Somewhere I understand there is an official list of 313 places in the world to visit.  I haven’t come across it on the web, (until recently, see below) but the idea is to collect and keep track of all the different countries that one visits in a lifetime. A life list of countries so to speak. 

Trouble is, it’s hard to define what exactly a “country” is. Some places are definite geographic locations but technically not countries, like Greenland. Others used to be countries but aren’t anymore -- Tannu Tuva comes to mind. Hong Kong is still sort of a country, but not exactly. Some that went away have returned, like Latvia.  And some have changed--does a person count East Germany, West Germany, and Germany as 3, 2, or 1 countries? I’m not sure.  Then there’s Surtsey, which didn’t exist until a few years ago when it arose from out the North Atlantic ocean.  It’s forbidden to travel there as scientists study how flora and fauna spread to uninhabited new volcanic islands. 

August 2003: I’ve finally tracked down the “authoritative” list of countries used by the Travelers’ Century Club. They have identified 317 places that count as countries, and that’s a good list to use. Their list is at www.travelerscenturyclub.org . Click on the Countries list for the full listing. There’s also a discussion of what counts in their book. For me personally, my rules are slightly different but I’ll use their list as a good one. 

By the way, they don’t seem to have Surtsey, but they do list Wake Island, which is off-limits now. My dear wife has a permanent advantage on me now as she visited Wake Island with her parents when she was a baby.

Here’s my life list so far, in approximate order as far as I can remember, 45 now in total.

Countries: US (1959) / Canada (1972?) / Mexico / Belgium / Netherlands / Luxembourg / Liechtenstein / France / (West) Germany / Denmark /

Switzerland / Austria / Japan / Spain / South Korea (2001) / People’s Republic of China (2001) / Singapore (2002) / Australia (2002) / Hong Kong (2002) / Taiwan (2002) /

India (2002) / Thailand (2003) / Macau (2003) / Malaysia (2003) / Guam (2004) / Northern Marianas (2004) / Vietnam (2004) / England (2005) / Italy (2005) / Vatican City (2005) /

Turkey (2006) / Hungary (2006) / Czech Republic (2006) / Slovakia (2006) / Brazil (2006) / Alaska (2006) (-- and yes it is a “country” based on the rules of the Traveler’s Century Club!) / South Africa (2006) / Poland (2007) / Dubai (2007) / Sharjah (2007)

Ajman (2007) / Umm Al Qaiwain (2007) / Kuwait (2007) (the last 5 all on the same day, 14 Nov 2007) / Bermuda (2008) / Egypt (2008) /

Rules are: to count, you have to touch the dirt (or sand, or whatever), not the runway. For countries that don’t count, I’ve seen Sweden, East Germany, and Indonesia from the ground and Papau and New Guinea, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, and Iran from the air for certain.  I’ve definitely flown over the Isle of Man (is that a country? yes it is -- see above), Laos, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Finland, Greenland, and Ireland, though the clouds prevented me from seeing anything. I’ve seen Greece, North Korea and Indonesia from up above. I’ve also flown over several countries traveling between London and Asia, including Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Do I have to be awake for it to count? 

I have two countries with airplane landings and no contact with the soil: Fiji and Senegal, both in 2006. In Dakar I was within 100 yards of the dirt but even with a bit of pleading, no luck getting off the plane. 

I’ve been to most of the states in the US but am still missing: Alaska (2006) / Hawaii / Washington (2006) / Oregon / Nevada (aha! 2004) / North Dakota / South Dakota / New Hampshire (2005) / Maine (2007) / Rhode Island (2005).  Moving to Connecticut in 2004 helped with the New England states for sure! As of August 2007, only 4 more states to go. As of the same date, Leslie has now completed the set of all 50 states plus Guam, the Northern Marianas, the Marshall Islands, and the District of Columbia.

Back to the travel page.