The time period factor also comes into the problem again when you tell friends “oh you really should go there, its amazing” ten years after your visit!! When they get back from their trip and say “well it really must have changed since then”.. – this happened recently to me twice!! I will never advise again!!

For really large countries it is also incredibly hard to say you’ve been there and notch it up on your incredible score if you have only seen an incredibly miniscule part of it all… for example I usually end up saying “I’ve been along the south coast of Australia from Perth to Sydney by camping car”. At least this way its pretty precise!

PS I’ve also had “domestics” with my husband on this point!!

However, compared to TCC, world66 and mosttraveledman (didn’t check wikipedia yet) this is definitely the best list I could find on the net.

More importantly, it mentiones ‘only’ 193 countries which should make it easier to get a 100 % score (not!).

I hear what you say about the Cook Islands. The Netherlands and Aruba (and/or the Dutch Antilles) also do not have much in common. Still, I am counting them as one country (Kingdom of The Netherlands) even though Aruba has a so-called ‘status aparte’.

It’s not important anyway. It’s the experience that really counts.
I would love to visit as many countries as I can, but uptil now I never went to a country just for the sake of getting a stamp or to sleep in a hotel.

Maybe that will change when I reach TCC’s 100 countries milestone?
For the moment I will just look at your impressive list with envy.

Thanks for the comment. I’d have to disagree with World Atlas about the Cook Islands however. I know officially it’s a NZ protectorate but it ain’t nothing like New Zealand. Sally and I got married in the Cook Islands by a minister with an Afro and a choir of large ladies in hibiscus shirts and their front teeth missing. Not sure that he churches of NZ would offer a service like that. Or have a guy playing a ukulele greeting every flight coming in to Auckland!

First of all I like the listing and argumentation on http://www.worldatlas.com/nations which I use for my own reference.

According to this list one should not count ‘countries’ like Cook islands, Hong Kong, Macau, New Caledonia and Taiwan as separate countries.

Passing through customs is my criterium and from my experience it’s hard not to have some sort of experience (different than what you are used to in your own country).

I used to count with the ‘at-least-one-night-overstay’ rule until I discovered that this would make it almost impossible to add Vatican City. I think you are not allowed to stay over (even when the Pope is in critical condition).

My latest count is 41 countries (43 and 19 % according to the world66map) and next one will hopefully be Morocco in February.

Not very reassuring to see that Peter’s incredible list of 90+ countries only comprehends 41% of the world!!! Happy travelling and remember: the world is a book and those who not travel…..

If you spend a night but only see the airport, the taxi and the hotel, does it count? If you don’t spend a night but you go there specifically on a day trip, exchange currency at the border, visit the place, have a meal, etc, does it count?

Another problem is that countries vary so much that you can’t necessarilly count them the same way. I mean it’s a different thing to visit Luxembourg or Russia for instance. A country like France theoretically includes islands like Tahiti that are at the antipodes from the French mainland so should they be counted separately or not? If visiting a country involves interracting with the people, what about countries where different regions use different languages, such as Switzerland, Belgium, Spain? Should they be counted as one or several? What about countries that are not recognised as independant or are disputed, like Taiwan or Western Sahara? Should Greenland be counted separately or as part of Denmark? What about Antarctica: a whole continent but no independant country?

So I’ll go with Marie’s approach. Common sense is good but is a very rare commodity these days.

It’s acceptable to touch a portion of an island above a waterline? Oh, COME ON.

The lists out there are HIGHLY suspect. Alaska is NOT another country from the US. That’s completely ridiculous. East Timor, however, IS a country in its own right, and visiting it prior to independence still counts. Something like Hong Kong is open to debate. And these people who are counting like they are racking up frequent flyer miles need to be ignored, or categorized with train-spotters.

I propose another criteria: Common sense. C’mon, you know when you’re pushing it. I once stayed a night in Taiwan. Yes, I got the stamp. Yes, I left the airport… went all the way to the airport hotel and then in the morning I got on a plane to Tokyo. Have I been to Taiwan according to all these country-counter rules? Yes! Have I really been to Taiwan? Of course not.

I used to argue with Turbo, an Aussie who claimed he’d been to Korea several times because he kept changing planes there. He was keen to say he’d visited Korea but it used to drive me nuts because changing planes is NOT visiting a country. I’m not going to suggest that people need to stay with a local family in the forest and go native… but you know when you’ve visited and when you are faking it. ‘Fess up. It’s not so hard.

In answer to the ‘dodgy’ list , i think that UK shouldn’t be counted as one, as they are 4 seperate countries. they have thier own football teams!!! and…ask any person from either country, a Scot will not say he is from UK, he is from Scotland. They are 4 very distinctive countries, with their own histories, languages & cultures.

Also although i don’t i sometimes want to count Hawaii differently from the US. The only thing american is the currency. I can see why Alaska is counted seperately. i think to count a country you should travel the country. I found it difficult saying i had been to America, when i had spent 2 nights in Seattle!

Another question. What constitutes living in a country? I spent 4 months in Canada, but my wife says i wasn’t living here!

Did the map – very cool!