One thing I think everybody can agree on is that each state in America has its own identity, culture, and lifestyle. For example, when I, a Southern Californian, visited Maine for the first time, I was most surprised by the little to no traffic — even during rush hour! That said, I recently asked other Americans of the BuzzFeed Community to share the “culture shock” moments they had while traveling to a different state, and the responses were suuuuuper interesting:
1. “The first time I went to Washington, D.C., I was in town for a meeting with others who worked for state Attorney Generals. We were there for a week and went to visit the usual tourist places, and I was with a friend who lived there. I had to ask if anyone around D.C. drove a pickup truck, because everywhere we went, I only saw vans and other vehicles. I’m from South Texas, and pickup trucks are everywhere, so it was just so surreal to not see one on every street or corner!”
2. “Utahn here. I genuinely did not realize that other states sold alcohol in their grocery stores! All that our grocery stores have are some beers or things like hard lemonade.”
3. “I was shocked when I traveled to New England. I grew up in Louisiana and Texas and now live in Oklahoma. All my life, I was told how rude Northerners are, so when I visited New England, I was expecting hard-to-understand accents and lots of cursing and yelling. In reality, I was amazed at how nice everyone was. I grew up with ‘southern hospitality,’ and the people I met in Boston, Salem, Rye, and Bangor totally blew that phrase to pieces. I left there wishing I could live there.”
4. “I’m from the West Coast and moved to Illinois, where I’d vacation to nearby states. When I found out that other states don’t sell liquor on Sundays, I was gobsmacked. I couldn’t imagine being a heavy drinker and not being able to buy booze in a free country. I guess they call it the Bible Belt for a reason.”
5. “The giant palmetto bugs in Florida shocked me. Residents seem to accept the fact that giant flying cockroaches are everywhere; I had one crawl out of the drain in my hotel and jump on my toothbrush. I’ve never been so freaked out. Florida, no thank you.”
6. “Being from the New York City region, I am accustomed to most people behind the counter of any establishment generally working very hard to quickly serve the customers. Unfortunately, that is not the case in most places, especially in Florida! There is no sense of urgency.”
7. “I traveled to see family in the South for the first time, and hearing sweet, lil’ old ladies casually using the n-word shocked me to my core. Yes, I know there are bigots everywhere, but it had been many years since I’d actually heard people use racial slurs like that and in real life.”
8. “You cannot pump your own gas in New Jersey! I love it. I haven’t had that service since I was a kid!”
9. “I’m from a suburb in Northern Colorado and went to school at CU Boulder, which is known to be a liberal college. Driving through Texas while on a road trip with my then-boyfriend during my junior year of college was WILD. God apparently has many thoughts on masturbation, swearing, and the Second Amendment, and he has plenty of cash to pay for the billboards saying so. At least the ads were entertaining. And the steaks were pretty cheap.”
—Anonymous
10. “I was visiting Arizona for the first time. We were in a large grocery store chain, and I saw a man with a handgun holstered to his belt.”
11. “When I moved from Illinois to South Carolina, my school-age daughter told me they had a holiday called ‘Confederate Day.’ I didn’t believe her at first, but yep, there is such a school holiday.”
—Anonymous
12. “I grew up in Southern California but went to Tennessee for college. I’m half-Korean, and growing up in such a diverse area, I never gave it a second thought. Most people (especially other Asians) could tell I wasn’t fully Korean, but that was not the case in the South. I can’t tell you the number of times in Tennessee I received comments like, ‘You speak perfect English; I can understand everything you say.’ Like, cool, it’s the only language I speak. I would also get questions asking where I’m from, but when I told them I was from California, the follow-up question would always be, ‘No, where are you ORIGINALLY from?'”
“In summary, my culture shock was experiencing racism and stereotyping as an Asian American for the first time in my life. Overall, I love the South, though! There’s great food, fun things to do, and mostly great people — even if they’re a little misguided.”
