Poll

How many countries have you visited (not counting the one you live in)? (Airport stopovers do not count!)

Zero - I've never left the country!
13 (1.9%)
1-4
124 (18.3%)
5-8
136 (20.1%)
9-10
66 (9.7%)
11+
338 (49.9%)

Total Members Voted: 652

Author Topic: How well traveled are you?  (Read 41699 times)

Miss Growing Green

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How well traveled are you?
« on: October 24, 2013, 01:04:31 PM »
I'm just curious how well-traveled fellow Mustachians are, and how high traveling ranks on their list of fun things to do.  Traveling can be costly, but it's something that we really enjoy, and is the one area we justify spending- I would much rather spend my money on "experiences" over "stuff".

Vote and respond with the countries you've been to!

I'll start: number of countries 6
Mexico
Canada
Honduras
Guatemala
Japan
Guam and Rota Island (okay, I know Guam isn't technically it's own country, but it's exotic enough I'm counting it!)

We are going to Philippines and Borneo next year.

El Gringo

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2013, 01:12:18 PM »
I work in international development, where the pay isn't amazing, but work trips result in free international airfare which you can then use to travel around and see amazing places you normally wouldn't otherwise travel to. I just got back from trekking around northern Ethiopia which was awesome and beautiful.

My list:
Uganda
Rwanda
Kenya
Ethiopia
South Sudan
Sierra Leone
Peru
Mexico
Dominican Republic
Haiti
Thailand
Cambodia
Vietnam
Burma (for an afternoon)
Hungary
Croatia
Bosnia
Serbia
Montenegro
Italy
United Kingdom (I've left the airports but I've really only stayed in hotels close by during transit)
Canada

Have a great time in the Philippines and Borneo!

Albert

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #2 on: October 24, 2013, 01:30:27 PM »
I have lived in three different countries, visited another 23 and I'm adding Ireland to the list next weekend. Is that enough to call myself well traveled (I'm in my mid 30-ties)?

Not counting Germany and France, I make 7-9 foreign trips a year.


OK, adding all the places I've lived in or been to: Portugal, UK, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Vatican, Malta, Lichtenstein, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Georgia, Turkey, China, USA and Canada.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 02:13:02 PM by Albert »

Villanelle

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #3 on: October 24, 2013, 01:45:04 PM »
US
Mexico
Canada
Costa Rica
Turks and Caicos
Dominican Republic
Australia
Japan
Singapore
Thailand
Hong Kong (not sure how to count that)
Taiwan
Germany
France
England
Austria
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Switzerland
Italy
Greece
Croatia
Morocco

By the end of the month I'll have been to Hungary and Vatican City as well.  I've got a trip booked for next summer that will add 6 countries (Baltics and Russia), and I'm sure I'll go to at least another half dozen or so before then, if not more.

avonlea

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2013, 01:54:15 PM »
1) Australia
2) New Zealand
3) Cook Islands (kinda part of NZ though, I think)
4) Japan

But visiting four countries is not an option on the poll.  :(  I don't get to vote!

rockstache

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #5 on: October 24, 2013, 02:00:25 PM »
A lot of my travel has been work related, but some pleasure trips too. My list is:


US (home)
Canada
Ireland
Portugal
Dubai/UAE
Israel
Jordan
Bahrain
China
Thailand
Malaysia
Taiwan
Botswana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Jamaica
Virgin Islands (US and British)


I think that's it. My next (leisure) travel plan is Italy. Hopefully we can do it on a budget but I don't know how truly mustachian it will be.

