As I write this article in a hotel room in the 100th country/territory/dependency that I’ve visited which happened to be North Macedonia, I notice that the film “Around the World in 80 days” is on the TV in the background. Is it irony or is it an omen?! Note that I specified “country/territory/dependency”, the number of which is contentious from the start! All I will say on the topic is that I don’t think it would be reasonable to claim to have visited Taiwan if you’ve only been to mainland China as an example…Equally, I’m not going to visit every island in Indonesia to tick it off. I think if you can rationalise it to yourself, then you can internalise it remembering that it’s not about proving to others or competing with other travellers. What matters is your own experience and the indelible memories you take away. The magic number is a mere milestone in your own journey of a lifetime.
I had managed to reach my hundredth country a month before I turned 40 years old bearing in mind that travel is not my profession. In fact, it has nothing to do with it – I’m a very sedentary lawyer by trade. I had even explored over 30 countries with my family consisting of 2 young daughters. Travelling to 100 countries should have been an achievement. However, when I crossed the North Macedonian border, I didn’t feel a sense of elation as I expected but I felt a sense of relief that what I had dubbed “Project Century” was finally complete. Like my upcoming birthday, it was just a milestone. The journey has not finished, and I was eager to walk into the future to see what it beholds and where the next chapter of my adventure will take me. Maybe I felt like only half the job was done… that quote by Mark Hertsgaard rings so true:
“Travel is like knowledge. The more you see, the more you know you haven’t seen.”
Maybe I felt relief because lockdown had been the antithesis of travel and I had overcome this challenge. The thick border lines on a map were no longer illusory and my freedom of movement which I believed was an inalienable right had been ripped away from me overnight. I was desperate to travel during the pandemic and complete the final stretch of “Project Century”. I bent COVID rules after the first lockdown (photography suddenly became “essential work”), navigated the traffic light system (remember that!), found loopholes, and succumbed to a myriad of testing and vaccination regimes. To this day, I even shocked myself when I realised how many countries I had visited since Boris shut the country down in March 2020 - 16!
I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way so here are 10 of the most important tips and revelations:
1. Get your logistics handled.
To be an efficient traveller you need to focus on logistics, logistics and logistics. Time is a commodity. Time on holiday is invaluable! I’m not saying you have to rush from one destination to another, what I am saying is to do your research beforehand to ensure that you are making prudent choices with your time. Don’t rely solely on the guidebooks/TripAdvisor to highlight which places to go and see are unmissable. I read blogs, look at Google images, and watch YouTube videos in order to get an objective view of what is worth visiting and what isn’t. Also, open your mind to driving to contiguous countries. Europe is a great place to quickly tick off a bunch of countries. You can drive to a different country in a couple of hours so build it into your itinerary. We’ve taken a train from Vienna to Bratislava for a day trip and had a long weekend in Namibia from Cape Town. The next tip in relation to logistics is controversial but hear me out: Take advantage of indirect flights. I never understood why there is an aversion to transiting in a country to the final destination. I always take the opportunity to transit a country for a couple of days on the outbound and return leg of a journey. Not only do you get to explore a new country, but you can also break up the long-haul flights. To top it off, these indirect flights are usually cheaper than direct flights. For example, we’ve stopped over in UAE and Oman on our way to South Korea and Sri Lanka respectively.
2. Travel is relative.
Having visited 100 countries (have I mentioned that yet?!) which are diverse ranging from the Andes to the Zambezi, I have seen my share of the natural beauty of our planet. One of the greatest challenges of extensive travel is to see things with fresh eyes. There are times when I feel jaded especially when I inadvertently start comparing amazing wonders with other similar wonders in another part of the world. Once you’ve seen the mighty Victoria Falls or the great Iguazu Falls, it becomes a struggle to appreciate other waterfalls unless it is considerably different. Sometimes I’m envious of the look in my children’s eyes when they see a waterfall or an elephant in the wild for the first time. Some places will let you down because not only is an attraction subjective, but most travellers like to exaggerate their own experiences especially if they made the effort and spent money to get there.
3. Ranking countries is impossible.
By far the most common question I get when I tell people how many countries I’ve been to is “What is your favourite country?” I’ve come to realise that this is an impossible task as my answer changes all the time and also I don’t think I can give a fair answer until I’ve been to all the countries in the world, but I’ll give it a go! So here are my top 5 countries at the time of writing (not in order of preference) and the reasons for my choice:
Chile – owing to the diverse landscapes from stark desert to verdant forests to dramatic alpine.
Peru – to admire the remarkable Inca architecture which leaves you with an incredulous gasp.
Namibia – for the infinite otherworldly sand dunes and middle of nowhere feeling.
Japan – to immerse yourself in a juxtaposition of modern and traditional culture.
Bhutan – a country with people and panoramas that will leave you spellbound.
4. Put more time and resources into experientialism over materialism.
Will you ever look back on your life and regret the things you didn’t buy whether it’s the latest smartphone, the dream sports car or the IT handbag? Or will you look back and regret the places you didn’t go or see and experience. It’s impossible not to be impressed by the sheer grandeur, splendour and power of the natural world. I guarantee you will never get bored of watching the sunset and it’s free! The things you own will become outdated, less trendy and degrade over time or you will just be looking for the next upgrade to fill the vacuous space in your life. When you travel and see the world, you can’t help but question your motivations in life and reorder your priorities accordingly. Eckhart Tolle once said, “realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the now the primary focus of your life”. He is telling us to live in the moment and seize the day because we can only control what we do in the present. This is the reason I don’t collect things; I choose to collect memories instead. You will never be able to put a value on the feeling of summiting the highest mountain in Africa, discovering the lost city in Colombia or singing to a Bengali villager on a wooden boat… One day my life will flash before my eyes...I'm just making sure it's worth watching!
