I never got around to posting that I recently surpassed the 100-country threshold in my quest to explore as much of this world as humanly possible.
Last month Singapore became my 100th country visited, as I spent about 28 hours there on my way to Burma. Singapore is a thriving city in which I’ll return to later this month and Changi International Airport is one of the best I’ve ever been in, though I still prefer Seoul Incheon, Tokyo Haneda, and Hong Kong. Then again, I spent all my time in Singapore lounges, so others may find the butterfly garden and movie theatre a more attractive amenity than I did.
Some countries I have spent more time in than others, obviously, and I do not have a specific criterion for counting countries. For example, I did not include Azerbaijan on my list after making a refueling stop there on a bmi flight from London to Bishkek (I’ve since returned and spent time in Azerbaijan). I did include three hours spent on the ground in Costa Rica, even though I was not permitted to leave the airport. On my recent island-hopper, I did add the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia to my list since I spent time walking on the ground and interacting with locals—the islands are small and I was able to gather some insight to life in these places.
What about countries whose territorial integrity or existence is in dispute? I tend to count them, not because I necessarily support their cause, but because I figure if a land has a border, its own flag, its own government, its own currency, and its own army, it’s just not the same as the country who may have de jure rights over the land. Consequently, the Moldovan breakaway region of Tranistiria, Northern Cyprus, and Palestine (West Bank) are on the list. The special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau are also on the list, with my apologizes to my former colleagues from Air China, who once sternly corrected me when I talked about visiting Hong Kong and then China. “Both are China, Matthew,” they said. Yes and no.
I mentioned ” my quest to explore as much of this world as humanly possible” in the first sentence and that was a very careful choice of words. I am not going to pledge, or even secretly hope, to visit every country in this world. For those in the west, traveling to foreign lands is a wonderful way to increase your knowledge, humility, communication skills, empathy, and broaden your outlook on life. It is also particularly important for me, who books millions of frequent flyer miles each week for clients, to be able to understand and even picture where are they going, such that I can offer advice and perhaps alternative suggestions.
The majority of my clients choose Europe as their destination and with my visit to Malta now complete, I have only one country unvisited in Europe: Andorra. I thought about visiting there too during my recent trip, but I will wait for another time. That’s not to say I have comprehensively explored each country in Europe and beyond, but ask me about any major city around the world and I’ll be able to quickly pinpoint it on a map and tell you a bit about it, including restaurants, hotels, transportation, and sightseeing. That’s an added benefit to my service.
This fall I intend to return to Asia to visit the Philippines, Taiwan, Cambodia, Laos, and re-visit Vietnam. I may try to squeeze Mongolia in as well. The North Korean Aviation tours look extremely appealing as well and I must visit the remaining –stans. Then there is a big gap on my Central America map—Belize, Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala. After that? Who knows…
The first 100 have been great (and now my list is up to 102). Here’s to the next 95!
How many countries have you been to?
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Create your own travel map – TravBuddy
My list:
- Afghanistan
- Albania
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Armenia
- Australia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bermuda
- Bolivia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Brazil
- Bulgaria
- Burma
- Canada
- Chile
- China
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Egypt
- El Salvador
- Estonia
- Federated States of Micronesia
- Fiji
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Hong Kong
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India
- Iran
- Iraq
- Ireland
- Israel
- Italy
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kuwait
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macau
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Marshall Islands
- Mexico
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Montserrat
- Morocco
- Netherlands
- New Zealand
- North Korea
- Northern Cyprus
- Norway
- Oman
- Palestinian Territories
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Saudi Arabia
- Serbia
- Singapore
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- South Africa
- South Korea
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Thailand
- Transnistria
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Arab Emirates
- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- Uruguay
- Vatican City
- Vietnam
How many of those countries did you visit while working for Star Alliance officially and unofficially?
Matthew: in how many of those countries did you actually, er, see the country (spend a night, get off the main track, etc)? If all you saw of Singapore was Changi, you missed out spending time in one of the most fascinating countries in Asia.