Miss Growing Green

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2013, 02:01:08 PM »
Avonlea,

Whoops, I fixed the poll.  You can vote now :)

Miss Growing Green

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2013, 02:01:42 PM »
Wow, so many of you have been *so many* places!  I should have spread the voting options out more!

avonlea

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #8 on: October 24, 2013, 02:01:48 PM »
Yippee!  Thanks! :)

footenote

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #9 on: October 24, 2013, 02:55:12 PM »
U.S.
Canada
Mexico
Costa Rica
Panama
Columbia
U.S. Virgin Islands (multiple)
British Virgin Islands (")
Bermuda
Japan
China (both mainland and H.K.)
U.K. (including Scotland)
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Russia

olivia

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #10 on: October 24, 2013, 03:00:39 PM »
Fun thread!  I live in the US, and I've been to 12 other countries (11 if you don't count the Vatican!):
-Germany
-Czech Republic
-Italy
-Switzerland
-Vatican
-France
-England
-Spain
-Portugal
-Sweden
-Costa Rica
-British Virgin Isles

Lans Holman

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #11 on: October 24, 2013, 03:08:44 PM »
I'm from the U.S. and go to Canada all the time.  Other than that my travel history is all Europe and all a while ago: UK, France, Germany, Sweden, Russia, Hungary, Estonia, Lithuania, Czech Republic.  Hoping to get to Asia but waiting until the kids are a little bigger.  I lived in Germany for a year in high school and spend a semester in Russia in college.

dragoncar

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #12 on: October 24, 2013, 03:14:31 PM »
I'm just gonna go ahead and say no.  I've been to quite a few other countries, but I don't really feel like a world traveler, particularly due to my terrible language skills

Ps: pro tip for pollsters: let people change their answers.  Sometimes they misclick

Spork

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #13 on: October 24, 2013, 03:18:49 PM »
US (home)
Canada
Quebec (because, it's TOTALLY a different country than Canada! :)
Mexico
Belize
Bahamas
Puerto Rico (yeah, it's a territory)
Costa Rica
Netherlands Antilles (which is now just "Netherlands" but that isn't very descriptive)
UK: England/Scotland
Sweden
Germany (very brief)
Cayman Islands

pretty sure I'm missing some...
« Last Edit: October 25, 2013, 01:07:06 PM by Spork »

2527

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #14 on: October 24, 2013, 04:37:59 PM »
Let's see:

US
Germany
East Germany
Turkey
Britain
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Romania
Bulgaria
Poland
Hungary
Czechoslovakia
Switzerland
Austria
Bosnia
Italy
Spain
Cyprus
Syria
Greece
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Iraq
Morocco

Nothing in the Pacific Rim, Scandinavia, or Africa, except Morocco.  Almost all courtesy of the Air Force.  My opinion is if you don't have a lot of money, and you can't travel on somebody else's expense, save your traveling for later.  It is expensive and will get in the way of becoming financially independent.  A lot of traveling is very touristy.  Might as well just find a couple nice restaurants nearby and go to them.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 04:47:12 PM by 2527 »

Bigote

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #15 on: October 24, 2013, 04:41:37 PM »
My list:

US
Canada
Mexico
Jamaica
British VI
Cuba
Costa Rica
Panama
Colombia
Venezuela
Ecuador
Brasil
Uruguay
Argentina
Chile
UK
Sweden
Norway
Netherlands
Belgium
France
Germany
Spain
Italy
Austria
Vatican
Monaco
Switzerland
Slovenia
Hungary
Poland
Latvia
Ukraine
Morroco
Tunisia
Senegal
Israel
Turkey
India
China
Macau
Hong Kong
Japan
S. Korea
Singapore


I've probably missed a couple. 

Yep   Edited once to add Hungary.
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 04:50:16 PM by Bigote »

Numbers Man

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #16 on: October 24, 2013, 04:47:50 PM »
USA
Miami (I consider Miami it's own country)
Canada
Mexico
Belize
Honduras
Cayman Islands
Jamaica
Bahamas
Philippines
Japan (only seen the Airport but still had to go through customs)
S. Korea (Same story as Japan)

Cecil

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #17 on: October 24, 2013, 04:52:05 PM »
Not very well-travelled - I live in Canada and most of my trips have been to various places within 500km or so. I did do an awesome 6-week backpacking trip around Europe though last summer.

