Trip Reports - My Journey to Every Country in the World

Hello everyone… and greetings from Calcutta, India. I came in last week on SQ 011 from LAX to Narita, and then ANA 943 from NRT to Mumbai. I’m wrapping up the second part of my trip to India, and will then pick up my first OneWorld RTW ticket in NRT on the way back.

I thought I would use this chance to say thanks to everyone in the FT community for a great deal of inspiration and practical help.

In 2006, I returned to the U.S. after spending four years as an aid worker in West Africa. During my time in Africa, I visited a lot of countries and became comfortable with travel in the developing world.

When I relocated to the U.S., I began a graduate program in Seattle, and on a Circle Pacific trip I first had the idea of visiting every country in the world. At the time I had been to about 50 countries, including a lot of “hard” ones, but the task was still quite daunting.

Depending on how you count them, there are at least 193 countries in the world. The list I’m working with contains 203, including places that are mostly independent but not politically sovereign (Somaliland, Palestine, etc.).

Anyway, after a lot of thought last year, I decided to go for it. Every country in the world… why not? Nothing worth doing is ever easy. I’ll be 30 years old next month, and I put a time limit of five years on my goal—so hopefully I’ll have made it to every country by my 35th birthday in April 2013.

With 75+ countries visited so far, I figure I’ll need about 25 new countries a year to achieve the goal. I’ll be honest and say that I’m really not sure I can do this. I’ve been traveling to about 20-25 countries each year for the past few years, but they aren’t all “new” countries to me, and the more I travel, the harder and more expensive it gets. You run out of places like Belgium pretty soon.

Despite the challenge, though, I’m going to try. I finished my graduate program last week, and before I take on another commitment this fall, I’m doing a lot of traveling to get a good head start.

Now I’m in India, and after leaving here my OneWorld trip will take me to South America and North Africa, among other places. Later in the summer I’m going to Brunei, and I’ll try to get back to sub-Saharan Africa before the end of the year.

The help I’ve received thus far from the community here has really benefited me a great deal. Several folks improved my first OneWorld RTW itinerary, pointing out routes I hadn’t considered and getting me set up for my Platinum Challenge.

Others have helped with seat advice, meal requests, airline choices, flight changes, and all kinds of things either directly or indirectly through your posts to others that also help me.

I read the site every day and am really grateful to all of you.

You can follow my journey, as well as my weekly thoughts on personal development and entrepreneurship, on my new site:

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5

The site is non-commercial—but free ideas can have a lot of value for the right people. I’ve learned a lot from all the free ideas here on FlyerTalk, and I hope I can add value to some of you as well.

You guys are great. Thanks so much. I’ll be in touch.

Happy travels,

Chris

Not totally certain that this thread belongs in CommunityBuzz!

But, having said that, it is so much in the spirit, purpose and intent of FlyerTalk that we're glad to host it in this forum. :)

Chris, very impressive travel and work credentials IMO! Many of us are very envious of your work experience, dedication and your varied travels throughout the world.

Please continue to update us on your progress towards the goal of visiting every country in the world.

And let us know how we may assist you in this goal.

Thanks and safe travels.

______________________

Cholula

CommunityBuzz! Co-Moderator

Nice site. A lot of FTers have the same goal (perhaps, like me, without a timeframe).

BTW some places you've noted on the website as being tricky to get to need not be if you search out the options (or ask on FT ;) ).

Hi Chris,

That sounds like a lot of fun. I wish I have the motivation to just take off work for so long and travel around the world. After traveling for a month, I felt the need to return back home and "recharge", so to speak.

Just curious, how much does your RTW OW ticket cost? Though I'm with ST, I'm going to assume they'll be in the same price range.

Thanks for the kind words, guys! And thanks, Cholula, for letting me post in this forum. I wasn't really sure where to put it, but I figured this was the best overall match.

The Great Kiwi Flyer- Yes, that's true. I just mean they can be tricky in a comparative context-- for example, D.R. Congo is a lot more difficult to get to than the D.R. (Dominican Republic). And so it goes with a lot of places in Africa and Central Asia. I'll certainly post up for help from time to time whenever I have difficulty and start looking for different options.

