Fifty states. Countless communities. And two young men reminding Americans that sometimes the most extraordinary things are the ones we’ve stopped noticing.
There’s something rather remarkable about watching two young men from Great Britain travel around the United States and experience things that millions of Americans have never seen.
Their names are Josh and Jase.
If you spend much time on social media, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered them. They’re two British friends traveling across America, experiencing our food, visiting our communities, meeting our people, and discovering the countless things that make this country unique.
And apparently, Americans have collectively decided to adopt them. Every time they post a video, thousands of people respond.
“You need to come to my state!”
“You haven’t experienced America until you’ve visited our town!”
“Wait until you try the food here!”
And, of course, there’s always someone insisting that whatever they’ve just experienced is nothing compared to what they’ll find three states over. We Americans are a rather competitive bunch. Especially when it comes to our hometowns.
But underneath all the recommendations, friendly disagreements, and enthusiastic invitations, I think something genuinely wonderful is happening. These two young men are reminding Americans of something many of us have forgotten.
Just how remarkable our own country really is.
The Country We Live In but Rarely See
Think about something for a moment. How much of America have you actually experienced? Not driven through on the interstate. Not flown over at 35,000 feet. Not seen in a documentary or watched someone explore on YouTube. Actually experienced.
How many states have you visited? How many small towns have you walked through? How many conversations have you had with people whose lives are completely different from your own?
I’ve lived in America my entire life, have seen a lot of things, and there are countless places I’ve never seen. And I’m hardly alone. Millions of Americans spend decades living in the same general area, visiting the same familiar destinations, and following the same routines.
We work. We raise families. We pay bills. We maintain homes. We take care of responsibilities. And somewhere along the way, we become so occupied with living our lives that we forget just how much there is beyond our own backyards.
Then along come Josh and Jase.
Two young men from another country who have the opportunity to experience more of America than many Americans will experience in a lifetime. There’s something both wonderful and slightly ironic about that. We live here. They’re discovering it.
And we’re watching them to see what we’ve been missing.
Fifty States, Fifty Different Stories
One of the things I appreciate most about America is that every state has something uniquely its own. We often think about our country in terms of familiar landmarks. The Grand Canyon. Yellowstone. The Rocky Mountains. The Great Lakes. The beaches of Florida. The skylines of New York and Chicago. And certainly, those places deserve recognition.
But America is so much more than its famous destinations. It’s the little restaurant in a small town that’s been serving the same family recipes for generations. It’s the local festival celebrating a tradition outsiders may have never heard of. It’s the farmer working land that has been in the family for a century. It’s the fishing communities, mountain towns, desert settlements, historic neighborhoods, and communities tucked away in places most tourists never think to visit. It’s the accents, the regional foods, the customs, and the different ways people live. And perhaps most importantly, it’s the people.
Every state has something special to offer. Some have towering mountains. Others have rolling farmland. Some have endless coastlines, while others have forests, deserts, lakes, or landscapes that seem to stretch forever. But what makes a state special isn’t simply its geography. It’s the combination of its history, culture, traditions, communities, and people.
What makes one state extraordinary cannot be perfectly replicated by the other forty-nine. And that’s something worth appreciating.
The Americans Who Want to Show Them Everything
Perhaps my favorite part of following Josh and Jase isn’t necessarily watching what they discover. It’s watching how Americans respond. People genuinely want these two young men to experience the best their communities have to offer. And they take it personally.
If Josh and Jase visit a state and miss a particular restaurant, someone will inevitably point it out. If they travel through a region without stopping at a certain landmark, someone will remind them. And if they spend more time in one state than another, well, let’s just say Americans have some rather strong opinions about the appropriate distribution of tourism.
I may have participated in one of those discussions myself. As an Ohio resident, I couldn’t help noticing that Michigan had enjoyed two extended visits from Josh and Jase, while Ohio was receiving a stop on their university tour.
