I’m setting what I hope will be an achievable goal in 2023: visit 10 countries I have not previously visited.
10 New Countries For 2023
As I focus on the more important matters of my family, cultivating my career beyond this blog, and working to live rather than living to work, I still hope to whittle away a bit at my country count each year. But long gone are the years when I could visit dozens of new countries.
Last year I visited three new countries, including Algeria, Kenya, and Tunisia. I always set out to do more, but the realities of my primary duty as a husband and father do limit my ability to travel…a tradeoff I welcome. I stretch out trip reports to make it seem like I am always away, but for 4/5 of the year I am home and as my children quickly grow and with my wife now working as a nurse, my trips will continue to be limited in duration.
By the end of the year I hope to visit these 10 new countries:
Bhutan
Bhutan has sat near the top of my list for many years and it looks like I will finally get to visit Bhutan this year and experience this beautiful nation for myself.
Nepal
While I cannot afford to spend very long in Bhutan, I do want to rest for a few days Nepal…and maybe take one of those crazy Mt. Everest flights which require oxygen masks.
Timor-Leste
From what I have been told, everything worth visiting in Timor-Leste is cheaper and more beautiful in Indonesia. That said, Timor-Leste is a country I must visit if I am going to visit every country and I will be in Indonesia later this year, so I am going to try to spend a day or two in the capital city of Dili.
Angola
I’m so intrigued by Luanda, the oil-rich capital of Angola, as well as the country’s Cold War history. I plan to review TAAG this year… which should be interesting…and if I do, will spend the night in Luanda.
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the only country in Central America I have not visited. I’m intrigued by President Daniel Ortega and happy that United Airlines has resumed flights to Augusto Cesar Sandino International Airport (MGA) in Managua, the capital city.
Uganda
I have friends from Uganda in Los Angeles who have contacts on the ground and would like to review the Airbus A330-800neo on Uganda Airlines.
Senegal
I’ve been meaning to review Air Senegal for a couple years now and if I do, I will certainly spend a day or two in Dakar.
Somalia
Ok, hear me out on this one. I know Somalia is not safe. But I want to see it…and support the brave entrepreneurs who have opened a hip coffee shop in Mogadishu.
Eritrea
I’ll be headed to Ethiopia this spring and while in the region, I hope to visit the colorful capital of Eritrea, Asmara.
Belize
I tried to fit in a Belize trip in 2022 and could not make it work (United flies nonstop once per week from Los Angeles), but hope to do so this year.
CONCLUSION
These are my goals, and perhaps they are a bit ambitious. But I do hope to whittle down this list in 2023 and would welcome any tips you can provide on any of the destinations above.
In case you are planning to book soon, TAAG currently have got some interesting business class prices from MAD to GRU- I am sure you can do free stopovers and I think that I have even seen some keenly priced tickets on ITA combining their fares with those of TAP (e.g. MAD-LAD-GRU-LIS-MAD for €1700 or so). I am hoping to visit Angola sooner rather than later, but it may be 2024 as I have the opposite problem from yours – the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere means that my trips nowadays are becoming longer and longer, and it just seems daft to be paying for a house that sits empty 3-4-5 months in a year!
From LIS actually. Yes, I’m eyeing them! 😉
It may be from both- I am sure I saw it from MAD and it also made perfect sense to me as they started flying to Madrid pretty recently and the route probably isn’t very well established just yet.
Message me if you need tips for Belize. My wife and I spent 4 days there back in 2013 and drove around most of the country. Which sounds like a more impressive feat than it really is, seeing as it’s like a hundred or so miles from one end to the other.
“Nicaragua is the only country in Central America I have not visited.”
Then how is Belize also a “new” country?
Yeah. That didn’t come out the way I intended it.
Objection! I did hear you out. What I heard was that you want to go to Somalia, support the terrorists, while you leave behind a wife and two children…all for a coffee shop!
I thought you constantly said that you try to not live in fear. (No, I’m not proving your point, keep reading) Aren’t you scared of dying when you have a wife and two small children at home? If you REALLY mean it when you say you don’t live in fear, then stay home and don’t be scared of hurting your family. I truly could care less about that coffee shop in Somalia. I love coffee shops as much as you do, but I promise you, I will not read a review of the hip coffee shop in Somalia whether you write about it or not. I just don’t give a (insert bad word here).
Grow up, Matthew. I say this as a loyal blog reader, I’ve met you and complimented you in the past. Trips like Somalia (for a coffee shop!) are perfect evidence of exactly why I don’t trust your judgment. The mere thought that you’re
THINKING
about taking this trip, whether or not you actually go on it, tells me I am right to be concerned about your wife and children. Let me be very blunt, Matthew. If you know what’s good for you, you will not take this trip. Period. That
is
a threat, Matthew! I repeat, I am threatening you. I will call the state of California and express concerns about your judgment and put you and your family on the radar of the state, and if your wife gives her blessing, I will add that she failed to protect her children. I hope you’ll do the right thing, I really do not want to do this, but I will if you leave me with no other choice.
Just to clarify, in order to dissuade Matthew from supporting terrorists, you are threatening him with terror?
