A second question that might be asked of this data set is whether or not there are regional accumulations of my trackables on an international scale, as suggested for the United States. If we assume a universal rate of attrition, and given that 95+ percent of my trackables originate in the US, a question must be asked...why are there more of my travel bugs in countries that are an ocean and cultures away, than in most of the states in this country? If the reader doubts this possibility, consult the table at right.
I ranked and numbered all of the US states having five or more last-log totals. Last-logs equate to the last locations of the respective trackables on 31-Dec-2020. These are shown under the USA column. Next, I combined that list with the countries having five or more last-logs (in red). For this exercise, I subdivided Canada into its provinces and territories and four of those made the list...they are indicated by the trailing C. The new list was re-ranked and the results are shown in the All column.
The information is read in the following manner. The UK and Germany have more trackables than any state but one, Texas. Recall that I send new trackables to the UK, but none to Germany. The Netherlands have more last logs than nine US states; Belgium has more than 13 (considering ties); Czechia more than 17. Granted, the size and/or populations of some of our states puts them at a comparative disadvantage out-of-hand, but why do the largish states that border Texas have so few? Texas has 406, but Oklahoma has only 32; New Mexico, 17; Arkansas, 8; Louisiana, 7. In fairness, I must say that, from my core caching area, the borders of Arkansas and Louisiana are further away than the borders of Arizona, Colorado, and Kansas. These three states also have more total last-logs (see the map under the Last-Logs tab above).
Asked another way, all things being equal, should the Netherlands have as many last-logs as Michigan and North Carolina; Belgium as many as Illinois, New Mexico and Tennessee; France as many as Kansas, Ohio and Washington? I think not, because all things are not equal. Something is different in in the US, or in Europe. The same could be said of Australia, on the other side of the world, which has the same total last-logs as Alabama and Georgia, 13.
I ranked and numbered all of the US states having five or more last-log totals. Last-logs equate to the last locations of the respective trackables on 31-Dec-2020. These are shown under the USA column. Next, I combined that list with the countries having five or more last-logs (in red). For this exercise, I subdivided Canada into its provinces and territories and four of those made the list...they are indicated by the trailing C. The new list was re-ranked and the results are shown in the All column.
The information is read in the following manner. The UK and Germany have more trackables than any state but one, Texas. Recall that I send new trackables to the UK, but none to Germany. The Netherlands have more last logs than nine US states; Belgium has more than 13 (considering ties); Czechia more than 17. Granted, the size and/or populations of some of our states puts them at a comparative disadvantage out-of-hand, but why do the largish states that border Texas have so few? Texas has 406, but Oklahoma has only 32; New Mexico, 17; Arkansas, 8; Louisiana, 7. In fairness, I must say that, from my core caching area, the borders of Arkansas and Louisiana are further away than the borders of Arizona, Colorado, and Kansas. These three states also have more total last-logs (see the map under the Last-Logs tab above).
Asked another way, all things being equal, should the Netherlands have as many last-logs as Michigan and North Carolina; Belgium as many as Illinois, New Mexico and Tennessee; France as many as Kansas, Ohio and Washington? I think not, because all things are not equal. Something is different in in the US, or in Europe. The same could be said of Australia, on the other side of the world, which has the same total last-logs as Alabama and Georgia, 13.