September 30, 2007
How many countries have you visited?
Do you consider yourself to be well-traveled? You probably haven’t been to as many different countries, states and territories as Charles Veley. According to this web site he has visited almost every place in the world – a total of 627 states, territories, countries and provinces. I’m amazed that he has somehow found the time to do this, as he’s only 42!
According to infoplease, there are 194 countries in the world today, although it depends upon your definition of a country. The 673 places are arrived at by listing not only every country, but all the US states, Canadian provinces, territories, island groups and disputed territories.
The web site lists places I have never heard of and will probably never visit – the Lesser Sunda Islands, Karnataka, Redonda and Pukapuka. Some of these places don’t even have scheduled air or boat service – and some of the places on the list I wouldn’t want to visit such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Rwanda.
The site also needs proof of visiting the country, in the form of a passport entry stamp, airline ticket or credit card receipt. So if your plane lands there but you don’t leave the airport, it doesn’t really count! Speaking of exotic and hard to come by passport stamps, Budget Travel’s web site has a slide show of some of the most unusual.
It seems as though it would take almost as much time and effort to visit every county in the United States – all 3086 of them. But apparently, there are people who do just that and call themselves the Extra Mile Club. And the club doesn’t need proof that you have been to the counties – they are prepared to take your word for it. By the way – in Louisiana, counties are known as parishes and in Alaska, they are called boroughs.
But with all his 627 places visited, there is no mention of Mr.Veley having visited the self-proclaimed nation of Sealand, which declares itself to be the world’s smallest country and is currently up for sale.
So which reader of this site has visited the most countries? I thought I was doing well at 21 countries, but obviously I have some way to go...
Guest entry by Mancunian
Posted by James Trotta at September 30, 2007 1:01 PM
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21 for me too plus 4 or 5 territories, a few islands...lots more to see...more of South America, more islands, Switzerland, Ireland...to begin with!
Posted by: Sharon at September 30, 2007 7:34 PM15 countries, 16 states ( actually spent time), 5 provinces and 6 islands.
There are only a few other countries in Europe that I would like to see. Otherwise, I would like to go back to some of the great places from my past travels.
I have no desire to travel in Asia, Africa or South America. When I am paying big bucks for a nice vacation, I have to feel safe and comfortable.After all, I am a somewhat fragile, old lady. HA HA HA
Posted by: Beverly at October 1, 2007 12:45 AMSadly, only nine countries so far. However, we have a northern Europe cruise planned for next July that will add six more countries to the list!
Posted by: Jill at October 2, 2007 12:52 AM12 for me. If you count Taiwan and Hong Kong separate from China then 14. I can't even begin counting states and provinces but I know I've been to several states/provinces/regions in the US, Canada, Italy, and Korea. Maybe more than one part of China too, but who knows?
Posted by: James Trotta at October 2, 2007 7:49 AMI'm up to 29 countries. However, with each place I go, the list of places I still need to see just gets longer...
Posted by: Amy at October 2, 2007 8:21 PMI have 46 including quite a few in Africa and South America mentioned by Beverly as being unsafe and uncomfortable. You are perfectly right for feeling the way you do Beverly - we take vacations for various reasons, but almost always the goal is to enjoy ourselves, be it beach bumming or adventure rock climbing. It isn't about a number of countries or the most exotic destination but about enjoying the time you have and for many people that is NOT carrying their passport in their underware or bribing border militia.
Posted by: Celina at October 4, 2007 10:13 AM33:) continents counted too
Posted by: elena at October 25, 2007 7:48 PMI've been improving. My current list = US, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Korea, Japan, China (plus Hong Kong and Taiwan if they are separate from China), Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, The Philippines. I don't know if I counted right - maybe 20?
Posted by: James Trotta at August 27, 2008 10:33 PMKarnataka is not a country but a state in India.
I've been to less than 0.50% of the world.