Present Perfect Tense "have gone to" VS "have been to"

Question

In present perfect tense, "have been to" implies the fact that the subject has come back from the place we are referrering to, while "have gone to" indicates the subject's absence.

Assuming that I went to Location A in the past several days, and now I come back and run into a neighbour. He asks me, "Where have you been these days?"

I'm so confused with replying "I have gone to Location A" or "I've been to Location A". I tend to use "gone to" because I think "these days" emphasise the time that I wasn't around.

Any comment would be deeply appreciated!

Answer 1

• I've been there several times. [yes, one is not "there now", one has been present there]

• I've gone there several times. [also, not "there now", but one has gone there]]

So what is the difference?

To go somewhere: implies a specific place To be somewhere: implies being present at a location

However, when asking these question:

• Where have you been (recently)?
• Where have you gone (recently)?

The first is about the person being absent, whereas the second could be asking about a specific location.

• I've been busy or out or unavailable.
• I've gone to London and Liverpool. [actually travelled there]

Use go for specific locations. Be cannot be used for the idea of traveling to a location.

Answer 2

The present perfect tense for:

• to be is 'have been'
• to go is 'have gone'

In the case of 'have been' this indicates an action of 'not being there anymore', while 'have gone' indicates 'still being there'.