The Loneliest State in the USA

Somewhere in the heart of the American West lies a state that's wild, rugged, and barely inhabited. 200 people, a couple of stores. Geographically, it's one of the biggest states in the US, but it's home to only half a million people, which makes it the least densely populated one. You know, you always felt safe and good. In today's journey, I drive across Wyoming, visit some of the towns here, and chat to a few locals. My big question is, what's it really like to live in the least populated state in the country? Do people enjoy it? Do they feel like they're missing out? We don't want a lot of people moving here. Hunting and fishing and just the beauty of it, the quiet and the peace. And seeing as Wyoming is less populated than even Alaska, that's saying something. My journey starts at a tiny campsite nestled in the mountains in the far north of the state. Super ominous, those clouds. Super ominous. I hope they're not a sign of things to come. Except they are because they're clouds, so. Very windy and pretty rainy very quickly. Come on, buddy. You wanna go inside? Good boy. All right, time to get inside. I knew it. Feel my shin as well. It is like hailing. Yep, hail. See? It's not just rain. Oh my God, what a great day to go camping. So Vilk has made himself very cozy and that means I'm gonna do the exact same thing. I often catch myself thinking how lucky I am to be here out in the American West. The spaces here are just so vast. It's so easy to feel like you're all alone in the nature. Like you've got it all to yourself. Coming from Europe, that's just not something I'm used to. And I know I'll miss it daily whenever I end up leaving. Here's a fun fact to give you an idea of just how massive Wyoming is. You could fit Maryland, Vermont, Hawaii, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, and Rhode Island inside of Wyoming's borders and you'd still have space left. It's that big. So it felt pretty serendipitous to suddenly run into an exhibit featuring my favorite animal in the middle of the state. The world's largest jackalope exhibit. You guys are in for a treat. We're only in Wyoming. Oh no, it's closed. Oh God, I feel like I've just really missed out on something super special. So the jackalope. On the off chance you're not familiar with it, the jackalope is up there with Bigfoot and other mythical creatures of North America. A cross between a jackrabbit and an antelope. It may not actually exist. Who knows, right? But it is just the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life. I have to say, I'm really going to miss these little towns out West. There's something so rugged about these tiny nests of humanity peppered across the vast spaces of the American West. A few hours into my trip, I found myself approaching the tiny town of Kinnear. It had a gas station and a convenience store. So I thought I might stop by and ask the locals how they felt about living all the way out here. So what's it like to live in kind of the middle of the least populated state in the United States? It's awesome. The least people, the better. Really? You love it? That's so funny. We like to keep it that way too. Oh, really? We don't want a lot of people moving here. It's okay for them to come through and spend their money, but just keep going home. Are you originally from here? No, I'm from Colorado. Oh, so you claimed it. Yeah, I came here to college and met my husband. Oh, nice. Got married, stayed here. This is in the fifties and then this was in the eighties. We keep track of the stats and we always know how many dumb tourists we've taken out. That's pretty dark. So three people have been gored by buffalo. The tourists got one buffalo calf. They picked up and put in their car and thought it was in trouble. So they killed it. They had to kill it because the herd wouldn't take it back. That's so dumb. And then the bears have eaten two people and then the hot springs have gotten three people. Now here's the crazy thing about Yellowstone National Park, which happens to sit in the northwestern corner of Wyoming. About three and a half million people visit Yellowstone every single year, which is seven times the size of the entire population of the state. There's some obvious advantages, you know, like the tourists bringing in money, but I guess you can see why some locals might poke fun at the tourists here and there. Look, I know they might just be rocks, but they're incredible. And you know what the crazy thing is, and this is a tiny little cultural difference, in Europe, those rocks, those hills would be like a national monument in any country. Here, I mean, I'm looking on Google Maps, they don't even have a name. It's like the only mountain in there that I can see is called Table Mountain. Really, Table Mountain? The most generic mountain name in the entire world. It's like, you guys have so many cool things in Wyoming that you don't even, you don't even care. You're just a bunch of rocks that's just not even bother with them. Seriously? Campsite. Didn't make it all the way to town that I wanted to show you, but we'll do that tomorrow. Super random side note. I've been training to run a 100 kilometer or 60 mile ultra marathon over the last few months. It's coming up real soon, but I gotta say, training on the road has not been without its struggles because it is so hard to stay consistent without a consistent schedule or location. Now that Wielk is a little bit more grown up, he can join me on some runs, but truth be told, I am so excited to find a home soon and get some more consistency in my schedule. It is so beautiful out here. So, just, I can't believe it. Okay, a quick little break before we keep going with this video because I wanna introduce you to the sponsor of today's video and there will be a discount code. 