The more I travel, the more I realize I have so much more to do. But when you’re counting countries it’s hard to know which ones count and which ones don’t.
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So How Many?
I get asked this question all the time:
“How many countries have you been to?”
First of all, don’t end your sentences with a preposition. Second, it really depends on who you ask. There are a few different schools of thought and I am not really sure which way to go on coming to a one number solution. Let me give you an example:
I have transited Iceland but never left the airport and never got a stamp. My wife says that doesn’t count, and I can see her point but I’m not sure everyone would agree. Flying to Reykjavik I was on Icelandair, exposed as much as anyone can be to Icelandic culture in a metal tube. When we landed, the plane circled the island and I saw the beautiful coasts, the easily pronounced volcano (Eyjafjallajökull), hot springs, and some beautiful scenery before touching down.
I didn’t leave their airport though, I never had any Icelandic food and I don’t feel like I was really there, so I can omit that from the list, but I’m not sure everyone would.
The Rule
What’s the rule? If I have a 12 hour layover in Hong Kong, but I leave the airport, I go see Victoria Harbor, the giant Buddha in Lantau, eat lunch at Tim Ho Wan, buy a knockoff purse at the Lady Markets in Mongkok and still make it back in time for the best lounge in the world at the Wing – does Hong Kong count? (By the way, if you were on a mission you could get all of that accomplished in time)
My rule is leaving the airport and doing something (just sleeping in an airport hotel doesn’t count). The shortest country stay that I count is Japan. My wife and I were in Tokyo for just 16 hours and at least three of those hours were dedicated to leaving Narita (will not ever make that my destination) and getting to Haneda (so much more convenient). We got to the apartment, dropped our things, and headed out on a scavenger hunt for ramen noodles as recommended by our flight attendant en route. She drew a treasure map for us and we found our way to this place with the best ramen we have ever had. We went shopping, we figured out the metro (kind of), we took out cash. We were there – it counts.
Using that metric, my current total is 45 unique countries (of course many of them we have visited many times). This might seem like a lot to some but then they talk to Matthew, and I feel like an amateur. The guy went to both Iran, and Cuba (before it’s recent opening) among other rare territories.
Then there are further disputes if you can believe that. There are questions like, what constitutes a country? The following are some places that could be considered part of a different country instead of an independent:
- Macau
- Hong Kong
- Wales
- Scotland
- The Vatican (Holy See)
Macau and Hong Kong have technically been handed back to China from Portuguese and British rule respectively, however, they are run very independently from Mainland China. For immigration purposes, they are both considered foreign countries which are particularly important and useful information when considering the 72-144- hour transit visa for major Chinese hubs. That means both territories are considered not part of China as far as China is concerned when it comes to passports, customs, stamps, and rules and regulations. Both maintain their own currency (the Hong Kong Dollar and the Macau Dollar – same exchange rate pegged to each other). Both territories have fully free speech, free press, unrestricted internet access, and even if it is not a true democracy, Hong Kong has a semi-democratic process.
Wales and Scotland are much more attached to the United Kingdom than Macau and Hong Kong are to China. Their immigration procedures are the same as England and Northern Ireland, they all share the same currency, though Scotland still prints their own pound pegged to the British Pound.
The Vatican is completely landlocked within the city of Rome and country of Italy. There are formal borders, but no city walls. The military protection is provided by Italy outside of the Vatican and within the country, Switzerland has been outsourced for protection in the Holy See for centuries.
But it is a country, and I have been there several times.
There are other territories like Palestine that come to mind as well. They have borders and checkpoints certainly, but no representation at the UN. Recognition of their state is on a country by country basis. It certainly has a culture different from that of Israel in language, religion, and food.
Century Club
There is an official club that can help determine these matters. They would officially count all of the above “countries” as they are nations. The group was originally started when there were far fewer territories and a much longer journey to reach them. It was more or less a “You’ve visited 75% of the world” club, but nonetheless, I would still like membership. I intend on joining them and as it stands right now I am nearly halfway there, with two more on the list for this year (Aruba and India).