AsianRick- I'll PM you about my ticket.

Everyone else, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to post here. I try to get online at least a few times a week wherever I am.

regional air passes and land transportation across borders come to mind :D

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/places-ive-been/

since its ongoing, maybe it does fit in this forum. (instead of trip report) perhaps other FTers with the same goal would be interested in traveling DOs as well.

Wow, that's really cool. Please let us know how you are doing!!!

I wish I had the time and money for that kind of project. Not sure if I need to see all countries in the world but I would like to see like 75% of them in my life.

Happy and safe traveling!

That's my major goal as well.. visiting all 193/194/etc. There are too many other lists, you noted the Traveler's Century Club, there is also Most Traveled People which has 600+ places!

I remember reading a blog several years ago about a couple of Kiwis who were doing this for the Guinness record of visiting every country in the shortest amount of time... I think they hit everywhere but Afghanistan and Sao Tome in 6 months.

It's a fantastic blog about a fascinating life. I'll look out for the book in Barnes and Noble in 4 years. :)

That's my major goal as well.. visiting all 193/194/etc. There are too many other lists, you noted the Traveler's Century Club, there is also Most Traveled People which has 600+ places!

I remember reading a blog several years ago about a couple of Kiwis who were doing this for the Guinness record of visiting every country in the shortest amount of time... I think they hit everywhere but Afghanistan and Sao Tome in 6 months.

How much countries do we actual have ? Is 194 countries the correct answer ?

That's my major goal as well.. visiting all 193/194/etc. There are too many other lists, you noted the Traveler's Century Club, there is also Most Traveled People which has 600+ places!

I remember reading a blog several years ago about a couple of Kiwis who were doing this for the Guinness record of visiting every country in the shortest amount of time... I think they hit everywhere but Afghanistan and Sao Tome in 6 months.

That "Most Traveled People" is really bogus. It's set up to show that Charles is the most traveled. It includes provinces of some countries, but not all. For instance, it includes Canadian provinces and the 50 United States but not provinces in Nicaragua.

And Traveler's Century Club includes as separate countries Ecuador and the Galapagos. Alaska is included as separate from the continental US.

I think 193 is the UN list of countries.

Good luck! I, too, am awaiting the book!

great read so far. cant wait to read further details. i wanna do the same soon. i have the time, just gotta get myself to do it.

I remember reading a blog several years ago about a couple of Kiwis who were doing this for the Guinness record of visiting every country in the shortest amount of time... I think they hit everywhere but Afghanistan and Sao Tome in 6 months.

Yes. They were raising money for charity and having fun along the way. They wrote a book. I forget the title - I gave away the book to an FTer a couple of years ago.

Edited to add it was Absolutely Outrageous Adventure (http://www.amazon.com/Absolutely-Outrageous-Adventure-John-Bougen/dp/0143018809)

Good luck with your travel. I'm looking forward to read more about your adventures.

How much countries do we actual have ? Is 194 countries the correct answer ?

That depends on your source. Unfortunately there are lots of country lists, with slightly different criteria and different numbers. Then there is the question of how to deal with countries that split up or merge - do you count any visits pre split or merge, and if so how?

Depending on the list used I have visited 70-odd to 80-odd (not counting TCC and MTP-type lists which include non-countries, I'm 100+ on those).

perhaps other FTers with the same goal would be interested in traveling DOs as well.

That is not as crazy as it sounds. Some hard to reach places may be more accessible as a small group than as lone travellers.

How much countries do we actual have ?

Is 194 countries the correct answer ?

I started a thread on that subject some years ago, which is still active and has many 100s of posts:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=298601

My tally is about 125 different real countries visited. :)

I am now running out of new ones to visit, and have visited less mainstream places like Cuba, Morocco and Burma in recent months - again.

Glen

Thanks, guys. I really appreciate the support. Some people think this is a crazy goal, but I knew I could count on FTers to understand. :)

As to the number of countries, yes, that is a tricky one. Before I started the project I was using the TCC list, but that one really stretches things a bit with places like Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, etc. On the other hand, places like the Azores, Easter Island, and the Faroe Islands really are remote enough that they are worth noting somehow.

