As I consider possible vacation destinations, it occurs to me that there are easily over 20 states

[Atticus]

that we would consider "hostile territory". Not only will we not visit these states, we will do everything possible to avoid travelling through them. If we absolutely must pass through one, it will be a non-stop transit.

Just for example, why would any rational person voluntarily enter Texas, knowing that any racist Trump-humper over 18 is free to openly carry a firearm into any restaurant, service station or interstate rest stop?

I prefer to vacation somewhere where my "Does Your Trump Sticker Make You Feel Stupid Yet?" bumper sticker isn't likely to draw gunfire.

[underpants]

1. Well Austin is pretty cool I hear

San Antonio seems fun.

Just saying.

[GP6971]

2. As is San Antonio.

But I won't spend my $$ in Texas.

[Atticus]

3. It is not that there are not some great places I'd like to visit. It is that there are too many

heavily armed crazies I don't want want share space with.

[Skittles]

4. just so you know

gun humpers are EVERYWHERE in America

[dalton99a]

11. +1. Millions of people in Texas live and work without such fear

[Skittles]

18. you know it, dalton99a

i don't give gun humpers that much power

[AwakeAtLast]

29. Austin has been ruined by developers.

My sister is moving out of Texas as fast as she can.

[Mopar151]

5. New England is generally good.......

And well motivated to not scare tourists away! I live here, so obviously biased - but the Northeast Kingdom of VT is really pretty, not too "touristy", has great food and amazing roads!

[hlthe2b]

6. Those red states have dismal vaccination rates... sadly justifying making them "flyover"

territories.

[former9thward]

19. Not really.

Most of the states are fairly close to one another in percent. None are "dismal" compared to the others.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-population-vaccinated-march-15.html

[hlthe2b]

22. Yes, really.

Fauci Is ‘Concerned’ About States With Low Vaccination Rates—Here Are The Ones With The Lowest

The ten states with the lowest vaccination rates are Mississippi (34.3% of the population has received at least one dose), Louisiana (35.9%), Alabama (36.1%), Wyoming (37.2%), Idaho (37.7%), Tennessee (39.3%), Arkansas (39.6%), Georgia (39.9%), West Virginia (40.9%) and South Carolina (41%), according to Bloomberg’s data.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2021/06/03/fauci-is-concerned-about-states-with-low-vaccination-rates---here-are-the-ones-with-the-lowest/?sh=23d445a85d40

Even within already poorly performing red states, the reddest counties have the lowest rates with many as low as 18%. Florida just misses being in the bottom 20. Similarly, within many blue states, the counties with the lowest percentage of vaccination correlate closely with percentage voting for Trump.

https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/public-health/states-ranked-by-percentage-of-population-vaccinated-march-15.html

Here are the twenty WORST performance states in terms of vaccination:
30. Kentucky
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,728,826
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 38.7

31. Kansas
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,122,149
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 38.52

32. Montana
Number of people fully vaccinated: 410,052
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 38.37

33. Nevada
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,145,796
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 37.2

34. North Dakota
Number of people fully vaccinated: 279,802
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 36.72

35. North Carolina
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,806,938
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 36.3

36. Arizona
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,638,935
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 36.26

37. Texas
Number of people fully vaccinated: 10,395,423
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 35.85

38. Indiana
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,405,517
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 35.73

39. Missouri
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,122,323
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 34.58

40. West Virginia
Number of people fully vaccinated: 612,308
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 34.17

41. South Carolina
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,750,335
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 34.

42. Oklahoma
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,340,489
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 33.88

43. Idaho
Number of people fully vaccinated: 589,073
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 32.96

44. Utah
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,042,991
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 32.53

45. Georgia
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,409,346
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 32.11

46. Wyoming
Number of people fully vaccinated: 185,170
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 31.99

47. Tennessee
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,182,063
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 31.95

48. Louisiana
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,462,006
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 31.45

49. Arkansas
Number of people fully vaccinated: 946,639
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 31.37

50. Alabama
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,435,719
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 29.28

51. Mississippi
Number of people fully vaccinated: 817,730
Percentage of population fully vaccinated: 27.48

[former9thward]

25. Well you have made up your own definition for "dismal"

And whether Fauci is "concerned" or not the case rates are going down in all the states.

[LanternWaste]

26. And your own measure of what is or is not 'dismal' is predicated on what objective data?

Try again, and this time hold yourself to the same objective standard you ask from others.

[hlthe2b]

28. When the two reddest regions in the country have the lowest rate of vaccination, YES Dismal

And your crack at Fauci is both unwarranted and frankly, for DU, quite curious.

[former9thward]

35. You disagree that the rates are down everywhere?

[hlthe2b]

36. Changing the subject does not negate the point. Also your smear of Fauci.

[captain queeg]

7. If you get out of NW Oregon, which is pretty blue, most of the rest of the state is pretty red

Most of the tourist attractions are on the west side, and I think even conservative areas aren't rabid. Go over to Eastern Oregon though...

[Jose Garcia]

8. Stay out of Pennsylvania! They have open carry too!

[Lochloosa]

9. Florida is easy to avoid. And I'm a native.

Stay the fuck away.

[moondust]

10. Same here.

There are a number of states I hope I never have to even drive through. Mainly dangerous gun nut states like Texas.

[Captain Zero]

13. It's easy to drive through Indiana on the east west axis in about 4-5 hours on less than a tank.

North to south will take you longer but you could always bump over to Illinois and drive Interstate 57.

