There are a lot of different cultures in the U.S., but I think the biggest differences aren't the regional ones, and imo hard to get a feel for just by traveling. The lives and cultures of people living in rural areas vs. urban areas, wealthy vs. poor areas, nearly-100%-white vs. nearly-100%-black areas, etc., etc. are all very different, but they aren't primarily state-to-state variations. For example, I found living in Houston and Chicago to be not that different: I lived in a middle-class suburban area in both, and their culture was more "middle-class suburban American" culture than any kind of distinctively Midwestern or Texan culture. I think there's some of that in cities, too: SF and Portland and parts of Manhattan have more in common with each other than with some places that are geographically much closer to them.
Living in a different one of those cultures can be very educational, but it's somewhat hard to break into unless you have some organic reason to be there or social connection. People are often resentful of "lifestyle tourism", the stereotypical one being an upper-middle-class white kid who moves to a poor minority neighborhood as a cultural experience. Small rural communities can also be quite closed as well, in terms of being able to really join the culture (vs. just visit the town).
Living in a different one of those cultures can be very educational, but it's somewhat hard to break into unless you have some organic reason to be there or social connection. People are often resentful of "lifestyle tourism", the stereotypical one being an upper-middle-class white kid who moves to a poor minority neighborhood as a cultural experience. Small rural communities can also be quite closed as well, in terms of being able to really join the culture (vs. just visit the town).