How well traveled are you?

[Caroline PF]

Here's my list. 
After I put it together and now looking at it, it feels small and limited. 

USA   
Canada   
Mexico (multiple times)   
Cruise ports, most visited multiple times   
   Bahamas
   Cayman Islands
   Jamaica
   Haiti
   Turks and Caicos
   Donimican Republic
   British Virgin Islands
   Dominica
   Puerto Rico
   Martinique
   Barbados
   Antigua and Barbuda
England (many times, London probably 10+ times, all but 2 were business trips)   
France (3 times)   
Belgium (2 times)   
Netherlands (2 times)   
Germany (2 times)   
Iceland (2 times)   
Thailand (business trip)   
Philipines (business trip)   
Russia   
Ukraine   
Latvia   
Estonia   
Lithuania   
Italy   
Austria   
July trip coming up will include Argentina and Chile with 1-day crossovers to Brazil and Uruguay

Are you going to see the solar eclipse?

[sol]

For me theres a big difference between being a tourist and a traveler.

There is an entire genre of entertainment built around this distinction, but lots of folks still don't get it.  Read "the beach" some lazy weekend for the classic primer.  Or "on the road" or hell watch Anthony Bourdain on Netflix.

Travel opens up the mind. Your life is comprised of a finite number of sequential experiences, and it always surprises me when a young person chooses to repeat the same familiar ones over and over again at home.  I love my life now, my family and my home and my sense of rooting in place, but none of it would have been possible without my irresponsible youth spent chasing horizons.

[FiguringItOut]

Here's my list. 

<...>

July trip coming up will include Argentina and Chile with 1-day crossovers to Brazil and Uruguay

Are you going to see the solar eclipse?

No.  I didn't know there was an eclipse.  But even if I did I wouldn't get to see it.  It's on July 2nd.  I'm arriving to Buenos Aires on July 4th.

[Watchmaker]

Travel opens up the mind. Your life is comprised of a finite number of sequential experiences, and it always surprises me when a young person chooses to repeat the same familiar ones over and over again at home.  I love my life now, my family and my home and my sense of rooting in place, but none of it would have been possible without my irresponsible youth spent chasing horizons.

The only part I disagree with is when you say young people, as I think what you say is true for everyone. I've seen so many people get to "adulthood" and allow their life to become routine and habit, which, to me, looks like a kind of death. (Now, I'm not saying travel is the only way to avoid that fate, just that it is a way).

I also think travel is a great way of building better citizens. In the Innocents Abroad, Mark twain says:

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.

[dougules]

I'm pretty amazed at how people afford all this travel. 

We can also be mustachian when traveling.

Choosing well the flights and fares, some AirBnB search, making some meals at home, making some visits by yourself instead of tours... I value more the places I visit than the appartment or a fancy meal. Otherwise, in 4* hotels and executive class, its difficult to see much of the world.

Dont know much about US, but in some countries of Europe and some parts of Asia, you can be traveling at a cost almost comparable at being at home and I'm not talking about camping or eating cans.

We are very fortunate to live nowadays, 50 years ago probably we would be debating going to 3 or 4 countries.

Yes, aside from saving money through geoarbitrage, travel forces you into minimalism.   Any stuff you accumulate literally weighs you down. 

[robartsd]

I've only been outside the US twice. Once was a day trip into Canada from a family reunion in Montana about age 20. The other was to attend my wife's sister's wedding in England (spent about a week there, half the time wedding related, other half as tourists). Will likely visit wife's sister in England again in a few years. Wife wants to see more of Europe (other than costs, I'm not opposed). I could see doing some slow travel in LCOL parts of the world after retiring; but I'm not great with language or very adventurous with food.

[crybaby]

I've only been outside the US twice. Once was a day trip into Canada from a family reunion in Montana about age 20. The other was to attend my wife's sister's wedding in England (spent about a week there, half the time wedding related, other half as tourists). Will likely visit wife's sister in England again in a few years. Wife wants to see more of Europe (other than costs, I'm not opposed). I could see doing some slow travel in LCOL parts of the world after retiring; but I'm not great with language or very adventurous with food.