Now, anyone familiar with the longstanding Ohio–Michigan rivalry understands that certain matters require careful diplomatic consideration. So, naturally, I suggested that Ohio was entitled to equal visitation time. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable request. Apparently, a few hundred people agreed.
But that’s part of what makes their adventures so entertaining. People aren’t simply watching two visitors explore America. They’re becoming personally invested in making sure those visitors experience the places they love. And underneath all the friendly competition is something genuinely meaningful. People are proud of where they come from.
They want visitors to see their communities as they see them. They want someone to appreciate the restaurant they’ve loved for thirty years, the park where they spent their childhood, or the little town that might not mean much to the rest of the world but means everything to them.
Because behind every recommendation is someone saying, in their own way: “Let me show you something I love.”
An Opportunity Most People Will Never Have
I hope Josh and Jase understand just how fortunate they are. Not simply because they’ve developed a substantial social media following or created opportunities through their travels. But because they’re experiencing something that many people spend their entire lives wishing they could do.
They’re seeing new places, meeting people from different backgrounds, discovering unfamiliar traditions, and collecting experiences that will remain with them long after the cameras stop recording. Think about the number of people who reach retirement with a list of places they’ve always wanted to visit.
Some eventually make those trips. Others never get the opportunity. Life has a way of interfering with our plans. Careers, families, finances, health, and responsibilities all place limitations on how much of the world we’re able to experience. That’s not a criticism. It’s simply reality. Which makes the opportunity these two young men have all the more remarkable.
And here’s something else. Even if they eventually visit all fifty states, travel thousands of miles, and meet thousands of people, they still won’t have seen everything. Not even close. They could spend an entire year exploring America and still miss countless places worth visiting. They could spend a lifetime doing it. There would always be another road, another community, another story, and another person worth meeting. That’s how much this country has to offer.
And I hope they never lose the sense of wonder that makes their adventures so enjoyable to watch. Because long after the views, likes, and comments have faded, the memories will remain. The people who welcomed them. The conversations they never expected to have. The places they never knew existed. And the realization that sometimes the most meaningful experiences aren’t the ones we planned. They’re the ones we discovered along the way.
Sometimes It Takes an Outsider to Remind Us
Have you ever noticed how differently visitors see the places where we live? Someone comes to your hometown and gets excited about something you’ve passed a thousand times without giving it a second thought. A historic building. A scenic overlook. A little diner. A local tradition. To you, it’s ordinary. To them, it’s an experience.
And suddenly, you’re looking at something familiar through an entirely different set of eyes. I think that’s part of what makes Josh and Jase so enjoyable to watch. They approach things with curiosity. They’re interested in experiences that many Americans have grown accustomed to. And their enthusiasm becomes contagious. We begin remembering places we’ve visited, thinking about destinations we’ve overlooked, and appreciating things we may have started taking for granted.
Sometimes we become so familiar with our surroundings that we stop recognizing their value. It takes someone unfamiliar with them to remind us.
Perhaps one of the greatest gifts of travel isn’t simply discovering somewhere new. It’s learning to appreciate where you’ve already been.
More Than Entertainment
There’s another dimension to their journey that deserves recognition. Josh and Jase have also become involved in the Big Ten’s We Give Blood initiative, working alongside Abbott to encourage blood donations through visits to university communities. That’s an important distinction.
Their platform isn’t limited to entertaining people or introducing them to unfamiliar foods and destinations. It’s also creating opportunities to encourage people to do something meaningful for others. And I appreciate that. Because influence is an interesting thing.
Having millions of followers is impressive. But what matters more is what someone chooses to do with that attention. You can use it simply to entertain. You can use it to introduce people to businesses and communities they might otherwise overlook. Or you can use it to encourage participation in something that genuinely benefits others. Josh and Jase are demonstrating that those things don’t have to be mutually exclusive.
You can entertain people, connect communities, and make a positive difference along the way. That’s influence worth recognizing.