15 countries total:

USA
Mexico
Cuba
Germany
Netherlands
Czech Republic
Austria
Hungary
Croatia
Italy
Vatican City
Spain
France
Monaco
Belgium
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 04:55:20 PM by Cecil »

happy

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #18 on: October 24, 2013, 05:06:43 PM »
United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales, outer Hebrides, Channel Isles)
Norway, Sweden, Denmark,
France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Italy, Vatican, Germany, Austria, Greece (mainland and isles), Luxembourg, Lichtenstein, Switzerland
Nepal
Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Bali)
New Zealand, Hawaii ( sorry that USA isn't it), Tahiti,
USA, Canada
Oh and not to forget Tasmania

Travelling time: 12 months, 10 months and several 2-3months stints, and lots of shorter trips.

To be honest travelling isn't a priority for me anymore.  There's a few places I'd like to go if I had spare money, but I'm not so passionate about it these days.

« Last Edit: October 26, 2013, 05:15:15 AM by happy »

Eric

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #19 on: October 24, 2013, 05:41:34 PM »
Fun thread!  I live in the US, and I've been to 12 other countries (11 if you don't count the Vatican!):

Ooooo!  I never count Vatican City when I make the list in my head.  Yes!  +1  Thanks!

rubybeth

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #20 on: October 24, 2013, 06:13:55 PM »
I live in Minnesota and haven't even been to Canada. :( I've traveled in the US a bit, but haven't really felt we could afford to travel internationally until more recently when we paid off all our student loans. We are planning to visit Europe next summer and get to Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and France, mainly staying with friends who have invited us to visit. My DH has been to Canada and Japan, but never Europe, so we are very excited.

cbgg

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #21 on: October 24, 2013, 06:18:53 PM »
I'm not very well traveled in comparison to my aspirations (or in comparison to most of my friends).  I have only traveled in Europe and North America  I'm keen to get into South American and Asia and experience some more challenging travel further from home.  However, I am fortunate to have lived in three different countries though (indicated with *).

 - Canada*
 - USA*
 - Mexico
 - Denmark*
 - Germany
 - Norway
 - Italy
 - France
 - Switzerland

RootofGood

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #22 on: October 24, 2013, 07:24:42 PM »
I voted 9-10

Off the top of my head:
Not counting US (my home country)

Mexico
Canada
Uruguay
Argentina
Dominican Republic
US Virgin Islands*
British Virgin Islands
St Martin*
St Maarten*
Bahamas

* Not sure if these are separate from the US and if I should count st martin/maarten 2x since it is the same island but half Dutch and half French nationality.

Probably a couple other Caribbean islands we have visited on a cruise (they all look alike after a while). 

mc6

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #23 on: October 24, 2013, 08:07:44 PM »
Most of these adventures are courtesy of my job with The Man.

Spain
Morocco
Italy
Canada
Austria
Iraq
England
Wales
Jordan
Germany
India
Singapore
Thailand
Malaysia
Netherlands
UAE
Kuwait
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 08:21:16 PM by mc6 »

Argyle

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #24 on: October 24, 2013, 08:11:07 PM »
Eighteen for me:

UK
Denmark
Sweden
Germany
Netherlands
Belgium
Luxembourg
Italy
Vatican City!
France
Spain
Mexico
Canada
Ecuador
Trinidad
Egypt
Kenya
Turkey

Stopovers in Iceland and the Sudan.  And Florida.  Florida is definitely a foreign country.

(mc6, Amsterdam isn't a country...)

desk_jockey

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #25 on: October 24, 2013, 08:15:57 PM »
I’ve visited about 60 countries: 25 in the Americas, 14 in Europe, 5 in the Middle East, 3 in Africa, and 13 in Asia & the Pacific.

I’ve only paid only a handful of the flights.  Some were vacations using frequent flier miles.  Most were business travel, where sometimes I had weekends or arranged for vacation time at the end of the trip.   