I decided to be safe and cull my list down to "real" countries. I also don't count airport stopovers but I do count short visits if needed, which is kind of the middle ground among various country-counting groups.

KiwiFlyer, it looks like we are almost exactly at the same status (70-80 real countries, 100+ TCC). ozstamps, it sounds like you are ahead of me for the time being. I have a few months in between one grad school program and another, so I'm planning to do some serious traveling between now and the fall.

Since it sounds like some of you are interested, I'll post my updates from time to time here in this thread. For now, I have a few more days in India, then back to NRT, over to HKG, back to the States, SJO for a couple days on the OneWorld RTW, and so on.

I think a country 'Do might be a good thing as well, for getting some harder to reach places. Libya comes to mind, they currently aren't offering visas to US citizens unless you have 3+ people. My trips I usually hit 3-5 countries at a time, using open jaw tickets then going overland between.

I'm similar to you and Kiwi Flyer as well; in the 70's on country count and over 100 on TCC.

Mrs k. and I are departing from Maui in 2 1/2 hours on a 3 day trip where we will visit Paris, England, Rio, Egypt, New York, Rome, Venice, and the Riviera: all in three days!

How is this possible, you may ask?

Las Vegas, baby! :p

(Paris, Excalibur, the Rio, Luxor, NYNY, Caesars' Palace, the Venetian and the Riviera!)

:D

Aloha kakou!

I think a country 'Do might be a good thing as well, for getting some harder to reach places. Libya comes to mind, they currently aren't offering visas to US citizens unless you have 3+ people. My trips I usually hit 3-5 countries at a time, using open jaw tickets then going overland between.

I'm similar to you and Kiwi Flyer as well; in the 70's on country count and over 100 on TCC.

I have the same strategy, and I really enjoy the overland travel part. Last year I did 36 hours on a bus through East Africa, and before that I did the Balkans in 10 days from bus to bus, staying a couple days in each place. The only problem with that now is that OW and *A are making it more difficult to do that with RTW tickets due to the increasing restrictions on surface segments. That definitely makes the travel life more difficult for me.

I did not realize that about Libya-- I'm actually hoping to go there in late April, and I will be alone, traveling from Tunis. My understanding was that a visa on arrival might be possible, but I'll check it out in more detail when I'm back in the States with better internet access next week.

Alternatively, if anyone wants to meet up in Tripoli the weekend of May 3, well...

deepbluesky - seems we are in the same part of the world at roughly the same time. YHPM.

Best of luck on your adventure! That sounds like quite the goal, and I really hope you're successful on it!

I only set the goals of "at least half in my lifetime" and "all of the EU before I finish school here". The first is doable, but running out of time on the second one. Guess a few MRs are in order.

Now the second question: Is there any sort of tradition with this? Personally, I collect flags. As in the full-size flag of every country I've been to. Only rule is that it has to be purchased in the country of origin. Are you doing anything similar for your escapade, or just being there is enough?

I really like the site! Thanks for the post. As Kiwi said, I think you will find advice (especially his; his trip reports are legendary) that demonstrate how easy it can be to get some places.

Now, are you attempting to be able to "say" you've been in every country, or do you plan on staying in every country (at least leaving the airport).

Whoops. Duplicate.

BTW.. For Somalia, you could visit Somaliland and technically get credit. :)

The former British Somaliland capital is in Hargeisa and that region is safe.
Ethiopian airlines flies there a few times a week, or you can go overland from
Dire Dawa. We were able to get a visa ($40) at their liason office in Addis Ababa
when we were there a few weeks ago but then wasn't able to visit Hargeisa after
all as the return flights were full.

BTW.. For Somalia, you could visit Somaliland and technically get credit. :)

The former British Somaliland capital is in Hargeisa and that region is safe.
Ethiopian airlines flies there a few times a week, or you can go overland from
Dire Dawa. We were able to get a visa ($40) at their liason office in Addis Ababa
when we were there a few weeks ago but then wasn't able to visit Hargeisa after
all as the return flights were full.

Thanks hauteboy. Now, can I rearrange my flights to/from ADD to give enough time to fit that in? Hmmm tricky.

