When we announced Idaho as our next For 91 Days destination, the reaction among friends and family was almost unanimous: "Seriously? Idaho? Why?!" But after spending three months exploring the state, sharing our pictures and stories, we started to hear a lot of... "Oh, that's why".
They're the first thing most people think of when they think "Idaho". And usually, they're the only thing people think of. Potatoes aren't just the most famous product of Idaho, but practically the only thing the state is known for. Crazy, when you consider the amazing variety of sights and experiences available here. It is, I suppose, a testament to the marketing prowess of Idaho's potato manufacturers.
Weighing in with a whopping 23% of the state's population, Latter-Day Saints make up the biggest religious denomination in Idaho, beating both Evangelicals (22%) and Catholics (18%). This statistic came as a surprise to us; during our journey through Idaho, we didn't notice much Mormon influence at all... that is, at least, until we reached the southeastern corner of the state.
I recently came across a good method for discovering which stereotypes and questions exist about a certain place: just allow Google to auto-complete the phrase, "Why is [place] so _____?" I've discovered that people tend to wonder why Ohio is so important, why South Korea is so weird, and why Georgia is so humid. And the number one question for our current home: "Why is Idaho so... conservative?"
For our first month in Idaho, we had been based in the tiny town of Cascade, which turned out to be nicely situated; close enough to Boise for things like the Hot Air Balloon Festival, and bordering the wilderness we had been so eager to experience. After just 30 days, we'd only seen a small porting of Idaho; but it was enough to form some solid initial impressions.
After 91 busy days spent in the South Korean metropolis of Busan, we were ready for something completely different. So I grabbed a thesaurus and flipped to the "K" section. It's a strange and little-known fact, but it turns out that the antonym of "Korea" is "Idaho". Exact opposites. And just like that, our next destination was set!
