North Carolina Tourist Discovers Montana's Unwritten Rules

These days, the algorithm has figured out that I'm from Montana.

So when I'm on TikTok, I'm seeing a lot of videos from people traveling to Montana.

Montana: A Playground for Travelers

They're coming to Bozeman, Big Sky, Whitefish, and other parts of the state. They're eating, sightseeing, and experiencing Montana. A lot of these people seem to be rich and are using Montana as their playground. I scroll past those pretty quickly.

Then this guy from North Carolina popped up on my feed as he was experiencing Montana. I saw a few of his videos, and he seemed like a normal guy. Then he posted his wrap-up video about his trip, and I dug it.

His TikTok account is coreybarnett85.

What I liked about it was that he talked about what he learned while he was here.

Lessons Learned: Yellowstone and Local Culture

First, he learned that you probably don't want to wear your Yellowstone clothes around Montana.

He's a big fan of the show, but he figured out pretty quickly how a lot of Montanans feel about Yellowstone and about people moving here because of the TV show.

He also learned how to correctly pronounce Kalispell.

He learned that most Montanans aren't walking around wearing cowboy hats every day.

Montana's Culinary Delights

Then he discovered something really important.

Montana has some really good meat.

He loved the sausage here so much that he said we've basically ruined sausage for him because he can't find anything as good back home in North Carolina.

He also gave a shout-out to the Roadhouse Grill in Great Falls for the food and the burger.

He also got a lesson in driving through the Rocky Mountains.

He's from North Carolina, so driving Montana's mountain roads was a different experience for him.

He was doing it in the summer.

Imagine if we brought him back in January.

Respecting Montana: A Visitor's Perspective

The thing I really liked about his video, though, was that he seemed to get Montana.

He wasn't talking about moving here. In fact, he made it clear that's not happening anytime soon.

He just had a great time and wants to come back.

He even wants to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield and learn more about the Battle of the Little Bighorn.

A Genuine Connection with the Treasure State

That's what made this video different from a lot of the Montana travel videos I see.

He came here, experienced Montana for what it actually is, learned a few things, ate some great food, and left wanting to come back. He seems to genuinely respect Montana.

I think more people who want to come to Montana can learn from his video. Just leave the Yellowstone shirt at home.