When are you going back to visit Somalia/Somaliland?

Hello all, and greetings from HKG Terminal 1. I'm really excited about my first OneWorld Explorer ticket.

Now the second question: Is there any sort of tradition with this? Personally, I collect flags. As in the full-size flag of every country I've been to. Only rule is that it has to be purchased in the country of origin. Are you doing anything similar for your escapade, or just being there is enough?

I stopped collecting stuff a while back; it makes it easier to travel light. A long time ago my wife and I were getting teapots from different countries-- thank God we gave that up after country #4. :)

I do try to take back a dessert spoon from each airline I fly. People who come over for dinner enjoy looking at the collection. There's a funny story about taking a fork by mistake once that I'll have to tell sometime.

Now, are you attempting to be able to "say" you've been in every country, or do you plan on staying in every country (at least leaving the airport).?

I try to spend at least a couple of days in each country, and sometimes a lot longer. But in some cases I will accept a short visit. I won't count airport stops unless I get desperate.

BTW.. For Somalia, you could visit Somaliland and technically get credit.

It's my plan to visit both, although as you point out, Somaliland is a lot easier and safer to get to. I was planning on going from Djibouti as I didn't realize there were flights from ADD. Ideally I would go in from one place and come out through another.

KF - not sure when I'm headed there, it will probably be a while.

Thanks hauteboy. Now, can I rearrange my flights to/from ADD to give enough time to fit that in? Hmmm tricky.

When are you going back to visit Somalia/Somaliland?

Well my visa is good until April 18th.. all I need is another $0 ticket to Ethiopia and I'm there... :)
Most likely though we will do this if/when we return to the area for a Eritrea/Djibouti/Yemen trip.

It's easier to go overland from Dire Dawa/Harar in Ethiopia to Hargeisa. This can be done in a long day. Hargeisa to Djibouti overland I've heard can take 2 days and you'd need an escort.
Here's a report of someone who did this recently http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/47c37/21bf74/9/

Thanks hauteboy - yhpm.

I will be at 80 visited by this August. (70 now)
I agree it is getting increasingly more and more difficult to add more to the list.

I am only 28 so I guess lots of time for the rest :D

A long time ago my wife and I were getting teapots from different countries-- thank God we gave that up after country #4. :)

Yikes, No wonder you gave it up! It's like the time we tried to bring back a coconut from Queensland, but heavier. Or snow-globes.

I do try to take back a dessert spoon from each airline I fly.
Now there's quite the collection, though. Not to mention conversation piece.

DJ Bitterbarn– Very true on both counts.

rankourabu – Hey, we are almost exactly the same age and country count. Good luck with increasing your travels this year.

***

I finished up the India trip – posts are here:

Getting To India (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/getting-to-india/)
India Travel Journal Part I (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/india-travel-journal-part-i/) (such a boring title; I should be ashamed)
Three Amazing Days in Calcutta (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/three-days-in-amazing-calcutta/)
Leaving Hong Kong (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/leaving-hong-kong/)

I’m in L.A. now for the weekend, and will be at LAX Sunday night for a couple hours if anyone’s around. From there I head to SJO (Costa Rica) for a few days, back to L.A., a short domestic trip to Nashville, then back to Sea-Tac on a combination of AA and Southwest.

In addition to making it difficult, the whole overland segment restrictions on OW now make it more expensive for me as well. In this case, it’s a long story, but I had to buy a SW ticket from Chicago Midway because of it. Now I fly to ORD, shuffle over to Midway, hop down to BNA, and reverse the process a couple of days later. There were several other ways I would have preferred to do this side trip, but they all involved flying out of a different airport than I arrived in, and I had no segments to spare.

Anyway, such is life in the OW family these days. After a two-week break in Seattle, I’ll head back out on the RTW ticket. First stop is Easter Island, then of course Argentina and Uruguay, over to Jordan and a few days of overland travel (Lebanon and Syria, as long as the visa situation works out okay), then a flight to Tunis for a week in North Africa.

I’ll keep you posted.