[roamer65]

17. The best thing about the Toll Road is it gets you across Indiana faster.

It’s worth paying for that.

Although I do have to give South Bend kudos for giving us a great Transportation Secretary.

[aeromanKC]

12. Blue Book

We need a Blue Book just as they had a Green Book in the past.

My family also only spends our travel and vacation money in Blue locations and businesses. (as best we can)

[WarGamer]

14. Every major Texas airport is in a blue community

Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio...

[Generic Brad]

15. No one ever visits. *sigh*

[WarGamer]

16. I don't let political affiliation change where I vacation.

There are good/bad people in EVERY community.

The beaches of Western Florida have the most gorgeous beaches this side of the Andaman Sea.

Jackson, WY and Whitefish Lake, Coeur d'Alene and the Grand Canyon... the best spots in the country.

[SoCalDavidS]

20. I Don't Feel Like Helping The Economy Of These Red States

When I go there on vacation, and spend money, it's contributing to the state's economy.

I would feel guilty that I am supporting their agenda. Not to mention the feeling that the majority of people I encounter, have willingly voted in a piece of shit repub like Abbott or DeSantis.

People who live there may have no choice in the matter of where their tax dollars go, but I do.

[Warpy]

21. Come to NM

There's all sorts of outdoorsy stuff to do, especially in the northern 2/3 of the state. CO is nice, too, and for many of the same reasons.

However, I do understand what you mean. Every time I've driven back east, I've taken I-40 which isn't the most direct trout, just so I'll cross as little of Texas as possible.

And if you've got a lot of money to spend, there's always true blue Hawaii.

[DFW]

23. I go back to Texas all the time, though not for vacation

The outfit I work for is based there, many friends are there, and when I need certain medical stuff done, the care in Dallas is excellent. When my wife and I went to the USA in April-May, I asked my head office there to try and schedule our vaccinations. Pow, we got them set up on exactly the dates we wanted, and except for cops, we didn't see a gun the whole time we were there (2 weeks). If you can, fly Delta or Southwest, never American if you can avoid them.

For our long vacation in the summer, we always fly to the USA, and specifically the outer tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. For shorter long weekend trips, just look at a map of Europe, find Düsseldorf, where we live, and draw a circle of places a two hour flight or less around it, and you'll see why there is no shortage of places to visit right here.

[Dial H For Hero]

24. Here's a map showing the concealed carry laws of every county in the USA.

Green = no license required to carry (Texas soon to be solid green)

Dark blue = license automatically granted unless one is a prohibited person (felon, domestic abuser, etc.)

If you're trying to avoid going anywhere a significant portion of the populace is rountinely armed, your options are quite limited.

[EX500rider]

27. 24 states or US territories have a higher homicide rate then Texas.

By rankings, worse then Texas:

District of Columbia
Puerto Rico
Louisiana
Mississippi
Alaska
Missouri
South Carolina
Maryland
New Mexico
Arkansas
Alabama
Tennessee
Oklahoma
Illinois
Georgia
North Carolina
Indiana
Michigan
Pennsylvania
Florida
Arizona
Virginia
Kentucky
Delaware

Your about 5 times more likely to be murdered in Wash DC then Texas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_intentional_homicide_rate

[llmart]

30. Outside of the tricounty area of Detroit, you'll find redneck, gun nuttery rampant.

I don't know if Michigan is considered a blue state or maybe just purple, because we do have some very liberal places, but I've lived and travelled throughout the South and I'll put Michigan right up there with some of the Southern states as far as gun obsessions go.

[ananda]

31. Austin is safe, and very blue friendly.

...

[sarisataka]

32. US News published a list of safest states

Interestingly, 5 of the top 10, including all top three, allow unlicensed carry.

9- Wyoming
6- Vermont
3- Idaho
2- New Hampshire
1- Maine

For comparison 4 of the 10 worst states, including one of the "top" three, for crime allow unlicensed carry.

43- Mississippi
45- Alaska
46-Arkansas
49- Missouri

What should we make of this?

[EX500rider]

33. "What should we make of this?"

Wash DC has 5 times the homicide rate of Texas...with strict guns laws....so maybe it the number of criminals rather then the guns laws that matter.

[panader0]

34. What are the other 19?

What state are you from?

[LowerManhattanite]

37. I do have a running "DO NOT VISIT"/...

...DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH” list of states that I’m hewing to extremely closely.

I’m a hobbyist (model car building) and there was a company I ordered some supplies from and only THEN realized they were in Alabama once I saw where it’d be coming from on a map graphic at the transaction’s end.

So I canceled the order.

And THEN they reached out to me as I’d had a few nice conversations with folks there in figuring out what I was buying beforehand. “Was it advertised for a lower price elsewhere? We’ll gladly match it.”

I told the truth. “I’m just...forgive me...being extra discerning where my dollars are going these days, and...I’m not really dealing with states supporting things I abhor.”

There was a LOOOOOOONNNG silence. So long I thought they’d ended the call. I said. “I’m sorry. That’s it. Have a great-“

“You MEAN that?”

“Yes. I don’t know what else to tell you.”

(CONFUSED SOUNDING) “Well. Okay. You...have a good day then.”

[Klaralven]

38. Your bumper sticker will be a problem in parts of all states.

You should stay out of the rural, small town, and conservative suburb areas.