Often called the armpit of America, New Jersey immediately spawns a negative image to any non-New Jersey-an (ite?) (er?)

Although because of this negative persona that NJ portrays, I would’ve never visited by choice, I was privileged enough to be forced to visit Trenton and Princeton. (Sigh, work travels.)

Now that I’ve visited, I can confidently say that alas, I was wrong. And you probably are too. 

Here are 5 reasons you are wrong and New Jersey is misunderstood:

1) Not everyone is super tan and greasy.

There are pale people, dry people, blonde people, and all kinds of ethnicities beside Italian.

2) The Garden State is a joke.

I always wondered how the crap something also called an armpit was officially called “The Garden State.” Well, from what I saw, New Jersey is pretty green! Tons of trees and grass and garden-like things.

3) New Jersey is just an overflow of New York City.

While places like Hoboken might serve as a 6th burrough for the Big Apple, the rest of New Jersey really has it’s own thing going on. They have farms, beaches, their own crime and their own legacies.

4) When flying into NYC, you should fly into JFK or LaGuardia airport.

Flying into Newark gives you the BEST view of New York City. Highly underrated – Newark is a similar distance from Manhattan as LaGuardia and MUCH closer than JFK.

5) New Jersey smells like an armpit.

Honestly, this probably doesn’t count because there are plenty of places in New Jersey that smelled bad. Not the whole state of course, which is why I included this one. Maybe this one counts as 1/2.

Ok, so there are 4 1/2 reasons that New Jersey is misunderstood. Going to show that you never know about some place or someone until you see / smell / hear /experience for yourself.

What is your perception of New Jersey? What are misconceptions of other states?

Thanks for reading! Until next time, adios, ciao, sayonara, good-bye!