We could have accelerated our ascension to the club. The Sherpstress has about 41 countries and my daughter is already at ten as of a couple of weeks ago, but we still like to travel for travel’s sake. For example, last Christmas we took my brother and mother to Thailand and Hong Kong with us. We did a stopover in Shanghai and Macau to see them both, but we could have seen many more territories we have left to visit in the region if we were just crossing off countries on a list. We found $150 mistake fares to Europe for Thanksgiving and went to Milan and Barcelona, some old favorites. This time we took my sister-in-law who liked it so much that she decided to do a study abroad in Barcelona this summer. We crossed Italy and Spain off the list many years ago but it’s not about going through the list and trying to get to the 100-mark faster. For us, it’s about seeing more of the world than we already know, and visiting favorites as we see fit.
This year we have already seen one new territory when we spend some time in Shanghai on the way home from our winter break trip. Then I went to an old favorite (Hong Kong), then Fort Myers, Florida for some R&R with family. Last week we enjoyed an unexpected stay in Mexico City (counts for our daughter though my wife and I have both been to Mexico before) then Lima, Peru, a new country for my wife but one I know well. Up next is Dublin/Manchester (seen them both, lived in Manchester) to see good friends, then it will be Shanghai, (not new) Beijing (new city but not a new country), Aruba (new for all of us), then Madrid and Barcelona (not new for any of us), New Delhi, India (new for all of us) and then we are hoping for a special trip in October which will be new for all of us too.
Looking at our upcoming trip list, 58% are places we have already been and that’s 7 of 12 trips. Last year we had even more repeats. We are pleased to take out time to get to the century club and are enjoying catching our daughter up, country by country.
How many countries have you visited? What counts and what doesn’t for you?
Interesting post and question. As I have always said that as long as you leave the airport and do something you’ve been there. A layover, or just sleeping in a hotel doesn’t count. For example, I’ve never traveled Japan, but I’ve been there twice, kind of. My first trip was a misconnect and I spent 6 hours in an airport hotel. However I was shuttled to and from the airport and only slept. My 2nd time to Tokyo and my first “real” time there was on a scheduled 14 hour layover. I left the airport, explored Tokyo all day; shopped, ate, took the subway etc and then returned to the airport. I will say I’ve been to Japan, but I have not traveled Japan. On the contrary, I’ve been to Malaysia 5 times, but traveled it 3 Times. By this I mean I’ve connected via KUL 2x but never left the airport or an airport Hotel, but 3 times I’ve actually spent multiple days in Malaysia and traveled far beyond the major cities/tourist destinations. So I can say I have traveled Malaysia but only been to Tokyo/Japan – man oh man Kyle, I think I just added another layer of complexity to your question!
Furthermore, does Puerto Rico or Guam count? I could see No to Puerto Rico/USVI as they share our US CBP and dollar, but Guam has their own Visa waiver program in place. or What about St. Martin, there’s two different territories on that island!
Countries: 52
Territories/disputed states/City-State: 9 (Hong Kong, Macau, USVI, Puerto Rico, Palestine, St. Martin, St Maartin, Guam, Vatican City)
Pass Through locations 1) Serbia (spent 8 hours on the train, but only got of at the capitol to switch trains and use the bathroom, however i do have exit/entry stamps)
Total: 62
My biggest problem with traveling/hitting new places is I keep going back to the same places. For example I’ve been to Italy 4 times, Germany 5 times, Thailand 6 times, Malaysia 3 times, Spain 2 times, etc etc. I’ve made friends while traveling and have gone back to visit them. I guess this isn’t a “problem” as really I should consider myself fortunate to be able to travel as often as I do. But for the explorer in me, I am always slightly saddened when I go on a longhaul vacation and do not get to add a new country to my bucket list. So Instead whenever I return to a country I’ve already have visited, I try to explore a new part of the country. For example, my first trip to Italy I saw Florence, Genova, Naples, and Pisa, My 2nd trip I saw Rome & Florence, my third trip I went to Sicily, my 4th trip I went to Milan and the alps…you get the idea! 🙂 Traveling is fun, we all define it a different way, but the important part is travel, get out of the hotel, and get in touch with the locals and the culture. Learn from the locals and do what the locals do. Traveling in my opinion is suppose to open your eyes to a new world, it’s not supposed to mean locking yourself up in a resort and “acting like an american”
My list is nowhere as extensive as others, but growing! My basic rule for counting territories as “visited” involves (1) passport control; or (2) purchase of an item, especially one of local significance.