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So you know how they say, don't judge a book by its cover. I think we can probably make an exception in the case of Ten Sleep, Wyoming. So there's a really interesting story about how the town got its name. And it just kind of like proves my point that this is the right place to come and talk about the remoteness of Wyoming because Ten Sleep is named after the fact that it used to take 10 days or 10 sleeps to get to any of the other major Native American camps in the area. I mean, now we have roads. So, you know, it's still pretty remote though. 26 miles to the nearest town in that direction. And I think over 60 in that direction. So it still feels pretty isolated. Of course, isolated doesn't mean lifeless. Ten Sleep is just one of those super charming Western towns that I, as a European, just completely fell in love with. Sure, it may be a far cry from what I'm used to, but I just love to visit. So the sense that I get walking through town is that, yeah, it is a very small town. I can definitely see how everybody would know each other. I mean, just over 200 people, a couple of stores, a couple of restaurants, a couple of bars. That's all. That's where you'd meet your friends after hours, you know? Same spot every single day. I mean, does it even count as a local grocery store out West if it doesn't have a Bigfoot reference somewhere? You can also always rely on the fact that there will be local merch and souvenirs, no matter how obscure the town. I have resisted the urge to buy souvenirs in the United States for the most part, but I don't think I can resist this mug. I am taking this guy with me to my new home. More on that in another episode. So I just asked Crystal, who is a server at the cafe back there, what it's like to live here. She said she doesn't want to be on camera, but she said that I can quote her. She loves it here. They all love it here, and that it's very peaceful. Yep, I can definitely see that. There was one last stop I needed to make in Tensleep. Welcome to the local brewery. I don't know about you, but I usually head straight to the local brewery if I want to meet the actual locals. So can you tell me your name and what you're doing here? Julie Peterson, and I'm a server here at the Tensleep Brewing Company. So Wyoming is known for the fact that it is the least populated of all the states, even though it's quite big, right? What's it like growing up and living in the least populated state? It was just nice. You can go out your door and out in the badlands and hunting and fishing and camping, and you really didn't see that many people. It was just, it felt comfortable to us, not crowded. And of course now, growing up like that, you like that. And I like to visit cities, but you're always glad to come home where it's kind of remote, quiet. Yeah. Did you ever feel like you were missing out on something by being so far away from everybody else? No, I felt like other people were probably missing out. Oh, really? That's interesting. Yeah, we had a lot of freedom, especially as children. You know, you think about that now. We could ride our bikes everywhere. Our mom wouldn't even know where we were all day, and we knew we were safe. Although, you know, it was kind of like that it takes a community to raise a child, and it was like that. If you got hurt, one of the neighbors would be helping you. That's nice. So, you know, you always felt safe and good. So a few people, but kind of close-knit. Yeah, if you ever got hurt or you're sick, people will be at your house cooking you meals and bringing you meals or giving you a ride somewhere. You know, you can always count on each other. Yeah. With just close-knit communities. Is it still like that, do you think? Yeah, definitely. The community here may be small, but it's really tight-knit. You know that you can always rely on your neighbors, on your friends, on your community, whatever the circumstances. And I feel that's just such a human thing. That is just such a deeply human thing, isn't it? Being able to connect with those who live close to you. And I really feel that's something that we miss out on living in cities a lot of the time, not knowing our neighbors. And it's definitely something that I would like more of in my life too. It's great to have this virtual community, but you know, you know what it's like. It's different in person.