There was a time, I was traveling as a sport – craving more flight deals, more countries accumulated, seeing where else I could go.
Then I started a new job. During orientation, we had to share a “fun fact.” One person said they’d been to 20 countries. The next said 22. Then 31, then 33, 37, 38, then 40, etc. Everyone made this their fun fact, like it was a personality trait. The whole thing is a weird competition and it was very cringe. Ever since that day, I stopped saying or posting about how many countries I’ve been to.
Dating apps love this too “I’ve travelled to #X countries” written in the bio.
…it’s everywhere? My girlfriend Amelia once wrote, “I’ve been to 293 countries,” in her bio just to mock it. Which I found hilarious.
Visiting many countries doesn’t make you intelligent, it doesn’t make you kind, generous or even cool. It means you’ve been on a lot of planes, trains and buses, and received a lot of passport stamps.
I get it for travel influencers…because it brings quantitative legitimacy to your expertise in travel…
I guess…IDK but…..anyways…
Here’s how I’ve travelled to 80 countries, and I just want to demystify how.
By the time I graduated university, I’d already been to 20.
Two semesters studying in London. Two semesters in Beijing. International internships. Summer programs. I took my first solo trip to Korea to celebrate my 20th birthday. 🙂
I wasn’t counting at the time, I just wanted to learn languages and study abroad as much as possible. and did.
How did you afford that?
Because I didn’t spend much. I would work, save $3K and then spend it all on my next trip.
People used to say, “Oooh, you got money.” No? Well maybe, I just didn’t spend it.
For years, I lived on canned green beans, black beans, corn, rice, and eggs. Four cans and a dozen eggs for under $4 with coupons. No nails, no brows, no hair. My money was for flights.
My first year after graduating, I made $12,000. That same year, I visited 8 countries on 3 different trips.
Hostels. Backpack. Cheap food. You can make a lot happen.
Layover Visits
I’ve visited a lot of places on long layovers — 12 to 28 hours that came with my ticket. I used to hunt for them on purpose.
Now I’m mostly over it… except for Doha. I still haven’t been to Qatar and I’m actively looking for a long layover there.
Some of my layover stops:
- Frankfurt, Germany to Lagos Nairobi
- Dubai to Zanzibar, Tanzania
- Buenos Aires Argentina to Santiago Chile
- Addis Ababa Ethiopia to Nairobi Kenya
- Tokyo, Japan to Seoul Korea
- Panama City, Panama to El Salvador
- Stockholm, Sweden to Riga Latvia
- Oslo Norway to Ibiza Spain
- Belgrade, Serbia to Bucharest Romania
- Macau to Taiwan
- Reykavik, Iceland to Berlin Germany
- Austria, Vienna to Cairo Egypt
- Istanbul Turkey to Los Angeles, CA (from Malta)
- London to Dakar Senegal.
*Yes, I still have not been to Japan except for an overnight layover 11 years ago. Insane. I’ll be traveling through Asia soon enough but I’m loving my time in Africa right now.
Day trip and I didn’t spend the night
I have visited so many places for just the day, didn’t even spend the night.
- Belgium, Brussels – day trip from London
- The Vatican – day trip while in Italy
- Gibraltar – day trip from Tarifa, Spain
- Bratislava, Slovakia – day trip from Budapest, Hungary
- Llubjana, Slovenia – day trip from Zagreb, Croatia
- Malmo, Sweden – day trip from Copenhagen, Denmark
- Corfu Greece – day trip from Sarande, Albania
- Chobe, Botswana – day trip from Livingstone, Zambia
- Impalila, Namibia – day trip from Livingstone, Zambia
Europe is cheap
I’ve been to 32 countries in Europe, and that’s because flights are incredibly cheap over there.
I’ve flown from Portugal to Spain for $9 USD.
You can easily see 5 countries in 14 days. This way of travel is notoriously an American practice, and I wouldn’t say its good or even very fun.
But, when it costs $$$ just to get there, you try to see as much as you can.
Cheap Flights are Everything
I crave, I long for a good flight deal.
Yes, I ride Spirit Airlines, and Fronteir, and Ryan Air, and whatever else, and I historically have rarely checked bags to keep my costs down.
Sometimes I didn’t even care about the destination — if the flight was cheap, I was going. That’s how I ended up in El Salvador in 2015.
Some flight deals I’m especially proud of:
- San Francisco to Beijing – $183
- Washington DC to Reykavik, Iceland – $99
- Washington DC to Dublin, Ireland – $118
- Washington DC to Copenhagen, Denmark – $129
- Washington DC to Stockholm, Sweden -$371
- New York to Liberia, Costa Rica – $173
- Washington DC to San Salvador, El Salvador – $215
- One Way Washington DC to Medellin, Colombia- $98
Counting Territories
Some people do or do not count territories, or non-UN recognized nations. I do. Here’s some examples.
- Puerto Rico (United States) – a territory of the USA
- Azores, (Portugal) – they’re self governing and also hella far from mainland Portugal
- The Vatican (Italy) – Physically in Italy, but is a UN recognized nation state specifically for the Catholic Church
- Gibraltar (United Kingdom) – a part of the United Kingdom, but physically within Spain and across from Morocco
- Taiwan (China) – not recognized by the United Nations, but…
- Macau (China) – A Chinese territory famous for their casinos and business.
- Zanzibar (Tanzania) – An island off of Tanzania that is also self governing. I think most tourists that visit Tanzania always go to Zanzibar .
An example of a territory I want to visit, but isn’t a country – is Kurdistan 🙂
Thank you for your time.