After this rant,. I think the state will be more concerned about your mental health and state sir
This delusional concern you have. Quite concerning. I do hope you get the help you soon desperately need. I’m sure Matthew and his family wish you the same.
Statistically, Mogadishu is safer than Detroit.
Just sayin’
Can you relax a bit? I’m quite sure, Matt won’t hop in a unmarked Toyota at the entrance but do what’s necessary to be as safe as possible.
What if Heidi supports my travel to Somalia? It’s not like I just disappear without telling her where I am going.
Somalia is an incredibly dangerous country. There’s also nothing being done about the problems in the country because there are no resources that I know of, unlike what’s happening in Israel, where resources are abundant. Even if I were to be proven wrong (there are resources and evidence that significant work is being done to make it safer), I would still be deeply uncomfortable because the situation is so unpredictable and anything could happen no matter where you go.
If Heidi gives her blessing, I would tell you to go when your children are in college. I would personally oppose the trip under any circumstances (obvious exception: if the situation changes dramatically) and would always tell you so even if you heeded my advice, but what would change is that I would respect you more as a man of honor, of character, as a father. I would have less trouble believing that you care more about your family than you do about yourself. At least if you waited until both of your children (and any future children you have) are in college to go, you are not forcing Heidi to potentially raise your children (for the most part) on her own (I’m assuming your mother will help a bit, but not enough for me to retract my statement, and ditto your brother). I’m not considering anything else when I say what I am, and am giving you every single benefit of the doubt that my moral conscience allows me to give you.
I fully recognize I have no place prying into your personal affairs and your family. But you put it on your blog, so I feel free, short of being racist or using obscene language, to respond as I see fit. I make no apologies for those who might object to me speaking so harshly “because you don’t know s**t and should just shut up.”
@Alan Brint – I used to live/work in Somalia running Mogadishu airport and have continued to travel there multiple times since. It is inaccurate to say that the entire country is incredibly dangerous. There are pockets of instability but for the most part, Somalia today is a very different story than 10 or even 5 years ago. I feel safer in (parts of) Mogadishu than I do in many other parts of the world.
@Sean M: That all may be true (and is actually very interesting, I might add) but that does not mean that Matthew should go there while two children wait at home with a mother, grandmother, and possibly others who all rightfully worry that the childrens’ father won’t be home alive. I dearly hope, for the sake of good and noble people like yourself, that a day will come that I can take back my rehtoric about Somalia. I am sorry to offend you, but there is nothing good to say about Somalia at this minute. Sean, perhaps you could spare him the trip and next time you’re there, you could get some coffee from that shop and bring it to him personally. You could then become friends with him and take him when his children are older and not at risk of being raised by one parent. I would fully support that if you did this.
Glad to see you’re interested in Timor. I used to go there a few times a year for the Navy (the US Navy is everywhere…) be sure to check out Letefoho for your coffee. The Timor Plaza was where I normally stayed, but the Hilton was in the process of building a hotel in Dili, then Covid, so not sure how it’s going now.
Thanks for shari g your list and cluing me in to new places I might not have thought would be good to take a trip to.
Let’s put this to a vote. Would Matthew honor such a vote? I list them in order of preference with 1 being the top choice.
1. Timor-Leste (Strong favorite)
2. Senegal
3. Belize
4. Uganda
5. Eritrea
[Unsolicited vote: Revisit of Taiwan, Palau, San Marino]
6. Bhutan
7. Nepal
8. Angola
9. Nicaragua
10. Somalia
I spent quite a bit of time in East Timor. It’s a really interesting place; it sort of feels like the end of the world to me. It’s hard to really get a feel for the country in Dili, but Dili itself is a fairly interesting destination. You’ll feel like you’re part of the expat community on the second day you’re there. Easy flight in from DPS or SIN. It’s really not hard to reach at all.
As someone else said comments above, Belize is am easy country.
Unsolicited suggestion, you can take your time to rest there and take your family and as a bonus review the Coppola hotels, wvile not exactly points it could make for original content.
https://www.thefamilycoppolahideaways.com/
Intrigued with Ortega? He is not a president. He is a murderous dictator. TODAY is the hearing against the catholic bishop of Matagalpa and scores of priests have been sought to be killed and many imprisoned as of today! Ortega has forced 500,000 Nicaraguans into exile, killed hundreds of students, and has seven would-be presidential candidates (his opposition) rotting in jail. At the Nicaragua-Costa Rica border I run a Relief Center for all those fleeing to safety in Costa Rica and they arrive with all kinds of heinous wounds. Our organization helps 30,000 per year who are living each day without adequate food and shelter bc of everything the Sandinistas are doing. They have weaponized education, healthcare, their tax system, and the courts against those who aren’t Sandinistas. What kind of a blog is this?
“Intrigued” should be not be considered a term of praise. I share your concern.
If you are into good Indian food, Uganda is a superb choice – the best on the planet outside India. In the late 1990s, I visited the Khana Khazana restaurant in Kampala and, over 20 years later, it’s still in the top 5 on Tripadvisor. If you’re not, feel free to ignore this post !
Sounds good! I had no idea.
RE Belize: Take Heidi and spend a few days on Caye Caulker. Thank me later.
P.S. Fly Tropic Air from BZE to the island and hope you get the copilot seat. Very fun.