Thursday, September 01, 2016

Countries I've visited, 2016 edition

I still owe this blog a recap of my fantastic trip to the Alps earlier this summer. I don't know when or if I'll ever get around to creating that, but I can at least update the list (which I started last year) of countries I've visited. Besides spending several days in Germany and Austria for the first time in 14 years, this summer I also finally stepped into two countries I have always wanted to visit: Italy and Switzerland. Both of these were short, cross-the-border visits - a matter of a few hours apiece - and I definitely want to go back and explore both countries further. But it's nice to be able to say I've finally been there. I can now say that I've actually eaten a pizza in Italy.

The country I think I found most intriguing, however, was right across the border from Italy: Slovenia is breathtakingly beautiful and the people there (at least, the ones I interacted with) were very friendly. Again, it was a visit of only a few hours, and we ultimately decided not to make a second trip into the country to see the capital of Ljubljana (not enough time!), but right now Slovenia is at the very top of my "GO BACK!" list.

Anyway, below is an updated list of countries I've visited and the years I've visited them, with the most recent visits denoted in red. If I didn't stay overnight in a country - e.g. a order crossing, an airport stopover where I left the terminal, or a cruise port of call - the year I visited is italicized. Nations with an asterisk (*) next to them are among the world's 25 smallest countries, of which is my life's goal to visit all of them before I die. Having spent the night in the picturesque (and ridiculously expensive) Principality of Liechtenstein during this most recent trip, I'm now 20% of the way there.

Antigua and Barbuda*: 
2015
Austria: 
2002, 2016
Barbados*:  
2015
Belize:  
2006
Canada:
1974, 1980, 1982
Czech Republic:
2002
Ecuador: 
1988, 1989, 1990, 1993, 2001
Germany: 
2002, 2016
Ireland:
1985
Italy:
2016
Japan: 
2005
Liechtenstein*:
2016
Mexico: 
1979, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007

The Kingdom of the Netherlands:
The Netherlands
2002, 2006
Aruba
2014
 St. Maarten:  
2015
St. Kitts and Nevis*:  
2015
St. Lucia*:  
2015
Slovenia:
2016
Switzerland:
2016
United Arab Emirates: 
2006, 2008, 2012


The United Kingdom:
England:
1985
Scotland:
1985
 Wales:
1985

This past summer's travels get me up to 20 out of 206 sovereign (or de-facto sovereign) nations, or 9.7% percent. Still not great, but I'm making progress.

(Flag source: World Flag Database)

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