This TikToker is trying to dance in every Texas county. How many does he have left?
(NEXSTAR) — TikTok may be the most controversial social media network around these days but plenty of its users are still finding new and unique ways to engage with others around the world. For TikToker Steven Koprowicz it’s become a way to experience different states in a way he never would have otherwise: county by county.
Known as @county_collector on TikTok, Koprowicz, 22, is on a personal mission to film a TikTok dance video in every county of a few states (including Texas) — not to mention the downtown of every urban area in the U.S. He’s crossed off many of Texas’ 254 counties so far. But he still has a ways to go.
“I began this [Texas] challenge a few weeks ago,” Koprowicz told Nexstar this week. “My sister had forwarded me a video I took of myself dancing in Wyoming and she suggested I try to do more videos like it. I said that I would and I re-downloaded TikTok.”
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The New Jersey local, who has always loved geography and maps, says he was already on the road at the time, and began recording videos in every county on his drive to Texas. Koprowicz says he’s been in Texas since Feb. 21 and posting dozens of videos.
“I have now danced in 104 counties in Texas,” he says. “My first video in Texas was in Texarkana on Feb. 23. My 100th county was Bastrop County.”
In case you’re doing the math, that means he has 150 counties left to visit. Keeping track of his routes and outstanding destinations can be confusing. Here’s how Koprowicz says he tracks his routes.
Koprowicz explains he uses the website Mob Rule to track his travels, which he says allows you to view your county map over Google Maps and modify each county’s color and category. He says he also uses Google’s My Maps feature, in addition to maintaining his own personal maps.
As explained by Koprowicz, routes may not be the most linear, as more than distance goes into his plans.
When it comes time to decide where to go and when, he says the itinerary is largely decided by which cities have urban areas or certain attractions, in addition to their location on roads. If it happens that he has to choose between two possible locations, he says he tries to make a video in both — especially if one of the cities is significantly overshadowed by the other.
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“Sure, Tyler and Longview are big cities — but do Lindale, Whitehouse, Gladewater and Kilgore not deserve love too?”
Koprowicz says he likes observing and learning what each county is like. One of the creator’s most touching videos was the somber recording he posted in February of a visit to a memorial for the victims of the Robb Elementary School shooting in Uvalde.
When it comes to his overall impression of various counties, Koprowicz says overall, he’s not too focused on forming an opinion of any of them, but merely experiencing them.
“My favorite counties tend to fall into a few categories. There are the ones where I find cool things I didn’t expect (Val Verde, Van Zandt, Nacogdoches, Lampasas, and Hemphill counties). There are the ones with very scenic roads (Edwards, Travis, and Bandera counties). There are the ones where I meet people or have social experiences in (that would give the title to Bowie County),” says Koprowicz. “Usually these counties are those with hostels or those hosting festivals or parades. I suppose I don’t have a favorite county in Texas.”
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As of this week, Koprowicz was in New Braunfels and then San Antonio and Austin over the weekend. He says his current stay in Texas is the longest he’s been in one state in the past year. Next, he says he’ll likely drive across southern New Mexico sometime in the next two weeks before returning to Texas.
The 22 year-old, who also graduated and went to college at age 16, is doing all of this while also earning a master’s degree in education from Rutgers University. The impressive young traveler says his ultimate goal is to enroll in a doctoral program in the Learning Sciences — with the dream of becoming a professor and researcher.
“I’ve also learned a lot about myself,” Koprowicz told Nexstar of his travels. “[I’ve learned] what I want, what I need, what things in the world I feel ought to be, what shouldn’t be, what I care about, why I care, what I’m willing to do, what I can do, what I will do, and who I am, among other thoughts.”
He adds: “All-in-all, I have so much more Texas to discover still.”
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