100 countries club?

[retireme]

hi everyone,

i've seen many people here have been to lots of countries. myself, only around 12 countries. has anyone here been to 100 countries?

how many countries have you been to? which ones?

have you been to any countries that no longer exist or changed names like zaire? khmer republic or democratic kampuchea? east germany? rhodesia? ceylon?

are there any official 'rules' about counting countries? some people say you have to sleep overnight for it to count, or as long as you get a passport stamp? do airport layovers count?

what if you visited chechoslovakia before it split? does it now count as two countries, or only one?

[ballu]

No where near 100+ countries...

I've been to USA, Canada, Britain...(England and Scotland, some would count that as one, some would count that as 2), Italy, Holy See (Vatican City...didn't overnight there though, can't imagine many do), Peru, had a long enough layover in Amsterdam that I saw the city, so I count the city but not the country...Egypt and Jordan.

Next on the list Cambodia and Laos, which means I'll fly into Bangkok, Thailand...and I'm hoping to work in a 2 day layover in Beijing.

[cookie]

I've been to USA, Canada, Britain...(England and Scotland, some would count that as one, some would count that as 2)

2 countries! We have our own parliment!

On topic, I'm no where near at 100 countries. Those I can remember, off the top of my head, include: England, Scotland (obv), Wales, Spain, France, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Denmark, Austria, Italy, Croatia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Norway, Turkey, Thailand, the USA and Canada... so that's 21.

This summer I'm adding Germany, Costa Rica and Nicaragua to the list so I'll be up to 24

[PaulTeolis]

32 and counting...

[retireme]

wow paul! that's impressive, 32 countries, lucky you!

so far you are in the lead. my passport is going to expire soon and i am sad because i will lose all the stamps i have so far, then have to start over! something seems more exciting looking at a passport when it has a bunch of stamps in it!

[little_miss_sunshine]

Hey Retireme!
Just tell the passport office that you'd like to keep your old one - here in Canada at least, they just stamp it with "VOID" and you get to keep it...

ahhh the memories.

(I'm up to 20 countries so far )

lms

[Endless Journey]

retireme, love your username!

can we count Liechtenstein, Andorra, Vatican City besides the likes of Luxembourg, Bahrain, Singapore, Lesotho??

[retireme]

thanks endless journey...each day i work i get one step closer! your username is cool too.

i think those should all count, but i am not sure of the rules. many places in europe dont stamp your passport anymore is that right? maybe you can go by the cia factbook or something like that to determine if a place counts.

how was liechtenstein? i worked for a company based there but never got to visit ( tax savings )

[thecakeisalie]

I think I'm around 22 or so, but that's sort of misleading since I counted some countries that were cruise stops in the Caribbean (Jamaica, Grand Cayman, etc.). However I also left out countries that I've technically been in (caught a train through Austria, layovers in various international airports, etc.) so it all balances out in the grand scheme of things. And I don't count the Vatican either, since it might as well just be an annexed section of Rome (no offense to anyone)!

What I'm most proud of is that I've hit 6 continents by the time I turned 27. Now if only Antarctica wasn't so expensive and far away...

Tom

[Ezza]

I'm at 23...plus some random layovers in El Salvador, Japan, Hong Kong and Uganda that do not exactly count. I have the privilege of working with someone who hit 100 countries before turning 30 - pretty impressive!

[Ezza]

And Antarctica is not that far away, nor that expensive. Check out the first and last departures of the year for some $$$ savings. There's a 10 day trip that you can book into a triple cabin on. It's definitely not your cheap Asia trip, but if you save your pennies...

[thecakeisalie]

And Antarctica is not that far away, nor that expensive. Check out the first and last departures of the year for some $$$ savings. There's a 10 day trip that you can book into a triple cabin on. It's definitely not your cheap Asia trip, but if you save your pennies...

Make no mistake, it is still on my short list, but it is the most expensive place to go, and with limited vacation days, the hardest to fit into my schedule (including flying to and from Ushuaia, et al.). The problem is, the other trips no my short list are using up available funds! Someday I will make it happen, but there are too many other places to go first.

Happy Travels,
Tom

[mogwai]

35 here. I will reach 40 or more in a few months time (i'm taking 9 months off to travel).

[Reditor]

Lots of big travellers here! I am over 30 myself....as for that 7 continents part, only Australia left here.

Strangely, since I was a little child Australia has always been the ONE place I "had" to go. It's never left my list...but I haven't made it there yet.

Through all my travels I've met tmany great Aussie friends now, so it is even a bigger draw! That's one of my favourite parts of travelling, the more places you go, the more people you meet...and have places to stay and people to visit!

[strawberry]

100 countries, that would pose quite a challenge. I've racked up 38 countries in 5 continents myself. Will make that 39, after my trip to Guatemala this year.