I’ve never counted the numbers of countries I’ve visited before. I don’t like the idea of traveling just to tick a box or fill a quota, but since I’ve moved to Europe it’s been really easy to start rackin’ up the countries. Like how this summer I had an insane 4 weeks where I visited 8 Countries in 1 Month (I swear – it just worked out this way – I really do prefer slow travel).
When I originally did the count it added up to 34 which just so happens to be my age right now, and I found that serendipitous and made me really reflect. Turning 35 feels is a big milestone for me – much bigger than 30 or anything since 21 for that matter. I wanted to document how lucky I am to have covered so much of the world so far (even though it’s only 16%). So I went to this site and made countries I’ve visited map. As you can see, we had a little disagreement with the count. For one thing, they count Puerto Rico and Hong Kong as separate countries. But I also had forgotten 1 on my original list. Which was fine for me – I could easily celebrate this as 35 countries in 35 years and post after my birthday. Only problem? It was the island of Saint Martin & Sint Maarten which counts for an additional 2.
OK, so this doesn’t go as neatly, but I still wanted to take a minute to appreciate and reflect. So without further ado, here is the list:
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USA (I was born here, so that’s a gimme, but I’ve been really trying to explore the USA)
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Canada (Only Quebec, BANFF is extremely high up on my to-visit list)
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Ireland
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United Kingdom
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Italy
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Vatican City
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Mexico
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Sint Maarten
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St Martin
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Belize
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United Arab Emirates
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Thailand (I lived in Bangkok so have lots of Bangkok Food & Bar recommendations, I haven’t gotten to document my other travels in Thailand, but here is one of my favorite experiences Loy Krathong & Yi Peng Festivals in Chiang Mai, Thailand
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Malaysia
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Singapore
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China (& Hong Kong)
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Indonesia
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Australia
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New Zealand ( My Travel Itinerary: 2 Weeks in New Zealand )
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Sri Lanka ( My Travel Itinerary: 3 Days in Sri Lanka )
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S Korea ( My Travel Itinerary: 3 Weeks in S. Korea )
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Japan ( My Travel Itinerary: 3 Weeks in Japan )
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Myanmar ( My Travel Itinerary: 1 Month in Myanmar )
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Cambodia ( My Travel Itinerary: 3 Weeks in French Indochina )
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France ( I live here! My explorations of France)
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Monaco ( My Day in Èze / Monaco )
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Portugal
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Germany ( My Weekend in Munich, Germany )
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Spain
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Morocco ( 36 Hours in: Casablanca, Morocco )
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Czechia (fka Czech Republic)
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Switzerland
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Croatia
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Bosnia & Herzegovina
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Slovenia
And so, I head off to my Birthday trip starting in London, then to Los Angeles where I will go to the wedding of one of my best friends in San Luis Obispo, then to meet up with my cousins Maui, Hawaii. Because once I’m all the way over in California it will be silly to NOT hop over to Hawaii, right?!
But seriously, as I celebrate this milestone I am overcome with gratitude with what I’ve gotten to experience in these 35 years on this globe…and look ahead to many more explorations.