By Santana Lopez, The New Mexican

At the age of 17, Christopher Dorman has seen more than most adults can hope to see in a lifetime. The Albert Lea native has seen all 50 states &8212; New Mexico being the last state he needed to visit in order to have seen every state in the U.S.

&8220;The whole way down to New Mexico I was kind of giddy in the car, and as we kept getting closer, I would drive a little faster,&8221; Dorman said earlier this month. His goal of visiting all 50 states has only been a year in the making.

&8220;I had already seen about 40 of them because my family likes to travel for fun,&8221; Dorman said. &8220;All of the sudden, I realized that I was very close to seeing all 50.&8221;

Dorman always wanted to travel to New Mexico, after he learned about the Pueblo Indians in school. However, circumstances never allowed him to visit.

&8220;If you&8217;re going to New Jersey and driving down, you don&8217;t hit the West Coast states. Or if you&8217;re flying to California, you jump over stuff,&8221; Dorman said about why it was so difficult to make it to the Southwest.

Dorman was able to check many states off his list by traveling with both family and friends.

New Mexico remained the last state to be seen, so Dorman and his mother decided that they would take a road trip directly to New Mexico so that he could finish his goal before he graduated from high school.

Like most tourists, Dorman and his mother were intrigued by New Mexico&8217;s history and culture.

&8220;The architecture here is so different from anything I&8217;ve ever witnessed,&8221; said Dorman. &8220;Now that I&8217;ve been here, I can take what I&8217;ve learned in history books and really see the connection.&8221;

Learning about the cultures of the places he visits is one of the reasons Dorman enjoys traveling.

&8220;I go to Alaska and I see people still raising sled dogs. I come to New Mexico and I see people living in traditional adobe-style buildings,&8221; he said. &8220;In the United States, we are not just one uniform people. We are different little cultures all over the place. I like traveling because I get to explore those cultures.&8221;

In addition to expanding his knowledge, traveling provides Dorman with an opportunity to spend time with his family.

&8220;I like road trips because, instead of flying someplace that would take you three hours, you can take a road trip someplace that would take you 10 hours,&8221; Dorman said. &8220;All that extra time in the car is time that I get to spend with my family and talk.&8221;

Dorman knows better than anybody that family trips can have their kinks. In addition to running out of gas in the middle of nowhere, the Dorman family has endured many interesting detours.

&8220;We do some of those crazy tourist things,&8221; said Mary Jo Dorman. &8220;One time, my husband took us to see the World Hand Museum in Missouri. We were like, &8216;Why would we want to see that?&8217; &8221;

However, Dorman family trips consist of more than visiting road shows.

&8220;Sometimes we do those tourist trap things. But most of the time, we try to figure what natives to that area do, not just what&8217;s in the brochure, but more of what&8217;s under the rug,&8221; said Dorman.

Even though Dorman has officially seen all 50 states and could be a fair judge as to which one is the best in the United States, he insists that he doesn&8217;t have a favorite state.

&8220;I have favorite places in every state, but no one state is that much better than any other,&8221; said Dorman. &8220;Other than my home state, I don&8217;t have a favorite.&8221;

Copyright 2007 The New Mexican, Inc. Reprinted with permission.