please empty your brain below
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11 year old DG was a genius! đź‘Ź( thanks for making me chuckle out loud just now )
Peter | 04.07.26 - 7:33 a.m. | #
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23 more visits than me. Apart from a family trip to Orlando, the other highlight for me was visiting Charles M Schulz's ice rink in Santa Rosa.
I've no great feeling to re-visit, not only because of the current situation but also because there are so many other places I've never visited.
Trevor S | 04.07.26 - 8:05 a.m. | #
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I too visited Niagara from the Canadian side, but stupidly I left my passport back in the hotel, so I couldn't cross over to the US side.
Mikey C | 04.07.26 - 8:27 a.m. | #
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I have only visited the USA three times.
First in 1967 when I flew to New York City, and was met by an Aunt and Uncle with their car, spent week with them at their summer house on the beach at Long Beach Island and was taken to many cities and attractions in the North East.
I also stayed a few days in Ossining and would take a commuter train into NYC to do the touristy things.
I then took a Greyhound bus from NYC to Tampa Florida where I stayed another week during which time I went to Orlando to see the area where Disney was going to build his theme parks.
After that a few days up north in Connectucut.
The second trip was in 1971 flew to NYC and hired a car and drove down the east coast to Florida then accross to Texas.
The third trip I flew to Tampa and stayed there for Christmas (another relaltive) and also went to Orlando to visit Epcot and also what is now Magic Kingdom, built on the site I had visited in 1967.
Did not think much of Epcot or the theme park, overpriced and overrated.
Those US relatives of mine are now dead hence no more visits
John | 04.07.26 - 8:42 a.m. | #
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I have been to the USA once. Entered by air from Iceland, and left by boat from Juneau. Visit broken by a car ride to/from Vancouver.
dg writes: you have been to the USA twice.
Malcolm of Kent | 04.07.26 - 9:02 a.m. | #
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My 1st trip to USA was also to stay with my mum's penfriend! It was 1964 and I was travelling alone as a 14yo. Many memories still :)
Boffin | 04.07.26 - 9:55 a.m. | #
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Was once on holiday in Canada, driving holiday and we thought we’d visit the USA at Niagra, go to Buffalo.
This was 1994 and for reasons to this day that I still don’t understand they confiscated our passports held us with others in a portacabin style processing office and charged us $20 each - I’m not sure what for. We’re just simple British tourist on holiday.
We stayed in Buffalo two hours in a shopping centre and came back, we told the friendly Canadian border person that we’d only been over for two hours and wanted to come back. “I don’t blame you!” she said, laughing.
We never went back.
Jeff | 04.07.26 - 10:01 a.m. | #
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Your Niagra adventures genuinely made me laugh out loud
Town mouse | Homepage | 04.07.26 - 10:02 a.m. | #
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As the younger brother I'd like to think I did more jumps across borders than my 'sensible' older brother.
I also remember standing between the two lines and declaring it my own country which is therefore celebrating its 50th anniversary.
Bblb | 04.07.26 - 10:05 a.m. | #
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Only two visits for me.
1) A family holiday in 1974, staying in Connecticut with my mother's sister and brother-in-law (who had emigrated to the USA in the late 1960s) and elsewhere with friends of my father who had taken part in a UK/USA teacher exchange in the 1950s.
And 2) in 2007, I took my mother to stay with her sister and brother-in-law, who had by then moved to North Carolina.
In 1989, I did change planes at a very sweaty Houston airport en route to Mexico, but I don't think that really counts.
Alan S | 04.07.26 - 10:10 a.m. | #
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My memories of the 1976 celebrations are through the prism of Blue Peter coverage, and largely feature the cracked Liberty Bell which I later got to view in Philadelphia.
Consider myself fortunate to have visited eastern states a few times, all before the Hope thing was extinguished.
Favourite place: Florida Keys.
Most enjoyable: long days spent wandering or cruising around - and overflying - Manhattan pre-9/11
Frank F | 04.07.26 - 10:48 a.m. | #
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2 family holidays as a teenager to mark the end of GCSEs and A levels, but then I moved there for work umpteen years, so that probably doesn't count!
Had to laugh at the image of mini-DG hopping from one side of the border to the other while Mother Geezer hung onto the railings for dear life!!
Brilliant - and such forethought!
Cornish Cockney | 04.07.26 - 10:49 a.m. | #
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Just the one visit for me. I met an American woman visiting London and hit it off, so I went to visit her in Seattle in 2012. After that she came to Europe, after that it was my turn to cross the pond again but we went to Vancouver so it felt like a holiday - sorry, vacation - for her too. After that the long-distance thing fizzled out so I had no pressing motivation to go there for a few years. By which time the orange vermin was installed and I wouldn't visit his America if I won an all-expenses trip. Seattle was cool though.
stevekeiretsu | 04.07.26 - 11:34 a.m. | #
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1980, 1996, 2002, 2006, 2015, 2024 - My sister moved there in 1995.
But won’t be going back until some form of sanity is restored.
Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 04.07.26 - 11:44 a.m. | #
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I entered Canada across the rainbow bridge with a work visa as I had a seasonal job arranged on an Ontario tobacco farm. The officer there was only accustomed with day trippers and didn't understand my documents. He eventually decided they were not valid because they were filled in by hand, and sent off to have them replaced on a typewriter. He also insisted I specified exactly which date I would leave Canada, after which I would become illegal. After two weeks work the tobacco harvest was destroyed by a freak frost and an insurance payout gave me a free trip to New Orleans and Key West. Coming home on a standby ticket I was about to be put on concorde until somebody got the seat.
kev | 04.07.26 - 12:04 p.m. | #
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Our first trip was in bicentennial year (cripes, 50 years ago this month)!