I’d love to see a snap shot of your passport. Hahaha
Is Pakistan in your future plans
Congrats, that is huge. Interesting that Singapore is your 100th and not one of those less known countries.
@Graham: I was in 39 countries in 2011, but probably only about a dozen on business.
@Ruben,
That’s a fair question, so I’ll answer. These following countries I spent less than 12 hours in -or- did not leave the airport–
But I count all of the above places as actual visits–you don’t need an overnight in Transnistria, the West Bank, Kuwait, Oman, Paraguay, etc to interact with people, eat local food, and take in some local culture.
I do hope you have at least scanned your passport(s) and saved the images to a safe place. Like you, my passports are among my most prized possessions and I have uploaded the scanned images to dropbox.
Very impressive list, congrats Matt, you are an inspiration!
@Sunny M: Definitely. I should do a post sometime about the trip to Pakistan that never was. I have a full page Pakistan visa in my passport and was all set to travel to Islamabad in late 2007 when Bhutto was assassinated and security went downhill. My trip was “postponed” but I have not had a chance to return since. It would be nice if you were there whenever I make it to Pakistan.
@John K: My passport is one of my prized possessions and I thought about scanning each page and posting it, but I think that would put a bit too much personal info out there.
@Dimitri: Thanks!
If you did not leave the airport it does not count 😉
Definitely you should visit Pakistan ….
Congrats! That’s quite an accomplishment. I met a guy the other day who had been to about 190 countries. He said he was still working on Cuba, Afghanistan, Iran, and he hadn’t been to New Zealand for some reason.
Here’s my list:
1) Antigua
2) Argentina
3) Aruba
4) Australia
5) Austria
6) Bahamas
7) Barbados
8) Belgium
9) Belize
10) Brazil
11) Canada
12) Chile
13) China
14) Colombia
15) Costa Rica
16) Croatia
17) Cyprus
18) Czech Republic
19) Denmark
20) Dominica
21) Ecuador
22) Egypt
23) Estonia
24) Ethiopia
25) Fiji
26) Finland
27) France
28) Germany
29) Greece
30) Guatemala
31) Haiti
32) Honduras
33) Hungary
34) Iceland
35) India
36) Indonesia
37) Ireland
38) Israel
39) Italy
40) Jamaica
41) Japan
42) Jordan
43) Kazakhstan
44) Kenya
45) Kuwait
46) Laos
47) Lebanon
48) Luxembourg
49) Malaysia
50) Malta
51) Mexico
52) Montenegro
53) Morocco
54) Monaco
55) Myanmar
56) Nepal
57) Netherlands
58) New Zealand
59) Norway
60) Palestine
61) Panama
62) Paraguay
63) Peru
64) Philippines
65) Poland
66) Portugal
67) Qatar
68) Russia
69) St. Kitts
70) St. Lucia
71) St. Vincent
72) Singapore
73) St. Martin
74) Slovakia
75) South Africa
76) South Korea
77) Spain
78) Sweden
79) Switzerland
80) Taiwan
81) Thailand
82) Turkey
83) Ukraine
84) UAE
85) UK
86) USA
87) Uruguay
88) Vatican
89) Venezuela
90) Vietnam
the west bank is not a country, it is called israel.
Looks like Africa is next on your list.
Just make sure your shots are in order!
@Steve: Thank you for your comment. There is not a single way to define nationhood and If you read my second paragraph, I talk about my reasons for including the Palestinian Authority in my list. You’re free to disagree, but your statement is not necessarily correct. Don’t take that to mean an anti-Israeli gesture, because it is not–but the West Bank meets my country criterion, just like Northern Cyprus and Transnistria…
Congrats!
I’m a Singaporean and haven’t traveled much, only to Malaysia, Australia (Melbourne, Sydney and Gold Coast), South Korea, Hong Kong and China (Shanghai and Anhui). Most of my trips were either family trips or school trips.
I’ll be graduating (from university) next year and am thinking of where should I visit for my graduation trip. I’m thinking of Canada or somewhere in Europe. Where would you recommend?