Hey everyone, greetings from Vienna. My apologies for the lack of updates here on this thread, and thanks to all of you who are following over on the Art of Nonconformity site.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been traveling through the Baltics, Russia, Moldova, Romania, and a bonus stop in Erbil, Kurdistan-- which is technically Northern Iraq.

I'll have a full trip report with photos from Erbil on the site Friday morning. For now, here are links to a few other things:

Getting to Moldova (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/getting-to-moldova/) - the journey from AMS to Latvia, overnight bus to Tallinn, ferry to Helsinki, train to St. Petersburg, Air Moldova flight to Chisinau, train to Bucharest, OS flight to VIE where I holed up in a hostel for a couple of days.

A Brief Guide to World Domination (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/a-brief-guide-to-world-domination/) - my 29-page manifesto with the two most important questions in the universe, etc. It doesn't have a lot to do with travel or FT issues, but it does include a couple of stories from SQ LAX-NRT and a trip in Mumbai.

Easter Island to Beirut (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/from-easter-island-to-beirut-lebanon/) and The Road to Damascus (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/the-road-to-damascus/) - travels from last month, when I used my OneWorld RTW ticket to go ORD-SCL-IPC-SCL-EZE-ORD-AMM and beyond, with a few overland trips in between.

Alright, I think I'm caught up. Check out the writing and let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. I appreciate everything I learn from this great community.

So when are you hitting the West Bank and Gaza? Seriously.

I used to have a staff member from Beirut when I worked in SFO in the 80's. That was a tumultuous time there and it was rumored this guy was somehow tied into the underground 'militant' community (for lack of a better term). He had a knack of describing the beauty so well and there is no doubt that it was once the jewel of the entire Med region. It is a shame what happened there but it is nice to see that the supposed location of the Garden of Eden is on the rebound. I have always wanted to visit Beirut.

Syria sounds cool but I'm always leery of their reported ties to terrorism. I thought Syria was on the State Dept. restricted list, but so is Cuba and Americans still go there.

Looking forward to hearing about your future travels.

So when are you hitting the West Bank and Gaza? Seriously.

Syria sounds cool but I'm always leery of their reported ties to terrorism. I thought Syria was on the State Dept. restricted list, but so is Cuba and Americans still go there.

Looking forward to hearing about your future travels.

West Bank and Gaza - unfortunately the situation was not so good when I was in Jerusalem, so I had to take a miss at the time. I'll have to go back.

Syria - was totally fine, very safe and one of my favorite stops. If anything, I wish I had more time there.

I just finished the trip report for Kurdistan - it should be posted in a few hours, live from FRA. In short, Erbil is also a cool place, with very little in common with the Iraq that it is technically a part of. I showed up without a plan or any accommodation, which I was initially concerned about, but it ended up being completely fine. Free entry is now available to all USA/EU passport holders; no visa is needed unless you stay more than 10 days.

Alright, heading to the Sofia airport, where I go on to FRA and then across the way to ICN.

Congrats on reaching the milestone of 100 real countries. I plan to reach that mark myself in a few months' time.

Congrats on reaching the milestone of 100 real countries. I plan to reach that mark myself in a few months' time.

Hey, thanks! Yes, Sri Lanka was my 100th country and it did feel somewhat monumental.

And that reminds me that I need to update this thread for those who are following along this way. I'll do so soon - for now, I'm in NYC after flying in from HKG last night, and headed back to home in SEA later today.

At least I hope so -- I read this in the Seattle Times just now:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2008195717_webseattleflight22.html

That's my flight, going the other way. But perhaps this means they have a different aircraft now. I'll see in a few hours...

Hi all,

A quick update from Vientiane, Laos for those who are following this thread.

I took a few months off from travel, but now I'm back out on the road. The total country count is now 103, and I have a number of other trips planned throughout 2009.

In other travel news, I recently conducted an experiment to see how many FF miles I could earn through credit card applications. I ended up with about 300,000.

All the details are on the site, including a video, spreadsheet, and a challenge to help other people earn at least 50k miles:

http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/the-5-million-frequent-flyer-mile-challenge

Some of that info will be old hat to active FT users, but if any of it is useful to you, please let me know (http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pQR4Pga_TnH-vgeYkwnorFw&hl=en) so I can include your miles with the total.

