How well traveled are you?

[Chuckanut]

I’m going to be a contrarian and say I don’t think cruise ship visits to a port should count. Or at least they should be separated out.

 

[frayne]

Hitting a point on the map is one thing but being in a place long enough to truly experience the culture is another.

 

[aaronc879]

I’m going to be a contrarian and say I don’t think cruise ship visits to a port should count. Or at least they should be separated out.

If you get off the ship they count otherwise they don't IMO.

 

[Route246]

Most of my travel was as a road warrior for my job so it unfortunately took all of the fun out of travel and I don't have much desire to travel much now except for a few destinations which we go to once or twice a year. I have logged over 4 million miles and still have over a million in one of my accounts as it logged over 5 million "bonus" miles with all of the promotions popular in the '80s and '90s.

Some of you veteran business travelers might remember when the rental car companies were giving out bonus miles for the NUMBER of rentals you did and it was common to go and exchange your rental car every day if your schedule allowed. There were always promotions like 10X extra miles on certain restaurants and they were nice places where I would bring clients and run up a $500 tab and add 5000 miles to the 500 already for a total of 5500 miles (about $110 in real value). The large hotel chains were also competing for business travelers, I can recall getting huge bonus points (convertible to miles) from Hilton staying in Tokyo or Seoul.

I lost all but one of my privileges when I stopped road warrior duties as AAdvantage is the only one where I attained lifetime Platinum status. UA 1K and Delta did not offer lifetime benefits so AA was a big winner as I would book as much as possible on AA family airlines.

 

[athena53]

Hitting a point on the map is one thing but being in a place long enough to truly experience the culture is another.

But…but… my day trips to Luxembourg and Liechtenstein didn’t count? ;-)

 

[W2R]

At least 58 countries, but almost all of them before college.

I think the last country I visited was Mexico (for the bazillionth time, so it didn't add to the count). That was in 1978, 45 years ago.

I am not a fan of travel, and hope to never leave the US again; I love this country and everything about it. I don't even have a valid passport any more.

 

[skyking1]

I traveled internationally for 30 years. Racked up 4,000,000+ air miles.

All of Europe, Carribean, Canada, Asia (Singapore, Korea, China, Hong Kong,Taiwan, Kuala Lumpur, Thailand), Japan, exotics like Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kwajalein, Tarawa, New Guinea, USSR (before the fall; East Germany a week after the fall), Mexico, Brazil, India, Morocco, Egypt, Israel......but never got to Australia! All US states except Oklahoma.

30+ Circumnavigations ( Boston to Europe to Asia to Boston) Most trips were typically 14 days.

Lived in France for several years, Japan, Norway and China for a bit.

I've enjoyed those stories you shared.

 

[Chuckanut]

Hitting a point on the map is one thing but being in a place long enough to truly experience the culture is another.

I suppose it’s like a wilderness experience. For some a wilderness experience is driving through any natural area. For others it’s a week long back where they don’t see more than a half dozen other people on the trail.

I’ve been to about 16 countries. I do tend to spend many days or weeks in one country.

 

[Ronstar]

About 10 countries and will have all 50 states by nov 3.

Mostly a US road tripper. This will be our route map after our October southeast trip

 

[Texas Proud]

Interesting... have not actually put this down on paper... will have to see..


But my mom was in the 60 or so range and my oldest sister has 100...

 

[Route246]

You have a lot more countries than I do but I have a similar number of miles. Was it business or leisure travel? Mine is about 70% business and 30% leisure. I had some pretty nice perks including almost never having someone sit next to me when other seats were available, including in business class, access to lounges, boarding priority, etc. It helps when you are exhausted and gives you less to stress about but it is still travel which is a hassle, regardless of how well you get used to it.

I traveled internationally for 30 years. Racked up 4,000,000+ air miles.

All of Europe, Carribean, Canada, Asia (Singapore, Korea, China, Hong Kong,Taiwan, Kuala Lumpur, Thailand), Japan, exotics like Kiritimati (Christmas Island), Kwajalein, Tarawa, New Guinea, USSR (before the fall; East Germany a week after the fall), Mexico, Brazil, India, Morocco, Egypt, Israel......but never got to Australia! All US states except Oklahoma.

30+ Circumnavigations ( Boston to Europe to Asia to Boston) Most trips were typically 14 days.

Lived in France for several years, Japan, Norway and China for a bit.

 

[whatnot]

I’m at 22 countries as per definition in link.

 

[cyber888]

30+ countries for me. Hoping I would reach 50+ countries now that I'm retired, but maybe not - because I like going back to my favorite countries.

