Member-only story
One Hundred Countries
Achieving my bucket list goal of visiting 100 countries
I was a late starter.
21 long years passed before I finally got the most precious item you can receive- a passport. (Sorry kids). For many years I had dreams of going overseas. Through going through those magic double doors guarded by airport security to see what lay beyond. A whole world to travel. To explore. Once I finally made my first overseas trip at the age of 21, I was like a dog off a leash, free to roam, free to meet people of different cultures.
Free to travel.
I fell in love at once. Airports- the cause of delays and queues to me were a place of wonder and delight- the launching place for the next journey. I loved seeing the Departure Boards listing so many foreign destinations and imagining what they would be like. Once I started travelling, I had the bug and I knew I couldn’t stop and soon I set myself a goal. To visit 100 countries before I turned 50.
The rules
To many, this may seem like a “tick something off a list” challenge and sacrificing quality time to add countries to a list. So I set myself rules to classify a visit to a country
- spend at least one full day in the country
- spend the local currency