5. Travel is a privilege.
Through seemingly insurmountable odds I am here conscious and writing this for you. The more I travel, the more I realise what a privileged position I occupy in this world remembering that only six per cent of the world’s population have ever set foot on a plane. During my travels, I have seen a dead peasant being left on the side of a road in India, an Egyptian mother with two daughters the same age as mine begging for food to the gluttony of excesses in Dubai but I am always grateful that I am able to witness the world as it is. It even took a chain of serendipitous events for our planet to be formed and even more luck/intervention for me to be standing on it and admiring it from every angle I can during the fragment of time I have. Realising you are privileged not only in status but also in existence will make you live your life to the fullest.
6. Travel with your kids, even when it’s hard.
Many fellow travellers I know stopped travelling when they had kids. They still go abroad but instead choose the easier option to stay in an all-inclusive resort. As I said before, travel is relative and I don’t see a problem with that for a few days but as a father of two daughters, I want my kids to be stimulated in different ways regardless of whether they remember it or not. We started travelling with both our girls when they were as young as 8 months old and they have been fortunate to marvel at wild elephants in Sri Lanka, learn Korean in Seoul and walk through the narrow Siq in Petra. My 8-year-old daughter has travelled to 32 countries so far. Even her school friends think she’s telling fibs! Nevertheless, with all the pleasures of travel also comes the pain. Travel does not always go according to plan. It forces you to deal with changes in schedules, eating habits and sleep patterns. We’ve had the worst jet lag in Taipei, been bumped off flights, changed hotels weary-eyed in the middle of the night because of an infestation and they’ve sobbed uncontrollably as they landed back home. It might seem chaotic at the time, but all these challenges instil self-confidence, resilience and adaptability at a stage when their character is at its most malleable.
7. Travel when you can and start young.
When I was in my twenties, I decided to leave most of Europe out of my travels as they were on my doorstep and easy to get to from London. I devised a plan to try and work my way inwards hence travel would get relatively easier as I get older! Little did I know at the time, but this also helped me reach 100 countries in the midst of a pandemic as I hit a few countries in Europe in quick succession when the rest of the borders outside of Europe were not even open. If you’re on a budget take advantage of budget airlines to travel. In my opinion, they have opened up the world to places you wouldn’t even consider going. You can get to Sofia in Bulgaria at the cost of a main dish in London. My other piece of advice is do not wait for other people to travel with you. Fix some dates convenient for you, book it and go. Friends may decide to join but don’t be afraid to travel solo if it comes down to it. Besides, you’ll learn that people you can travel with are few and far between even if you’ve known them for years. Travelling solo allows you more time for self-reflection and to assimilate your experiences. It also forces you to meet like-minded travellers and locals are less intimidated to talk to you. I’ve met some great friends from all parts of the world, but I’ve also had an indecent proposal by a fat Mexican man…!
8. People are inherently good.
I receive warnings about countries I choose to visit all the time ironically mainly from people who have never been before to such places! It seems preposterous that countries/cities are stigmatised because of the mainstream media. Travelling destroys those stereotypes and prejudices. I have been told to avoid Guatemala, Palestine, Albania and Cape Town to name a few just based on hearsay, but they turned out to be some of the most beautiful places in the world. When I travel to these places, I talk to locals and listen to first-hand accounts of their experiences. Not only has travelling taught me to be vigilant but it has also allowed me to open up to strangers. There are dangerous areas in every place in the world but I have been fortunate enough not to have encountered any violence. Instead, I’ve experienced that people have gone out of their way to help me in times of need. I’ve hitchhiked across the Yucatan Peninsula with a couple and been invited to play football with Amazonians in Peru. Recently, a Sudanese airport cleaner dropped everything to help me process a bureaucratic exit visa from Khartoum airport which had just been introduced that even the Foreign and Commonwealth Office did not know about! There are more good people than bad people out there.
9. A smile goes a long way.
Smiling transcends all cultures and language barriers. Wherever you are in the world, a recipient of a smile tends to display more openness, are more willing to help and are keen to cooperate. Smiling makes you more approachable with other travellers and locals. They all want to tell you their story. Whilst on the road, not only has a smile help haggle and get some bargains in the markets but it can also get you out of some sticky situations. I’ve managed to cajole a Sudanese security officer to return my GoPro he wanted to confiscate, wriggle my way out of a speeding ticket in Kosovo and get a free bus trip in Sweden!
10. Get up early and savour it.
Out of all the tips I divulged, this is often seen as the most difficult one to execute but maybe the most rewarding. I’ve had travel companions describe me as militant when my alarm sets off in the darkness. Waking up before dawn on your holiday is far from relaxing but getting to a wonder of the world before the hordes is worth every hour of sleep lost. As an added bonus this is also a time of day when the light is phenomenal. I guarantee the feeling you get will make you forget any fatigue. When I was the first to set my eyes on the Taj Mahal, I felt I was the first explorer ever to discover it. Spending a moment (however brief) on my own at the foot of some of the world’s most exquisite places has raised hairs on the back of my neck and brought tears to my eye. I recall fondly being the first to reach the Sun Gate overlooking Machu Picchu while it became illuminated by the day’s first rays of sun with only the sound of my breath to break the silence.
