Problem
How many countries have you visited? How many countries are there? How do I classify countries which changed names? I visited Yugoslavia - but what are the new names?
Answers
I was sent an interactive map. nYou are supposed to compare the number of countries you have visited with various celebrities.
Earlier this year I was in Singapore and said, "Whilst we are here, we ought to visit a new country in the area." We went on line looking for offers and found reduced price seats to Cambodia, to Siem Reap, the most visited city in Cambodia, base for exploring nearby Ankor Wat and several other temples. (We bought a three day pass for about 60 US dollars per person, which seemed a lot of money, but covered unlimited temples, of which we managed to do one to three a day, in the heat with a lot of walking on the flat and up and down steps and ladders as several temples were on two, three or four or more levels. (See my previous posts on this blog - and TripAdvisor.
I am not interested in comparing my number of trips with celebrities I hardly know but I am interested in keeping a tally. For years it has been my policy to visit a new country every year. Some people have never left their own country. I met people in the USA who have not been out of the USA.
Americans, Passports and Seeing The USA
Ninety per cent of Americans don't have a passport. They don't need one. The majority have a limited number of holidays a year and like to add a day onto a long weekend and drive or fly to another city in the USA
I have made a list of countries and made bold those I have visited:
UK
USA
A
Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Aruba
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
B
Bahamas, The
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus
Belgium
Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burma
Burundi
C
Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cabo Verde
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros
Congo, Democratic Republic of the
Congo, Republic of the
Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia
Cuba
Curacao
Cyprus
Czechia
D
Denmark
Djibouti
Dominica
Dominican Republic
E
East Timor (see Timor-Leste)
Ecuador
Egypt
El Salvador
Equatorial Guinea
Eritrea
Estonia
Ethiopia
F
Fiji
Finland
France
G
Gabon
Gambia, The
Georgia
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Grenada
Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
H
Haiti
Holy See
Honduras
Hong Kong
Hungary
I
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
J
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
K
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kiribati
Korea, North
Korea, South
Kosovo
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
L
Laos
Latvia
Lebanon
Lesotho
Liberia
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
M
Macau
Macedonia
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Malta
Marshall Islands
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia
Moldova
Monaco
Mongolia
Montenegro
Morocco
Mozambique
N
Namibia
Nauru
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria
North Korea
Norway
O
Oman
P
Pakistan
Palau
Palestinian Territories
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Q
Qatar
R
Romania
Russia
Rwanda
S
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Sint Maarten
Slovakia
Slovenia
Solomon Islands
Somalia
South Africa
South Korea
South Sudan
Spain
Sri Lanka
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland
Syria
T
Taiwan
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Timor-Leste
Togo
Tonga
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia
Turkey
Turkmenistan
Tuvalu
U
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
Uruguay
Uzbekistan
V
Vanuatu
Venezuela
Vietnam
Y
Yemen
Z
Zambia
Zimbabwe
Stories
I have been to 55 countries, but the count can vary. For example, I count the (English) Channel Islands as a country.
Disasters and Disappointments
My first memory of travelling was from England to France. As a five year old I was not happy. The tap water was not drinkable by Brits and tasted funny. I liked butter on food, not oil. Unless you could get a boiled egg your breakfast eggs were cooked in oil. I was too young to enjoy olives. It was hot and I was bitten by mosquitos. My only knowledge of French was the song Frère Jacques. The toilets were smelly holes in the ground with flies and you had to be careful not to fall in.
On the plus side we stopped by the road to brew up English tea with tea leaves for my mother. We carried a potty for me in the boot of the car. Whenever we saw another British car we honked the car horn and waved. That's how it was in the nineteen fifties.
Websites
https://www.travelsupermarket.com/en-gb/holidays/adventurous/world-scratch-map/
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