I grew up as a awful Anglophone snob. I would pontificate insufferably about places that I had barely heard about in my modest Geography classes. I pretended to be a man of the world with the obtuse style of a dismissive know it all. I had barely been anywhere until my 30’s. I genuinely have no idea why the switch in my head flicked, but I booked a solo trip to Morocco that kicked off this spectacular, decades long adventure. I have feverishly been trying to make up for lost time:
Åland Islands, Albania, Andorra, Anguilla, Argentina, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote D’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Republic of Northern Cyprus, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, São Tomé and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Saint Maarten, Slovakia, Slovenia, Somaliland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, The Bahamas, Togo, Tonga, Transnistria, Tunisia, Turkey, Turks and Caicos, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States Virgin Islands, All 50 of the United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Vatican, Vietnam, Western Sahara.
I am acutely aware that many of these places call themselves something else. But for ease of use of a generally English speaking audience I use the Anglo names. Of course not all these places are discrete countries. Guiana is an Outre-mer part of France, but it sure feels like a different country when you are there. Taiwan is not recognized as a country by the United Nations, but it is a country. Somaliland has succeeded in being not-Somalia for thirty years, but still has not received recognition of independence.
It is now considered gauche to be a ‘country counter’, casually mentioning the absolute number of places you visited, as opposed to the ‘experiences’ that you had. Well, I do keep track (around 150 so far), and everybody else does as well. I am not on a quest to see every country on the globe, for a few very personal reasons. But I believe that the list of those places that I have visited is helpful as it reminds me of how very, very many places there are that I have not set eyes on. Additionally, I have a very short attention span, and crave new scenery. And, perhaps most importantly, what I have seen so far has helped me build a list of places where I can picture spending significant periods in the future. Think of it as a research project for an as yet unimaginable sedentary future life.
My most dense burst of activity was 06.13.18 to 04.01.20 – 94 weeks (then the world burned down and I went back to working in a hospital until travel bans lifted). 68 Countries (51 of which were new to me), plus 14 visits to the US. 109 flights (do not even try to shame me).
During peak COVID, between July ‘20 and December ‘21 there was an absence of meaningful access to the world. I spent 550 days lapping around 40 States in the US in a giant, janky, Class A motorhome. From 18lbs of luggage … to 18,000lbs. That turned out to be really important lesson for me. My own back yard was chock full of brilliant landscapes that I previously had discounted as too local to be of great interest. I felt comfortable enough with the efficacy of vaccines and the prevalence of Omicron to kick off New Years’ ‘22 in Cape Town. I followed up starting ‘23 in Sydney and ‘24 in Phnom Phen.