All the best from Laos! See you later.

Chris - I'm on 103 on the list I use and not quite 100 (will be soon) on your list. For a number of reasons I don't expect to visit many new countries this year.

Good luck with your travels and ventures. Hopefully we will meet up somewhere.

My goal was 100 before the age of 30, but that wont happen.
Will be at around 92/93 by that landmark birthday.

Sadly, travel will be cut down this year because of a chunky house downpayment coming up.

But it is getting harder and harder too :D
I figure I have about 30 "easy" ones left

I love this line on your blog
"I also like to mix things up a little – sometimes I fly First Class before checking into a $9 a night hostel in Southeast Asia"

thats so me!!! I'll never forget the look on the Emirates chauffer driver when he was dropping me off at the backpackers in Auckland last year :D

What? No Armenia?!?! :D

If you braved Air Moldova you can surely handle Armavia!

Chris - I'm on 103 on the list I use and not quite 100 (will be soon) on your list. For a number of reasons I don't expect to visit many new countries this year.

Good luck with your travels and ventures. Hopefully we will meet up somewhere.

Yep, we are almost at exactly the same point! I could be wrong, but I believe you have more SWP countries and I have more African countries - otherwise, there's probably a great deal of overlap. I have no doubt we'll meet up, probably a few times.



I love this line on your blog
"I also like to mix things up a little – sometimes I fly First Class before checking into a $9 a night hostel in Southeast Asia"

thats so me!!! I'll never forget the look on the Emirates chauffer driver when he was dropping me off at the backpackers in Auckland last year :D

Apparently there are several of us like that - a couple of other people have written in saying the same thing. We could have a meetup at the hostel and then head to the LH First Terminal!

What? No Armenia?!?!

If you braved Air Moldova you can surely handle Armavia!

I just haven't made it there yet. When I get there I'll remember that you've recommended Armavia. :)

I just haven't made it there yet. When I get there I'll remember that you've recommended Armavia. :)

LOL - I wouldn't say it's a recommendation, but if you braved Air Moldova, you'll survive Armavia. I lived in Chisinau for two years, so I can compare the two.

Actually, since you like *Alliance round the world tickets, you could get in here without much trouble, since BD, LH and OS fly to EVN. My first RTW trip I went from KIV to EVN on OS (via VIE). No OneWorld carriers, though, but if you ever decide to go with Skyteam, EVN has AF, Czech, and Aeroflot.

I've been following this guy for awhile, he just finished up a three week trip through West Africa.. including going from Sierra Leone to Liberia overland. Sounded like Nigeria was the worst place of all. He's working on being the youngest to visit all TCC 'countries'.

http://www.leeabbamonte.com

I'm at 91/193 now.. should hit the halfway point this year.

I highly recommend Armenia btw.

I've been following this guy for awhile, he just finished up a three week trip through West Africa.. including going from Sierra Leone to Liberia overland. Sounded like Nigeria was the worst place of all. He's working on being the youngest to visit all TCC 'countries'.

http://www.leeabbamonte.com

I'm at 91/193 now.. should hit the halfway point this year.

I highly recommend Armenia btw.

That's another great site... So motivating, SO TEMPTING. Thanks to all the inspiring posters here!

I have issues with the TCC list..
It seems very misleading to count all Emirates as seperate countries, as well as Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.... Cmon Bali is a part of Indonesia, not a seperate country! Turkey is the same damn thing whether its in Asia or Europe, so is Russia!
Prince Edward Island.... get real!

I have issues with the TCC list..
It seems very misleading to count all Emirates as seperate countries, as well as Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah.... Cmon Bali is a part of Indonesia, not a seperate country! Turkey is the same damn thing whether its in Asia or Europe, so is Russia!
Prince Edward Island.... get real!

I'm not sure if your comments are directed at me (the OP) or TCC in general. If it's me, well, I don't use the TCC list. :) I am using the U.N. list, so only sovereign countries. By TCC standards I've probably been to 30+ more so far.

However, while some of the TCC "countries" can be a stretch, it's true that some places are so remote or otherwise so different from the country they are attached to that you might as well keep up with them somehow. Think about the Faroe Islands, for example, or Easter Island, or even a place like Palestine that is not really a state yet but certainly doesn't belong to anyone else.

