Over the past month, I reached my 44th state, Colorado, which I’d been looking forward to visiting for a long time. I gave myself a whole month there to truly experience it—running races, hiking in the mountains, exploring towns like Boulder and Denver, and meeting many wonderful people, including opportunities to practice my American Sign Language. Now, I’m ready for the next stage of my US states project. I’ll fly to Chicago, not a new state for me since I lived there years ago while learning Klingon for a Star Trek convention, but it’s the perfect hub to start this leg of the trip. From there, I’ll drive to Iowa, my 45th state, to explore Des Moines and the bridges of Madison County, then head to Minnesota (state 46) to spend a week in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

After that, I’ll continue to Wisconsin, my 47th state, where I’ll spend over a month. I’ll start in Milwaukee, then settle into Madison, a city I’ve heard is walkable and perfect for my European-style preferences. By the time I finish Wisconsin, I’ll only have one state left in the contiguous US Michigan which I’ll visit before returning my rental car to Chicago in October. Along the way, I’m prioritizing meeting people, practicing languages, and especially improving my ASL by connecting with deaf communities. This next month will be all about deep experiences in these four new states before the big finale of my 48-state journey.

If you need one-on-one language guidance, schedule a consultation session with Benny at languagehacking.com/chat.

And don’t forget to check out the Fluent in 3 Months Bootcamp here!

Or you can follow me on all Social Media channels:
Instagram: @irishpolyglot
Thread: @irishpolyglot
TikTok: @irishpolyglot