I had never been out of the country when I graduated from university.  It was my goal to find a company that would lead to international work.   First company got me started, now with the current one at times it’s almost too much. 
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 08:19:43 PM by desk_jockey »

daverobev

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #26 on: October 24, 2013, 08:18:16 PM »
Hmm, let's see:

France
Netherlands
Spain
Portugal
Sweden
Ireland
Hungary
Finland
Luxembourg
India
Bangladesh
Nepal
Australia
New Zealand
Canada
USA
UAE
Egypt

About 1/3 of them through work.

ichangedmyname

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #27 on: October 24, 2013, 08:18:35 PM »
I've been to 3 different countries:
Japan
Singapore
USA

Home country: Philippines :D

I'm just curious how well-traveled fellow Mustachians are, and how high traveling ranks on their list of fun things to do.  Traveling can be costly, but it's something that we really enjoy, and is the one area we justify spending- I would much rather spend my money on "experiences" over "stuff".

<snip>
We are going to Philippines and Borneo next year.
Where in the Philippines? Have fun!
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 08:20:51 PM by hotforbacon »

Norrie

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #28 on: October 24, 2013, 08:26:49 PM »
I voted 11+.
I grew up in Australia, but traveled to the U.S. quite a bit to visit family. We always stopped in Singapore and Hong Kong for a few days each on the way, and they remain some of my favorite places to visit.

Then we moved to the U.S., and now travel to Australia every couple of years. During these trips we've gone to Bali, as well as back to Hong Kong (dh's favorite).

I toured with dh's band for a couple of years before going back to college, so there was a lot of European travel during that time. I freaking love the Netherlands. I'd live there in a heartbeat.
And then this summer we went to Scotland to visit my mom's relatives, and then down to England to just enjoy the Lake District.

We travel internationally a lot. Too much, sometimes. We definitely need a break for a while so that we can really appreciate it when we leave again.

perthcyclist

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #29 on: October 24, 2013, 09:03:38 PM »
I will hit 11+ before I hit FI.

Thailand
Malaysia (KL Only)
UAE
Switzerland (x2)
France (x2)
Germany (x2)
The Netherlands (x2)
Nepal
China
New Zealand (x2)

USA/Canada and more of Western Europe are on my list but I also want to do more travel in remote parts of Australia (been to all the capital cities and done quite a bit of the southern/coastal areas, want to do more far north type travel.)

randymarsh

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #30 on: October 24, 2013, 09:17:25 PM »
Italy
England
France
Netherlands
Germany

All during a study abroad trip. Can't wait to add more and return to the above someday.

exranger06

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #31 on: October 24, 2013, 09:19:50 PM »
I'm not well traveled at all. My parents never took me anywhere as a kid. I would rarely go out of state for a weekend or something, in a neighboring state and travel by car or train. Since I started dating my fiancée, we've been traveling more.

I live in the United States and I've never left the country. I've lived in Connecticut all my life. The only other states I've been to are Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine (basically all of New England) and Missouri. We went to Missouri last January to attend a wedding. That was the first time I had ever been on an airplane.

So, yeah like I said, pretty much the exact opposite of well traveled.

vern

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #32 on: October 24, 2013, 10:55:41 PM »
I lived in Greece for two years back in the day and saw a lot of Europe then.

Now that I'm on the west coast, I've been flying to Asia lately.

When I retire in a couple of months I'm going to spend a few years just travelling.  Maybe more.
« Last Edit: October 25, 2013, 01:13:31 AM by vern »

nz

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #33 on: October 25, 2013, 12:52:45 AM »
New Zealand-home
Australia
Fiji
Japan
South Korea
North Korea
USA
Hong Kong
Mongolia
USSR -showing my age
China
Poland
England
Scotland
Wales
Thailand
Cambodia
Philipines
Burma
India
Malaysia
Singapore
Bangladesh
Nepal
France
Spain
Italy
Greece
Turkey
Yugoslavia-age again
Hungary
Austria
Switzerland
Germany- east and west
Holland
Belgium
Vietnam
Indonesia
Egypt
Jordan
Israel
........so far.......central and South America high on my list