 

[Route246]

That is pretty cool. As a young road warrior my company had a policy of staying over a Saturday night for domestic travel which allowed me to have an extra day to drive the rental car anywhere within driving distance so I managed to cover 47 mainland states. I don't even remember which one I missed, North Dakota, I think, I lost track and didn't think much about it until family members were discussing 50 state visits.

About 10 countries and will have all 50 states by nov 3.

Mostly a US road tripper. This will be our route map after our October southeast trip

 

[gayl]

81 but then I go abroad 4× a year and spent a few summers hitting every country in Europe, Middle East, Central & South America, plus cruise ports. Adding a few new ones with next 2 cruises (November trans-atlantic & April trans-pacific)

However I've only been on the coasts ... never midwest / only Texas on business.

 

[DrRoy]

26. About 65 percentile.

 

[DrRoy]

If I don’t count the Caribbean islands I am at 7. I was on 4 Caribbean cruises and have lost track of how many islands I’ve been in.

Some are separate countries and some are not, so it depends.

 

[marko]

You have a lot more countries than I do but I have a similar number of miles. Was it business or leisure travel? Mine is about 70% business and 30% leisure. I had some pretty nice perks including almost never having someone sit next to me when other seats were available, including in business class, access to lounges, boarding priority, etc. It helps when you are exhausted and gives you less to stress about but it is still travel which is a hassle, regardless of how well you get used to it.

Most of it was business, some leisure. At one point I was Northwest Airlines 5th best customer. I loved every minute of it. I was a senior executive and by company policy everyone flew first class, and five star hotels. I had a driver wherever I went who met me at the airport and was on call throughout my stay.

By unspoken company policy, our locals "had" to entertain you evenings and weekends and took me to some of the most fantastic and unbelievable experiences and places! Places that only the locals know, off the tourist maps. From skiing the Alps every year to the Yehliu Park in Taiwan, it was all such a hoot! (Actually, sometimes a night alone with room service and an early bed time was a welcome change.)

I really miss all of it.

(Northwest had a secret, unpublished flight from Boston to St Barths every weekend. They made me aware of it. DW and I got on the plane and were the only "civilians". Everyone else were pilots and flight attendants! They also often had a set of rooms behind the usual club room in some airports that was even nicer than the regular club). I could write a book.

 

[Surewhitey]

Noticed that it breaks out Azores from Portugal and Hawaii from the US, so I'm really in the 11-15 & many years to go... All vacation, no biz.

 

[sengsational]

I’m going to be a contrarian and say I don’t think cruise ship visits to a port should count. Or at least they should be separated out.

With 31 possiblies, plus the few central and south american ports, the cruise ships out of Florida can make someone (like me) look way more traveled than I deserve to be.

We bought my dad a world map with pins to put in the countries you've been to. Was up in his office. He got all of the continents.

My most interesting one is Chile. They claim a pie wedge of Antarctica, and I visited that wedge, but I wouldn't count that as Chile.

 

[rwdflynavy]

40 something and every continent except Antarctica. Most of them as a military dependent or active duty military.

 

[athena53]

Noticed that it breaks out Azores from Portugal and Hawaii from the US, so I'm really in the 11-15 & many years to go... All vacation, no biz.

Yes, the list is very liberal. I once discussed it with one of the very few genuinely unpleasant people I've encountered in a tour group and he tried to mansplain to me that Bermuda, England, Scotland and Wales were all really part of the UK, the Balearic Islands were really part of Spain, etc. I get the idea behind the list, though- they count it separately if it's far removed and/or somewhat independent from the mother country.

 

[braumeister]

Yes, the list is very liberal. I once discussed it with one of the very few genuinely unpleasant people I've encountered in a tour group and he tried to mansplain to me that Bermuda, England, Scotland and Wales were all really part of the UK, the Balearic Islands were really part of Spain, etc. I get the idea behind the list, though- they count it separately if it's far removed and/or somewhat independent from the mother country.

There are also many ambiguities to consider.
For example, Greenland and the Faroes are "autonomous territories of Denmark".
Similarly, the Channel Islands (Jersey, Guernsey, etc.) are actually not part of the UK, but "crown dependencies".
I'm sure the diplomats of those countries could discourse at great length about the finer points of the relationships.

 

[Dash man]

44 countries for me, with two more to be added next year.
I’ve been to all states except North Dakota and Vermont, but Montana, Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota I never got off an airfield.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Athena, I hope your visit to Poland includes krakow. It’s my favorite city. The huge town square is beautiful and it’s so nice to sit outside and eat there while musicians play and horse drawn carriages go by.

I didn’t count Hawaii and Alaska as separate countries although I have been to both. I have visited most of the states.