Anyway, each person should decide for themselves what their own rules and standards are for country-counting. For me, this is not a contest. It's a personal quest with personal meaning.

I'm not sure if your comments are directed at me (the OP) or TCC in general. If it's me, well, I don't use the TCC list. :) I am using the U.N. list, so only sovereign countries. By TCC standards I've probably been to 30+ more so far.

However, while some of the TCC "countries" can be a stretch, it's true that some places are so remote or otherwise so different from the country they are attached to that you might as well keep up with them somehow. Think about the Faroe Islands, for example, or Easter Island, or even a place like Palestine that is not really a state yet but certainly doesn't belong to anyone else.

Anyway, each person should decide for themselves what their own rules and standards are for country-counting. For me, this is not a contest. It's a personal quest with personal meaning.

It was totally directed at the TCC not you =)
I will agree with you on the Faeroes, Greenland, or places like Guam, Gibraltar, Norfolk, Reunion, Virgin Islands etc, etc, and most definitely Palestine or Gaza should be recognized. These are in their own way seperate entities and have a degree of autonomy in the way they are governed. But claiming Prince Edward Island, Alaska or Bali as a "country" is just dumb.

I am not going to drive around all the Emirates, just to pad my count, just as I refuse to divide the United Kingdom into seperate countries for the purpose of a "count"

btw, 82 and counting :D turning 30 this year tho :( Will not reach a 100 until perhaps next summer, I am sure that will be a monumental moment

Hey guys, I see it's been forever since I've updated this thread. My apologies, and at least this group will understand when I blame it on travel. :)

I'm writing live from HKG, on the tail-end of a fairly intensive RTW trip. At the moment I'm on a 9-hour (and counting) delay due to a problem with the aircraft on the Air Asia flight to KUL.

Overall, I'm up to 117 real countries now. It's been going well, but as most of you know, the higher the count goes, the harder it becomes to reach new places. I still haven't done much at all in the South Pacific, nothing in Central Asia, and less than half of Africa.

On the other hand, I've been to the Cook Islands courtesy of Air New Zealand, nearly been deported from Saudi Arabia, completed my visits to all South American countries, ordered 5k in Native American coins from the U.S. Mint, and requalified for AA EXP. (I do try to represent this community well.)

Here are a few recent travel posts for anyone who follows along from this thread:


The Monster Trip of 2009 (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/monster-trip-of-2009/)

This Is How It Begins (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/this-is-how-it-begins/)

Packing List (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/packing-list/)

French Guiana and the $100 Question (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/french-guiana-and-the-100-question/)

The Outsider's Guide to the Cook Islands (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/outsider-guide-to-the-cook-islands/)


FYI, after I get home later this week, my next trip will be to Nepal and Bhutan towards the end of August. The Bhutan dates are August 24-27th, in case anyone is planning something similar.

I'll also have a Los Angeles meetup on the evening of August 18th in between flights from PDX and to HKG. Any and all FT folks in the area are welcome - time and location to be determined when we get closer to the date.

Thanks for all your support and encouragement! Hope to see some of you somewhere, sometime.

All the best as I continue to wait on Air Asia,

cg

Just remembered about your blog.
Good to see youre getting closer to your goal.

I will finally hit 100 in 2010. On deck are Yemen, Armenia, Georgia, Nepal and India. Its getting harder and harder :D

Thanks! Congratulations on nearing 100!

Yeah, it's going well over here -- I'm now at 122 (real) countries and counting. I agree that things will start getting more difficult in 2010 and beyond for me too.

Speaking of Armenia and Georgia, I was just there last week (http://chrisguillebeau.com/3x5/midnight-train-to-tbilisi-georgia).

I was also in Azerbaijan, and it turned out to be a good starting point for overland travel in the region. If you go Azerbaijan-Georgia-Armenia, it's easier than the other way around due to visas and the lack of relations between Azerbaijan and Armenia. I flew into Baku on LH, took a train to Tbilisi, took a marshrutka (Russian mini-bus) down to Armenia, and flew out of Yerevan on OS.