, IA, IL, IN, KY, MA, MD, MI, MO, MN, MT, NC, NE, NV, NJ, NM, NY, OH, OK, PA, SD, TN, VA, WI, WY In addition to that, I've stepped foot (but haven't spent the night) in these states in the last several years: DE, ID, KS, TX, UT If you go back a bit longer (my adult life, but not in the last 7 or 8 years), then AR is added to the list where I've spent the night and TX changes from just stepping foot to spending a night. When you add in time when I was younger (childhood through teenage years), then LA, MS, WV are added to the "stepped foot" list. That leaves the following 10 states where I've never been to: AK, CT, ME, NH, ND, OR, RI, SC, VT, WA I could knock off half of ...

I don't believe I will have any more airline trips in 2010, so I can post my miles for the year. It was significantly lower than 2009 (which was lower than 2008). Part of the lower numbers was moving to Illinois. (I fly more to the east coast than the west coast). But, more significantly, was the reduced number of trips this year. In 2008, I flew 81,865 miles. In 2009, I flew 50,020 miles. In 2010, I flew 1,389 miles on Frontier, 3,783 on Delta, and 31,881 on American, for a total of 33,270. I went from 30,544 miles on United last year to zero this year. (United doesn't fly out of Bloomington - I would have to drive to Peoria). And my second highest airline last year was Frontier (again, they don't fly to Bloomington). Nothing like a major switch in carriers. The biggest difference in travel can be found in hotel nights. In 2009, I spent 92 nights away from home. In 2010, that number will be 79 when the year completes. Compare that to 2008 when the number was 119 - the trav...

New Year's Day bowls for 2011: TicketCity Bowl - Northwestern vs Texas Tech Outback Bowl - Penn St vs Florida Capital One Bowl - Michigan St vs Alabama Gator Bowl - Michigan vs Mississippi St Rose Bowl - Wisconsin vs TCU Fiesta Bowl - UConn vs Oklahoma 6 games, 5 featuring Big Ten teams

My flight out to Denver this weekend officially got me to 60 segments for 2010. Not bad for having my first flight this year in May. Next year should be a bit easier - for one thing, I'll be starting in January. So that should help out right there. I should need 15 trips to retain my status in 2012. (I get at least 4 segments per trip, 15 * 4 = 60 segments). I also maintained by Hilton status, but that needed a bit of trickery as well. Hilton Diamond is achieved through either 28 stays (a check-in at a hotel) or 60 nights. I only had 58 nights, but I was able to get 32 stays - a couple trips I jumped hotels to get closer to an airport for the flight, or something along those lines.