Main feature was using a "car driveaway" company which was a cheap way of travelling back then, if not a random process. We were incredibly lucky to get to deliver someones car from New York City to San Diego in 7 days, just paying for petrol. We returned to New York from San Fransisco by Greyhound over several days including a couple of overnighters.
What an experience!
Lucky enough to have had many more trips both business and pleasure, including 2 wonderful driving holidays with our children. So have been to almost all the places you have....including the Rainbow Bridge!!
MikeK | 04.07.26 - 12:12 p.m. | #
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I have never been to the Americas full stop. I would quite like to see NY and SF but that'll do me. Strangely I have regular dreams about going to the States.
daveid76 | 04.07.26 - 12:17 p.m. | #
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Quite a few trips, at least 24. First, in 1992, was to a friend's wedding in Orlando (he married a dancer from Disney he met in Tokyo).
Quite a few more holidays in Florida, largely spent in Naples.
14 or 15 work trips across a lot of the US, particularly eastern seaboard, Chicago area and the West Coast, mid to late nineties.
Got married in Las Vegas in 95, 31st anniversary this September.
A few combined work/leisure trips to New York.
Last visit was to a convention in Orlando in 2016. No desire to return at the moment albeit it would like to catch up with friends.
Paul | 04.07.26 - 1:51 p.m. | #
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Been there, done that (5 times). Shan't ever do it again. Never has a great country fallen so low. Don't think much of their plastic food either. Not to mention their beer.
Steve | Homepage | 04.07.26 - 2:36 p.m. | #
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Paid to go there up the east coast 1979 (including Bicentenary celebrations in York Town) and 1981 courtesy of the Royal Navy, plus August bank holiday 2002 half price on Concorde to New York.
By coincidence a couple of weeks ago I cheekily sat in the very seat I travelled back on G-BOAF at Filton.
You did a lot of US Dangleways !
scrumpy | 04.07.26 - 2:46 p.m. | #
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Having grown up in Southern Ontario (Canada), I have visited many times. I don't have as detailed records as you, though from January 1st, 2000 (when I started keeping track for tax reasons), I have spent 1,229 days in the United States (mostly for work, but some just visiting).
I looked through to see if you and I had any overlap in the same city, but I always seemed to be on the other side of the country when you were there.
Greg | 04.07.26 - 3:31 p.m. | #
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I did 2 similar West Coast tours: the first in '81 saw the dollar peak at 2.44 to the pound! Actually made money when converting unspent back to pounds...
The second trip with daughter were up Mammoth mountain, having snowball fights on July 4th!!! Unlike the sweltering heat of Las Vegas later on...
Nick K | 04.07.26 - 5:09 p.m. | #
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Funnily enough I have been to all the places you mentioned (and quite a few more), but in all fairness, I live in the US and did more than my fair share of business travel over 30 years--not to mention endless family holidays. My children did the same jumping back and forth between the USA and Canada, but not on Rainbow Bridge. They did it in Derby Line, VT where the border even bisects the inside of a local theatre. However, they did that in the years before 9/11. Now folks can't even cross streets where on one side houses are in Canada and the other in the US--something that had never been an issue in the past.
Mary | 04.07.26 - 5:28 p.m. | #
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I live about 5 miles from the US border. Haven't ventured across since COVID struck, and unlikely to do so any time soon, for obvious reasons.
James Webber | 04.07.26 - 6:50 p.m. | #
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Growing up, the USA was always on my list of places I wanted to go to. I went for the first time in 1999 and have had quite a few trips there since. I've been able to include several memorable road trips, including Denver to Seattle, Dallas to Atlanta via Orlando and a tour of several southern states. I always used to love the culture, the people and the scenery. I won't go back until the Republicans are no longer in power.
Hugh Jorgan | 04.07.26 - 7:28 p.m. | #
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Fortuante enough to have had about a dozen trips -- including work -- although this can be increased if you count a bit of Rainbow Bridging tomfoolery on the bridge over the Rio Grande between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.
The work trips were excellent in that I tacked holiday onto the business days. This meant on one trip I drove 2000 miles across numerous states in a hire car and the company picked up the tab.
Chris | 04.07.26 - 7:47 p.m. | #
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I haven't been saving exact details, but especially if I count (proper) trips into Canada I reckon my total comfortably exceeds 25, starting in 1969. My (American) wife and I are tentatively planning what will probably be our last visit next year: we both have extensive family there.
Peter (of Cambridge) | 04.07.26 - 8:15 p.m. | #
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I pretty much did the same thing when I crossed the Rainbow Bridge a few years ago, which was also the absolute easiest US border crossing I've ever experienced.
In my mind, I was doing the 'America, Australia, America, Australia' that Homer does in the episode of The Simpsons where they visit Down Under.
BP | 04.07.26 - 9:25 p.m. | #
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These days crossing the Rainbow Bridge has an entirely different meaning.
mclm | 04.07.26 - 9:45 p.m. | #
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The only time I have been on American soil is when I visited the J F Kennedy memorial at Runnymede. During its inauguration the Queen formally bequeathed the acre of land at Runnymede in which it stands to the United States
Timbo | 05.07.26 - 7:10 a.m. | #
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I'm impressed that you've been more often than I have, and I lived in Toronto for 27 years! Even without the hopping about, I'd really only crossed the border about 8 times. It's a long drive to anywhere that's not Buffalo from Toronto, and Buffalo is not what you'd call an attraction.
Chz | 05.07.26 - 11:33 a.m. | #
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I've crossed between the US and Canada at Rainbow Bridge and may have paused at the halfway point (to be in two countries simultaneously), but my main memory is that it cost 50c to enter the US, through a turnstile which accepted both American and Canadian quarters.
martin | 10.07.26 - 12:42 p.m. | #
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