When you guys travel, both domestically and internationally, what do you say when people ask where in the US you’re from?

46 comments

  3. I was born and raised in NJ and now live in California. I live in the Bay Area but not in SF proper. When traveling within the state, I can tell other Californians I’m from the Bay Area and the conversation ends there. When traveling out of state, I just tell people I’m from California. If they ask where in the state, I’ll just say the Bay Area and most people will recognize the area. If they don’t, I just say right near San Francisco. Now when traveling abroad, I just tell people I’m from California and if they ask further, I’ll say I live in San Francisco. Both state and city are internationally famous enough that they’ll understand where I’m from pretty quickly.

  4. If it is in passing, I say near Boston. People know Boston more than Massachusetts.

    I don’t live in Boston anymore. I live an hour away in the woods near farms so– if it’s a convo that is going to continue, I just say about an hour outside Boston. Most people in Mass never heard of my town, so I just don’t even mention it.

    I am not saying Boston for like some kind of cred – just to keep it brief.

  5. Colorado, Then when they ask if I live near Denver I say I’m a 6 hour drive into the mountains from Denver.

  10. Washington. If they ask where in Washington, I usually say Kitsap County across the sound from Seattle.

  11. My city is a pretty popular tourist destination and has had a few shows made about it. So normally I will say my city’s name and if they don’t know it, I will say about 15 minutes away from Disneyland.

  13. LA

    The only time you gotta be more specific is when talking to other people from LA.

  14. Atlanta. If confusion, “that’s in Georgia in the southeast.”

    I leaned never to lead with “Georgia” after an awkward exchange with Russians in the Middle East.

    “Ah Georgia! Our brothers!”

    “No. Georgia. In America.”

    That was one long elevator ride.

  19. In my experience, if someone asks a stranger where they are from, and they answer some place they have never heard of, 99/100 people will just nod along and be like “oh thats nice” instead of admitting they have no idea where the fuck that is. Thats why I always answer something that is sure to elicit that 1% oif the time response. So answers like “Cut and Shoot, Texas” or “Hell, Michigan”.

  20. “NY.”

    And then about 10 seconds later.

    “No , not the city. Upstate.”

  22. I live in Connecticut which unless you’re from america people don’t really know where that is so I just say I live close to NYC

  23. Chicago.

    Not only is it recognizable to everyone, it’s the only one in the world.

  24. I say I am from Washington DC or the DC area. I am really from Northern Virginia but you can’t expect someone from far away to know what that means.

    Locally I would never say that I am from DC because in truth I rarely go there, just for the occasional concert or DC United game.

  25. When I lived in Delaware, I just said I lived south of Philly.

    Or I just said I’m originally from Texas. Everyone knows Texas. I have not met one person internationally that knows where or what is a Delaware. Hell, no one outside the eastern seaboard knows Delaware exists.

  26. San Francisco because it’s what everybody knows although we’re about 35 miles away. Then we ran into a couple in a restaurant in Italy and it turned out they lived 15 minutes away.

  27. Domestically, I’d just say I’m from South Dakota. When I was on vacation, I did have a fellow South Dakotan at a bar say, “Oh, east river or west river?” I said east river and they were upset with me, so I find it’s better not to specify.

    Internationally, I usually say that I’m from the state that has Mount Rushmore, since that’s a famous image of the US. When I was in Japan, a lot of people said, “Oh, like Hokage Rock in Naruto!”

    If I have to list the nearest famous city I usually say Chicago, which despite being over 500 miles away at least gives people the idea that I’m from the Midwest.

  31. I lie and say New York. That ends the conversation. They’ll either know where it is or will be too embarrassed to admit they don’t and I’ll be spared an annoying conversation

  32. In California I say Pasadena, outside of California I say near LA, and internationally I say LA.

  33. I say Albuquerque, telling anyone “New Mexico” is just going to get “Your from Mexico” or “You speak good English!” granted saying Albuquerque now just gets Breaking bad quotes which has got a bit old lol

  36. Los Angeles. It’s big enough that it’s all I have to say, really.

  37. In the US: “Jackson, Mississippi” (few know really where it is, but it’s the state capital so pretty much everyone had to memorize its name at some point).

    Abroad: “A small city in the southeastern US. About 300 km north of New Orleans, if you know where that is.” (Few know clearly where it is, but they’ve heard of it.)

  39. Nashville, Tennessee

    Either met with blank stares or “Ah Johnny Cash!”

  40. Lived in New Zealand for six months. If I said the US, I’d get a lot of “well ya we know that.” But telling people I grew up in Wyoming was usually met with a blank stare.

  42. I was born and raised in wmass and despite the fact that boston was only 100 miles away, my family couldn’t really afford to visit. I go to school at umass Amherst and met all these cool people from Boston. Turns out, no, Topsfield is not part of the metro boston. Hell, it’s not even in the 495 corridor.

  43. “Near Washington, DC” because most people I meet abroad have never heard of Norfolk, Virginia

  44. Virginia, if they don’t know that, then I just say D.C. even though I live like a hundred miles from it

  46. Internationally:

    I grew up in Alabama, so I would get, “Oh! Sweet Home Alabama!” a lot.

    I live in North Carolina now, so I’d probably just say that. People have rarely heard of Charlotte.

    Domestically, I’d usually say Charlotte. People often have a general sense of where it is. If I’m in state, I’ll say Concord, which is where I actually live.

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