Final Stats : USA
So here we go - for the last time - to have a round up of all the important numbers at the end, and the final progress maps too.
So if you still don’t include the four days that it took for me to drive up to Maine from Charleston, or the (estimated) six days that it will take me to drive back, the whole trip lasted 73 days, starting on Tuesday June 16th in Epping, Maine and ending on Thursday 27th August in Hyde Park (Los Angeles), California.
Travelling:
Days on the road: 73 / Miles driven: 18,763 / Average miles per day: 257
States:
Been through: 48 states / Visited: 48 ’same name’ towns & places that share names as places on the tube map
Gas/Petrol:
Total gallons: 984 / Total spent: $2,606 / Average Gas Mileage (MPG): 19.61
Most expensive: $3.99 (Mojave Desert, Nevada) / Cheapest: $2.24 (Missouri)
Accommodation:
Campgrounds: 39 / Stayed at friends: 13 / Stayed in motels: 19 / Slept in car: 2 / Money spent: $2,026
Photographs:
I took 4,629 photos - or at least that’s how many times the shutter got pressed in 73 days, which is 63 times a day on average.
Lining Howard Schultz’s pocket:
Now in total 25 times, which is still lower than I thought it would be for me. I thought Dunkin’ Donuts might overtake them, but DD are still only prominent in the North East of America.
My weight:
I know I was at 172lbs when I set out. I’m looking at my stomach now thinking “Well I look fatter”, but I haven’t actually had a chance to weight myself yet. I’m betting i’m at least two to three pounds heavier though.
Lost items (Aside from the car break-in)
One folding chair, one tarpaulin, one pillow, one swiss-army knife (pocket knife) and one packet of hand wipes - all placed on top of the roof when tidying up the car, and then driven off forgetting that they were there.
Items not lost
My watch went missing for a week, then turned up in the pocket of a bag where I’d previously failed to look. It was quite nice not knowing for a week what the time was though.
The 48 ‘Same Name’ places, on my route, were:
Epping (Maine), Putney (Vermont), Plaistow (New Hampshire), Gloucester (Massachusets), Warwick (Rhode Island), Wapping (Connecticut), Kew Gardens (New York), Harrow (Pennsylvania), Acton (New Jersey), Camden (Delaware), Kensington (Maryland), Greenford (Ohio), Royal Oak (Michigan), Liverpool (West Virginia), Preston (Kentucky), Amersham (Tennessee), Finchley (Virginia), Hampstead (North Carolina), Woodford (South Carolina), Temple (Georgia), Brompton (Alabama), Lancaster (Florida), Bond (Louisiana), Oxford (Mississippi), Victoria (Arkansas), Kingsbury (Indiana), Swiss Cottage (Illinois), Red Bridge (Missouri), White City (Kansas), Waterloo (Nebraska), Latimer (Iowa), Green Park (Wisconsin), Elm Park (Minnesota), Kingsbury (South Dakota), Watford City (North Dakota), Beckton (Wyoming), Poplar (Idaho), Hackney (Montana), Olympia (Washington), Kenton (Oregon), Holborn (Nevada), Arsenal (Utah), Monument (Colorado), Stratford (Texas), Warren (Oklahoma), Angel Fire (New Mexico), London Bridge (Arizona), Hyde Park (California)
The Route Taken
In the end, the map got too complicated for poor old Google to handle in one attempt (too many nodes), so I’ve had to split it into two. The ‘half way’ point I’ve taken to be Chicago which is when I really started to feel that I left the east side of America and enter the west … So map No.1 is up to the 19th July, and map No.2 is everything after that.
View Underground USA : My Progress (1/1) in a larger map
View Underground USA : My Progress (2/2) in a larger map
After living in London for the first 33 years of my life and working for the 
So for ten weeks in June, July and August 2009, I drove 20,000 miles around the the lower 48 contiguous states of the USA visiting towns and places that shared the same name as places on The London
August 30th, 2009 at 2:00 am
I should like to be the first to reserve my copy of the completed DVD!
August 30th, 2009 at 7:31 am
Didn’t you skip one of the same name spots, near Detroit? So it would be 47 same name places visited, right?
August 30th, 2009 at 10:42 am
this is true, i’d seen enough of Detroit already not to want to go to the suburb of Royal Oak. Got close though.
August 30th, 2009 at 11:04 am
I think we can let him off this omission, he was quite nearby, and he saw it on the map, so that will do. I think he’s done a brilliant job, with limited ‘crew’ or back-up personnel. All on £40 a day, not bad. Not like these BBC types who have a complete van-load of helpers to see to their every need. Three cheers for Geoff I say. just get those film companies interested, and charge $ for the DVD!
August 30th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
I disagree with Tina. I think Geoff needs to hit the one he missed on his drive back across the US if he plans to claim he’s been to all 48. Seeing a city on a map does not mean you’ve actually been there. Otherwise each of us could all claim all sorts of fantastical things about ourselves.