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—TK, 35, California
13. “I was born and raised in the Northwest (Oregon and Washington). On my first cross-country trip as an adult, I was craving donuts one day and went to a donut shop somewhere in North Carolina. Well, a staple donut in the Northwest is the Maple Bar. It’s like a long donut with a maple-flavored glaze. Well, when I asked for one at the donut shop, they had NO CLUE what I was talking about. It wasn’t until that moment that I discovered that maple bars are a regional item.”
14. “How flat North Dakota is. The ground does not change in elevation for miles and miles. There are no hills or valleys — just farmstead after farmstead.”
—Dan, 68
15. “I grew up in the outskirts of Carson City, Nevada, where there’s not a lot of diversity. I’m Black and was adopted into a white family, so as a teenager, I was very used to being the minority. When I was 19, I went to Chicago, and my mind was absolutely blown. White people were the minority there, and I could find well-stocked hair and skincare at every store. Not to mention the food was very different and so good.”
16. “I’m a West Coast girl from Oregon and California. I traveled to Kentucky coal mine country with a friend who was visiting family in 2010, and I’ll never forget walking through Walmart and standing in line to pay for gas, and seeing everyone smoking inside. This was years after indoor smoking was banned on the West Coast. And no matter where we were, people would stop and stare at us. One man even looked me up and down and said, ‘Y’all aren’t from around here, are you?’ Not even kidding.”
17. “When we moved to West Virginia for my job, the dentist was surprised we didn’t want to pull my husband’s tooth ourselves. Apparently, it was very common for people to just pull their own teeth?! Our neighbors confirmed it was common practice since so many people couldn’t afford to go to the dentist.”
—Anonymous, South Carolina
18. “I was born and raised in the Bible Belt in Texas, and in 1977, I flew with my husband to San Francisco. Let’s just say there was A LOT of culture going on there that I didn’t even know existed.”
19. “My first big travel experience was flying to Texas over the summer. I’d never seen so much ROAD in my life! All of the highways, the long roads, and the millions of bridges were definitely a shocking experience for me. My aunt kept saying that you have to ‘go around your asshole to get to your elbow,’ and she wasn’t wrong!”
—Jade, 26, North Carolina
20. “I live in a deep red part of Florida and work remotely for a company in Vermont, so you can imagine the culture shock I get whenever I visit the main office. The biggest one for me, however, was during COVID-19. Florida basically pretended like it didn’t exist, but when I was in Vermont, I had to show my proof of vaccination to enter any building. It was wild how different the two states were during those years!”
—Chelsey, Florida
21. “I currently live in Georgia and have lived in the South all my life. I recently had to spend two weeks in Ohio for work. I’ve heard that when fast food/chain restaurants come up with new menu items, they test them out in the Midwest, and I always wondered why that was. My observation after two weeks in Ohio? The people there are obsessed with food. That’s all they talk about: what they ate last night, what they’re having that night, what restaurant they’re going to that weekend, what new restaurants are opening, etc. And if you mention a restaurant, most people can tell you what restaurant was there before that one! I don’t remember a conversation I had there that didn’t center around food.”
—Anonymous
22. “I live in Washington state, and when I went to Arizona for the first time, I was floored by how many billboards lined the freeways and highways. They were mostly for accident lawyers, and they were everywhere! Driving was like looking at a constant stream of ads.”
23. “When I went to New Orleans and there were no seat covers in the public restrooms. Like, does everyone just sit down on the seat? Apparently, seat covers are not a thing in parts of the South.”
—Emily, 32, California
24. Lastly: “I was born and raised in the South, and I live in Georgia. My wife is from Illinois. The first time we visited her hometown, as well as Chicago, I found it odd that literally everywhere we went to eat on our trip served cottage cheese as a side. I also made the mistake a few times of ordering what I would consider Southern dishes. They just aren’t the same when prepared by Midwesterners.”
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—Justin, 43, Georgia
If you had a “culture shock” moment while visiting another US state, what was it that really surprised you? Let us know in the comments, or you can anonymously submit your story using the form below!
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.