« Last Edit: October 25, 2013, 01:01:45 AM by nz »

gooki

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #34 on: October 25, 2013, 01:04:28 AM »
New Zealand
Australia
Canada
USA
Hong Kong
Cook Islands
South Korea
Germany
UK
Holland
Belgium
France
Italy
Austria
Sweden

basd

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #35 on: October 25, 2013, 04:52:25 AM »
Only counting countries where I at least spent a night:

Netherlands (home)
Belgium
Luxembourg
Germany
Poland
Austria
Switzerland
France
Sweden
Finland
Portugal
Italy
Hungary
Greece
South Africa
Malaysia
New Zealand
England
US
Canada

Plus two city-states on day trips:
Monaco
Vatican City

And one stopover (but that doesn't count):
Iceland (on our way to Halifax)

Lots of things still to see, high on the list are Australia (hopefully in June), Japan, Argentina, Iceland, Denmark and Norway.

bluecollarmusician

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #36 on: October 25, 2013, 06:19:44 AM »
I used to work on a cruise ship- if you can get there by water or train from port- we (wife and I) went there.  We have joked many times that we did our traveling in reverse- most people retire and travel.  We did all the crazy traveling when we were young, and now have sort of become homebodies!  I miss the exotic ports- but don't miss all the time away from family, and the ridiculous long flights!

Highlights of exotic travels included:
started to type, and then thought, nahh.... that would just be bragging.  There is still a lot of world left to see!



Mississippi Mudstache

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #37 on: October 25, 2013, 06:55:46 AM »
5 countries, so far:

Mexico (college road trip with my best friend)
New Zealand (study abroad)
Brazil (graduate research)
Canada (after-college road trip with my future wife)
Haiti (to build houses for medical staff)

I love to travel, but most of it has been within the good ole U.S. of A.

weston

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #38 on: October 25, 2013, 07:09:10 AM »
Not sure I accept the underlying premise of the poll that being "well traveled" equates to how many foreign countries you have been to. I consider myself extremely well traveled even though I have only been to 9 or 10 foreign countries.

It's just that in 50 years of travel, the places I have enjoyed the most have primarily been in the US.

jrhampt

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #39 on: October 25, 2013, 07:21:29 AM »
Canada (I live in the US, so I go to Canada on a regular basis.  Love Quebec City and all the maritimes!)
Mexico
Bahamas
Dominican Republic
Barbados
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
England
Ireland
Scotland
Switzerland
Austria
Germany
China
Japan
Thailand

In December I have a trip planned to Italy and Vatican City, and we'll be going back to Ireland next year and using that as a jumping off point for some Scandinavian countries.

I have been to Asia more times than I would really have ever wanted to go, but I have had family there over the past decade.  I did a lot of traveling in my twenties and had less than $10k in retirement savings by the time I was thirty, so it did come at a price and I am now saving prodigiously to make up for lost time. 

meadow lark

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #40 on: October 25, 2013, 07:31:17 AM »
USA (home)
Canada
Mexico
Costa Rico
Belize
Grand Caymans
and at least 6 Pueblos and Reservations (I think they should count.)

I want to go all over.  I guess I am waiting for FI.  I love travel, but I have trouble letting myself spend the money on it.

Watchmaker

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #41 on: October 25, 2013, 07:38:40 AM »
I really want to travel more, that's a big part of my reason for FI.

US (home)
UK (a lot, dual citizen)
Canada
France
Italy (+Vatican city)
India

Zikoris

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #42 on: October 25, 2013, 08:09:21 AM »
Live in Canada.

