When you travel to Hawaii or Alaska do you feel like you go to a different place or you feel like you go to the US?

37 comments

  1. I mean it’s obviously different but it doesn’t feel like a different country.

  2. Both? They’re different from where I live, but the US contains a lot of very different places. The scenery and culture change, but functioning there as a resident or visitor isn’t much different from any place in the mainland US (unless you’re in a remote area of Alaska, in which case there are some very distinct logistical and service availability differences that you won’t experience in a more populated area).

  3. Both felt like the US to me when I’ve been.

    Hawaii was probably a bit more ‘foreign’, but still was more like going to a different area of the US than a different country.

    Honestly, going to Lousiana felt more like I was in a different country than Hawaii. Just a lot more cultural differences from their unique history.

  4. I haven’t been to Alaska but have been to Hawaii and no. It “felt” like I was in the US, because I was.

  5. Hawaii had its own vibe, for sure, but it still felt like the US. To be fair, when I visited Hawaii I was living abroad so *any* piece of America felt like home.

  6. Hawaii feels like the US but it is very, very different in a lot of ways.

    Can’t speak to Alaska. It is the last state I haven’t visited.

  7. They feel like the usa. Each state has slightly different things about it and I wouldnt say Hawaii is that much different than calf8rnia vs new York

  8. No different than when I travel to other parts of the US, only the geography is different.

    Being from California there is somewhat a level of cultural similarity due to being the closest state to Hawaii.

  9. All Americans have things in common and all American states and territories have enough similarity that you always know you’re in the US.

    That commonality also makes it easier for us to celebrate our cultural differences.

    We don’t do that perfectly, but we do it better than almost anywhere else.

    I’ve been to Alaska and Southern California, Maine and Puerto Rico, and plenty in between. All places were very – very – different from my home state, but all were wonderful and all were distinctly American.

  11. I’ve been to both. Hawaii feels more “foreign” than Alaska, but it depends on your concept on what “feels like the US,” if you will. Also, Honolulu/Oahu and Maui feel much less “foreign” than some of the smaller, more rural islands of Hawaii. A bigger shock may be to go to some of the US territories, but not all because Guam feels very “American” to me as well. Alaska feels 10,000% American to me though, no doubt about it. It’s easy to forget how disconnected you are from the rest of the nation in a normal-feeling city like Anchorage or Fairbanks.

    I’ve been to a few states in the lower 48/mainland that feel more “foreign” than Alaska and maybe even Hawaii. Louisiana and New Mexico come to mind.

  13. Hawaii doesn’t feel different at all. I spent a lot of time at the outer banks growing up so even the everyday feel felt the same.

    I’ve been to Alaska once and I can’t say it felt any different.

    I would argue rural Louisiana feels the most different.

  15. You’ll feel like the US, but you’ll notice small things. Access to certain foods increase, like you’ll see more spam musubi in Hawaii. More spam on menus everywhere. Access to certain animals increase, like you’ll see more moose in alaska. And more reindeer sausage on menus.

  17. I live in northern New England, so Alaska has a vaguely similar feel about it. Hawaii is obviously more different, but no more so than the Deep South or the desert Southwest

  18. Alaska felt like a different country, haven’t been to Hawaii but considering it was a different country until 70 years ago it’s not surprising

  20. Alaska is huge. Anchorage feels different and is like a metropolitan city with many people from around the world. The rest of Alaska is pretty rural and can be pretty remote.

  21. Alaska, geographically, is like nothing else in America, it’s so unique and spectacular. I didn’t spend much time in towns or cities, but everyone i interacted with was American, and it felt culturally the same.

  24. they both feel pretty american. Hawaii less so, especially because their street names are all in hawaiin.

  25. We expect cultural variation within our nation. The geographic separation of Alaska and Hawaii doesn’t make them feel more “foreign” than Maine would feel to a Texan. The place in the US that felt very different from where I grew up (Virginia) was New Mexico, because desert habitat is different from the swampy habitat I grew up in. Alaska and Hawaii were less strange to me than NM.

  26. I’ve been to both although I was a younger kid for Alaska. Hawaii in back to back years as middle school kid

    It’s a bit different but still feels like the US. Hawaii does have the unique Hawaiian history as an independent country which was taken in qausi legal means and the native Hawaiian culture.
    US has a major military presence. Demographics wise it doesn’t feel that different from CA or the west coast aside from the tropical aspect.

    Alaska is very much like the western US but more rugged. Its pretty well connected to Washington state in ties and economics.

  29. I live in Alaska and used to live in Hawaii, and travel to Hawaii on a regular basis, and I just feel like I am in the United States. I have lived in Europe, and that definitely felt different.

  30. I lived in Hawaii for a few years and it really still just felt like the US, just a different place.

  31. I honestly don’t understand the question… I’ve never been either of those places nor have I left the us

  32. I went to Alaska last year. The three days in Anchorage were like any small city USA.

    Traveling through the wilderness, the vastness and largeness of it felt other worldly.

    The cruise was beautiful, but the day in particular of cruising through glacier bay makes you can’t believe such things exist.

    Landing on the glacier. Drinking the water. Feeling the cold and seeing the breathtaking beauty, completely awe inspiring.

    So I would say parts of it are very America like. Parts of it don’t even feel like you’re on this planet, let alone America.

  33. Alaska feels like any other empty forested place to me, like deep woods Maine or the upper peninsula of Michigan.

    The first time going to Hawaii was fun. My thought was “oh, so this is what actual tropical is like” and you realize all those times you went to Florida they were just faking it.

  35. I live in Pennsylvania and traveling to the other side of the state feels very different. I go to school in the north west of the state and I live in the south east. The weather is much colder and more extreme, they like different sports teams, they eat different foods, they have different stores. The culture is different but that’s probably more of a city vs rural thing. It still feels like America but it doesn’t feel like the Pennsylvania I was used too

  37. Miami and Hawaii feel the least like the “U.S” of anywhere in the U.S. Having lived in both, I’d argue Miami actually feels more foreign.

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