I married a man 20 years ago that had been to all 50 states so I had to play catch-up. My last state was Alaska. I cleaned up two southern states I had missed by visiting my brother in MS and going over the border to Mobile (a pretty but smelly town). Did a run in 1993 to grab the last of the midwest, in the northern part mostly and loved WI - Taliesen, the Dells and Madison. My husband is very goal oriented and I am competitive so we joined Travelers Century Club in LA where full fledged members have been to 100 countries (by their definition which sometimes cheats). You can also be aspiring. They have newsletters where members share experiences getting in and around challenging places. My husband and I are at parity for the moment and both hit 100 this spring on a cruise to the Persian Gulf. He says he will relax now but I do not trust him not to reset his goal to 200 countries! We have also been to all 4 oceans and both above the Arctic Circle and below the Antarctic Circle. We subscribe to the Erma Bombeck Theory of Travel which is to do the tough stuff while you are young and save the easy stuff for your old age. In our book, that includes getting into potentially dangerous countries at their peak of safety - like Cambodia when the UN was there and Peru while the Japanese guy is Prez. We completely blew it on Yugoslavia, pegging it as an easy spot so missed it.