-US
-Mexico
-Belize
-Honduras
-Cayman Islands
-England
-France
-Italy
-Monaco

CommonCents

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #43 on: October 25, 2013, 08:13:45 AM »
In rough order I visited:
US (home, lived in 8 states as far apart as Alaska, California, Michigan, New Hampshire)
Canada (see: Alaska & Michigan above - visited numerous times, from just an afternoon when living in MI for ice skating lessons to a weekend for gymnastics meet when in AK to a 10 day kayaking trip when living in NH.  Huh, apparently primarily sporting-related.)
Bahamas (a week)
France (3 months, stayed with native family)
Italy (a week)
India (2.5 weeks & 2 weeks)
Switzerland (a week)
Hong Kong (a week & a few days)
Cambodia (a few days)
Thailand (a week and a half)
Vietnam (a week)
Mexico (day trip and a week)
Bermuda (few days, then sailed back to US)
England (a week)

Visited one day only:
Monaco (but it's all about *what* day - saw the Grand Prix!)
Macau
St. Martin
Domenica
Trindad
Barbados
Aruba
Columbia
Panama
Costa Rica
Cayman Islands
« Last Edit: October 26, 2013, 09:27:40 PM by CommonCents »

SMMcP

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #44 on: October 25, 2013, 08:30:34 AM »
OK here is my list:
England
Scotland
Denmark
Germany
France
Netherlands
Luxembourg
Belgium
Switzerland
Austria
Spain
Italy
Greece
Canada
Mexico
Guatemala
Honduras
Costa Rica
Panama
Columbia
Cayman Islands

daverobev

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #45 on: October 25, 2013, 09:08:43 AM »
If you're saying England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are 1 point each - you're cheating! Until after the Scots have their referendum, at least... :-/

RootofGood

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #46 on: October 25, 2013, 10:09:32 AM »
Not sure I accept the underlying premise of the poll that being "well traveled" equates to how many foreign countries you have been to. I consider myself extremely well traveled even though I have only been to 9 or 10 foreign countries.

It's just that in 50 years of travel, the places I have enjoyed the most have primarily been in the US.

+1  I listed some Caribbean island nations we visited on a few cruises we have been on.  I'm a little ashamed that I can't remember them all.  Stopping by a foreign port for a few hours doesn't make me well traveled by itself. 

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CommonCents

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #48 on: October 25, 2013, 11:32:39 AM »
Not sure I accept the underlying premise of the poll that being "well traveled" equates to how many foreign countries you have been to. I consider myself extremely well traveled even though I have only been to 9 or 10 foreign countries.

It's just that in 50 years of travel, the places I have enjoyed the most have primarily been in the US.

+1  I listed some Caribbean island nations we visited on a few cruises we have been on.  I'm a little ashamed that I can't remember them all.  Stopping by a foreign port for a few hours doesn't make me well traveled by itself.

Agreed.  That's why I broke mine out into 1 day only, and longer.  Some 1-day were cruises, others were not (Monaco a day trip from France, and Macau was a day trip from Hong Kong - and yes, I know they are both administrative regions of China, but the folks that live in Hong Kong don't consider themselves part of China).  The others range from 3 months (France) to multiple trips (India) to a few days (Bermuda, Cambodia).

But Monaco is listed 248 out of 249 (Macau 235, Saint Martin 229/234, Bermuda 230, Aruba 218 Cayman 210, Barbados 201) here in terms of size: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_and_dependencies_by_area.  I'm not sure staying months is really necessary to feel I know it.

Villanelle

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Re: How well traveled are you?
« Reply #49 on: October 25, 2013, 11:48:02 AM »
While I agree that number of countries alone doesn't make one "well-traveled", and that a layover or passing through in a car and stopping for gas doesn't really count as having seen any of a country at all (and I wouldn't even include those on my list), I do think there's something to be said for seeing (and hopefully *experiencing*) a lot of different countries, cultures, ways of life, etc.  Someone who has been to all of the lower 48 has seen more of the US than most, but I think "well-traveled" suggest a diversity of experience.  I'd even say that someone who has been to 25 countries in Africa is not as well-traveled as someone who has only been to 15 countries that were spread across continents and at different levels of development and economic prosperity, assuming roughly the same amount of time spent.

Time spent is also relevant, though that depends on the country. Seeing the States or Italy or Canada for 1 day is barely scratching the surface.  Spending a day in Lichtenstein or Luxembourg is enough to give one a pretty decent idea of the culture there. 

 

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