You could say you got close to the one near Detroit and be happy with that. I mean, who cares if you actually got there or not, as long as you say “I got close”. But as soon as you start claiming you’ve been to 48, when it’s documented that you haven’t, it invalidates your whole claim.
August 30th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
@ntya: hello my charleston friend, way to go with not having the balls to leave your real email address, shame on you.
i was going to leave something polite along the lines if “as per comment 3, I never claimed to have gone to all 48 places, but i have been to 48 states”
but you know what? screw being polite. i haven’t done this to be able to claim anything “fantasical” about myself, you don’t see me writing on my blog “LOOK AT ME! I’m BETTER than you, AREN’T I AMAZING!”, or anything pretentious –nope, I’ve just got on with it and put it out there for people to follow and enjoy if they want.
and there’s no ‘claim’ either. this is not a record attempt. this is not about beating something or being able to say that i’ve done something that no one else has done before - loads of people have done all-state road trips, although mine (i’d like to think) was just one that had a unique angle that hadn’t been done before.
i stated many times in the videos and often on the blog, that going to the same-name places was hugely irrelevant - all it did was just give me a target to go to in each state and helped me choose a route. that should have been obvious to anyone with a modicum of intelligence without me having to explain it.
if you failed to see that or pick up on it, then you’ve missed the whole point, and is (sadly) why all you’re capable of doing is jumping on here and leaving negative comments
August 31st, 2009 at 10:19 am
Like Paul, I would like a copy of the DVD but signed! I also would like to say Congrats to you for this feat! I know it was like a rollercoaster at times but it was so inspirational for us! Screw those who question you!!! I am so inspired that I know now I will take my journey across the UK on my quest. I would like to know how much it cost to eat as that will be my problem!! LOL… Love ya! Oh yea, got the letter and item thanks@@@@
August 31st, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Many Congratulations on completion of your 48 States journey, on the fantastic blogs & amazing videos which have kept us all tuned in along the way. Thanks for sharing your experiences (many good and some not so good)with us. In unison with your mum … Hip Hip Hooray x 3!!!
Good Luck & all the best for your continued journey through life Geoff
September 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
tami/val/paul - thx all.
annoyingly, the sad truth is because of stolen video camera, and all the footage that they stole there is NO video at all from the first three weeks.
week four and half of week 5 was then recorded on my backup camera, which is NOT acceptable quality to use.
as it stands.. because of the robbery, there will be no documentary or DVD. unless someone wants to pay me to go back and re-shoot those first few weeks (which isn’t going to happen), then it isn’t going to happen.
instead, i’ll just concentrate on a write-up, and make a self-published book out of it.
would you buy one?
September 1st, 2009 at 3:13 pm
Geoff,
I’ve really enjoyed the blog and videos, and would buy your book too. If you’re worried about your weight gain you could try cycling back…
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:52 am
Congratulations on your trek Geoff!
You’ve inspired me to do the random journey thing that been in my head for a while. Take a look at vote for my destination, if you get a minute: http://random-trip.posterous.com/
September 3rd, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Geoff, you’ve been blogging long enough to not let a troll’s insipid comments get to you. GREAT job in seeing the States and documenting it, too. Who would have ever thunk such a quintessential Englishman as yourself would ever end up taking such a fantastic journey… !!!
Oh–and I must disagree, I don’t think “loads of people” have done the 48-state road trip. You’ve accomplished what many of us Yanks could never dream of doing…. Congrats on finishing and I trust one day you’ll be rested enough to add Hawaii to your list of states visited and finally have all 50 under your belt.
September 4th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Yes! Superb geekery. Jolly interesting. Thank you, Geoff.
19.6 MPG, though - ouch, but then the fuel is so cheap it hardly matters. Imagine how cheap it would be to run something like a 1-litre supermini - the equivalent of a penny or two a mile, probably!
September 4th, 2009 at 6:40 pm
Ha, thanks @Kris. for a moment, i thought YOU were the troll!
Ok, maybe not ‘loads’ of people have done all 48, but a lot have done coast-to-coast, and road trips in generally. i musn’t think that what i’m doing in anyway is special, just … different!
@anthony - on the drive back, with just me and the load lightened and doing a steady 62mpg on the highways, i am now getting … brace yourself … 21 miles to the gallon! And gas in Texas is super cheap where i am right now, oh yes!
September 5th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
ha ha…Come on Geoff, I’d never insult you anonymously….in person maybe, but never as a troll.
Your journey HAS been special because of your unique documentation. You’re very gifted at putting together videos on the run, and it’s a sad shame some scumbag troll grabbed your equipment and your footage.
Have you thought about putting a plea on Criaglist in the town where it was ripped Ask for the footage back, no questions asked? It’s worth a try. My mom and I think your videos are as good or better than Huell Howser’s on PBS … do you know who that is?