(1) Mexico: Several-hour visit to Tijuana that involved dinner at a family restaurant, local dance and musical performance by amateur artists, walking tour of the city, and conversations with locals.
(2) Ireland: 9-day study abroad.
(3) Italy: 9-day study abroad.
(4) Netherlands: 8-hour transit, but I planned my day out in advance and took the train into the city to tour Amsterdam. I walked the streets, purchased stereotypical Dutch ceramics, took photos of row houses, and had lunch.
(5) Israel: 19-day study abroad.
(6) Costa Rica: 13-day study abroad.
(7) Vatican City: Visit while in Rome, but has its own form of passport control, so it counts.
The “tricky” ones that are open to interpretation:
(8) Golan Heights: Claimed by both Israel and Syria, entered from the Israeli side.
(9) Palestine/Judea & Samaria: Visited both Israeli- and PLO-controlled zones
Doesn’t Count:
(10) Gaza Strip: Doesn’t count. Was on Israeli/Gazan border, but did not enter. Would have, but for heightened hostilities during my visit.
To repeat what everyone else has said – a layover doesn’t count as a “country”. For it to count in my book, you have to at least leave the airport, cruise ship, etc. and do something, even if that something is as simple as walking around on the street for a few minutes.
I had pegged my count at 41, but hadn’t included Vatican City as a country, so make it 42. I’ll be adding three more this year – Cuba, Greece, and Malta. Fortunately, cruising makes it easy to knock off several countries in one sitting, so I’ll for sure be adding more at time goes on.
EDITED: my rule for whether a “territory”, whether officially recognized or disputed, counts as a separate country is whether it is governed as a “separate administrative region” with its own separate governmental body. HK, Taiwan, Macau, USVI, Palestinian Authority, etc. count under that standard. Something like the Galapagos Islands, however, would not.
@Rocky – When we lived in Europe, we aimed to get to five new countries per year, which was achievable at the time. Last year was just three, this year will be four with a lot of repeats. Like I said though, I don’t feel compelled to add countries for the sake of it, however, I foresee us making a more concerted effort in 2016 to see unique new places since we don’t have anything on the calendar yet.
@Caleb – You bring up a good point about dually claimed territories, in which case I think I would add the country you don’t already have if you want – Cyprus is another example outside of the one you name. You might also add Kashmir… though you would have to be brave enough to visit which should count just because you did it. I understand Kashmir to be very beautiful but I doubt I will see that any time soon.
@Meanmosh – We are neck and neck and one of those will be a cross-over. Rocky still has the lead, but we will catch him, it’s Matthew that I doubt I will ever catch up to.
Based on your calculus, which I tend to agree on as a way of keeping track, I’m in the same ballpark as you at 46 countries. I have 2 new destinations planned coming up in the next few weeks, plus several repeats, and hopefully more beyond that as the year goes on.
I felt compelled to chime in since you mentioned Kashmir. Remember that only a very small portion of the state of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed territory, the far northwest portion of the state near the Pakistan border. The remainder, including the cities of Jammu and Srinagar, as well as the entire area of Ladakh, is not within the disputed zone. Whether it’s a good idea to try and go, well, that’s another story, though truthfully, you as a foreign tourist have less to worry about than me as an Indian. If you want a taste of the Himalayas when you go to India, though, Shimla and the surrounding areas give you 95% of Kashmir without the worry.
Sigh, I have the least out of all you guys. I clocked in at 24.
Like the majority of you guys, I only counted the countries where actually left the airport and explored the city. For example, I flew into Dusseldorf and then took a train from the airport to Amsterdam. In this case, even though I left the airport and traveled through the German countryside, I did not count it as I didn’t really explore Germany. It was just a transit point for me.
Ugh. I feel so untraveled. . .
Does your own country country? I’ve visited most provinces in China and it took many years to do that. But I’m not counting China. I’ve been to 86 countries so far and my goal is at least 100 countries.
I count my own country because I have seen plenty of it. I think you should too especially how diverse China is – Guangzhou, Beijing and Xi’An might as well be three different countries if they were located elsewhere.