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. :)

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

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.

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

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

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).