The America Beyond the Headlines
We live in a time when it’s easy to believe Americans have very little in common. Turn on the news or spend a few minutes scrolling through social media, and you’ll find plenty of reasons to think we’re hopelessly divided. Politics. Religion. Economics. Culture. We disagree about practically everything. Sometimes rather enthusiastically.
But then you watch people from all over the country welcoming two British travelers, offering recommendations, sharing stories, and encouraging them to experience the places they call home. And you begin to notice something. Beneath all the disagreements, there’s still an enormous amount of pride, generosity, hospitality, and goodwill.
People still enjoy sharing what they love. They still want visitors to feel welcome. They still take pride in their communities. And they still find joy in watching someone else discover something wonderful. That doesn’t mean our differences disappear. It means our differences don’t have to define every interaction we have. And perhaps that’s something we could all stand to remember.
The Journey Is the Story
I don’t know how many more adventures Josh and Jase have planned. I don’t know which communities they’ll visit next, which foods they’ll discover, or how many Americans will insist that their state deserves a longer visit. I’m reasonably certain the recommendations won’t stop.
But I hope they continue enjoying the journey. Not simply because millions of people enjoy watching them. But because what they’re experiencing is genuinely extraordinary. They’re discovering a country that’s difficult to fully appreciate from a distance. A country made up of fifty states, each with its own character, history, traditions, landscapes, and communities. A country where two people can travel thousands of miles and still find something completely unexpected around the next corner. And a country where complete strangers will enthusiastically invite them to experience something special simply because they’re proud to share it.
There’s something rather wonderful about that. And perhaps, without even realizing it, Josh and Jase are giving Americans a reason to rediscover the beauty of their own country. Not through politics. Not through arguments. Not through grand speeches about national identity. But through curiosity, laughter, hospitality, and a willingness to experience something new. Sometimes the simplest things make the greatest impression.
One Final Thought
Josh and Jase may eventually be able to say they’ve visited all fifty states. That’s an accomplishment most Americans will never experience. But I suspect they’ll also discover something else. No matter how many places they visit, there will always be more to see. More people to meet. More stories to hear. More experiences waiting somewhere beyond the next turn in the road. And perhaps that’s the greatest thing about America.
You can spend a lifetime discovering it and still never run out of reasons to be amazed.
So, Josh and Jase, thank you for sharing your adventures. Thank you for giving Americans an opportunity to show you what makes their communities special. And thank you for reminding us that sometimes the extraordinary things in life are the very things we’ve grown accustomed to seeing every day.
Keep exploring. Keep asking questions. Keep meeting people. And keep reminding us what we have. Because even those of us who’ve lived here our entire lives still have an awful lot left to discover.
And to everyone who has welcomed them, recommended a destination, shared a hometown story, or simply enjoyed watching their adventures, perhaps there’s something we can learn from all of this.
You don’t have to travel thousands of miles to discover something extraordinary. Sometimes you just have to look at what’s around you with a little more appreciation.
Now I’d Love to Hear From You
If Josh and Jase came to your state and you could show them just ONE place, introduce them to ONE experience, or take them to ONE restaurant, what would you choose?
And more importantly, what makes that place special to you?
Share your answer in the comments. Whether it’s a famous landmark or a little place only the locals know about, I’d love to hear your story.
Because I suspect the answers would remind us just how much of America is still waiting to be discovered.
There’s More to Discover at The Library
If you’ve enjoyed this reflection, I invite you to explore The Library at tzehnder.net.
I’m Troy P. Zehnder, an Ohio-based author and speaker who writes about the things that shape our lives: the choices we make, the people we encounter, the relationships we build, and the experiences that change how we see the world.
Some articles are thoughtful. Others are humorous. A few might even challenge the way you’ve always looked at something.
But they all share one purpose: to make a difference, one person and one perspective at a time.
And just like Josh and Jase are discovering new places across America, perhaps you’ll discover a thought, a story, or a different perspective worth taking with you.
Visit tzehnder.net — there’s always something more to discover.
Troy P. Zehnder | Author • Speaker • Personal Development Coach
