The average 艾可直播 has visited 12 states, according to a survey by livability.com. But Amanda Mazzoni is anything but typical.聽In 2013, with 24 states already under her belt, she resolved to visit all 50 by her 30th birthday.
鈥淧eople are quick to classify 艾可直播s as one homogenous group, but we couldn鈥檛 be more different in terms of our beliefs, traditions, and concerns,鈥 says the Garden State resident. 鈥淲hen I was in South Dakota, they weren鈥檛 talking about the Russia probe: they were worried about putting food on the table because the deer were infected with bluetongue disease.鈥
Mazzoni, who puts in 60 hours a week at the criminal defense and matrimonial law firm that bears her name, planned lots of long weekends to meet her goal. 鈥淚鈥檇 rent a car and drive through four states in three days.鈥
The only rule: 鈥淚 had to do something in each state that it鈥檚 known for.鈥
She marveled at the cheddar sculptures at the Great Wisconsin Cheese Festival; basked in a postcard-worthy sunset in Santa Rosa, New Mexico; and feasted on pork ribs at Leatha鈥檚 Bar-B-Que Inn in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. 鈥淎lligator, rattlesnake, oxtail soup鈥攊f it was local, I tried it,鈥 Mazzoni says.
Her father, Michael Mazzoni, SPA/BA 鈥67, WCL/JD 鈥72, accompanied her on several adventures, including a fly fishing trip to Alaska for his 70th birthday and a quick jaunt to the Dakotas, where they visited Mount Rushmore and Sitting Bull鈥檚 burial site鈥攁n unceremonious grave in a parking lot in Fort Yates, North Dakota. (鈥淲e drove 20 hours for that,鈥 she laughs.)
The elder Mazzoni was with his daughter on December 14, when she celebrated her 30th birthday in the 50th state in the union鈥攖he last on her list.
鈥淗awaii was incredible,鈥 she recalls. 鈥淲e saw the sunset over the volcanoes, visited Kauai and the waterfalls.鈥
Next up for the globetrotter? All seven continents by her 40th birthday (Africa, Australia, and Antarctica remain on her to-do list). 鈥淭raveling is addictive,鈥 Mazzoni says. 鈥淔or $99, you can jump on a plane and have a completely new experience for the weekend.鈥