Its not a problem nowadays, everyone talks a bit of english even in the most strange places.

And when not, meaning somewhere in Africa or Asia, just make a draw. :)

McDonalds is also everywhere.

If you like to travel, those "fears" shoudnt let you in land.

[GroceryBaggins]

25+ of the USA
Mexico
Canada
China
Japan (2-3 times a month for work)
Singapore
South Korea
Australia
New Zealand (lived for 3 years)
Egypt
Israel
Switzerland
Germany
Italy
France
England
Ireland
Vatican City
El Salvador
Guatemala
Nicaragua

Possibly Bolivia or Peru for Oct. Also debating road trip around USA. Next year will be Jordan & Mongolia for sure, possibly Greece.

Full disclosure is I work at a major airline and so I can get more time off than the 8-5ers and I get a discount (sometimes free) on airline tickets. I use the Marriott bonvoy card (if you decide to get one pm me so we can both get points!) that I pay off immediately and in full every month as the interest rate is high BUT I get to stay at hotels either with a discount or with points (kind of free). My status also gets me free breakfast. My boyfriend has the Chase card that gets him status with rental cars (so more free or cheap cars), airport lounges (showers, food) and airline expenses reimbursed (so that discount ticket became free). Our overall costs for some places like London or 4 days in Kona, Hi can be as little as $60-70/day for 2 people at a nice hotel with a car. It's not the cheapest trip we've taken but it was mostly on transportation and taxes.

Ex: came back from Hawaii yesterday, 4 nights.
Flights: $0,
Hotel: $0/points
Jeep: $35/day
Gas: $10/day
Food:$5-20/day B/included, L/snacks from Bfast snacks?, D/ with local friends who we will host when they come to visit
Resort Fee: $25/day (taxes).
National Park fees: $10 included in the yearly pass but we buy postcards here to support the National Parks.
Snorkel Gear/Reef safe Sunscreen: $30 - needed special sunscreen to protect marine life and rented gear that fit properly from the local Reef Education and Preservation society. It would be cheaper to borrow gear from friends but easier to rent/donate to the local cause.
 

[js82]

Lived in 3 countries including the USA.  Visited 18 - counting the Vatican because it's technically an independent entity, but not counting several small Caribbean islands because I don't remember exactly which ones I visited and of those, which ones were territories of other countries versus independent nations (and really, I'm not sure I should count a few hours ashore anyways.

I've visited 40 states.  Mostly missing the middle of the country, plus a few others like Mississippi, New Mexico, and Delaware.

Likely additions in the near future include Montana(Glacier Nat'l Park), Iceland, and some subset of Norway/Sweden/Finland.  Yes, I have a bias toward forests/mountains!

[Zikoris]

We just added Japan to the list, which is number 29 for me and 31 for him. Great place.

[SwordGuy]

Me:
France, Belgium, Netherlands, UK, Ethiopia, Canada, Bermuda, Mexico and Japan plus 39 US states.
Sudan, Italy and Dubai if you count airport stopovers.

Wife:

Germany, Italy, UK, Ethiopia, Mongolia, China and Bahamas (that I know of).  She's persona non grata in the Bahamas which is awesomely cool.    22 states (that I know of).

[deborah]

I know someone else who’s persona non grata in the Bahamas, and was given 24 hours to leave. He had a wife who was also effected. Did your wife have a previous husband?

[ecchastang]

Canada
China
Russia
Mexico
Ukraine
Costa Rica
All 50 states

[asauer]

Have loved travel since my first out of country experience at 15.  Here’s my list:
Canada
Mexico
Belize
guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
Costa Rica
Ecuador
England
Scotland
Ireland
Croatia
Italy
France
Russia
Sweden
Spain
Finland
Norway
Iceland
Netherlands
Nearly all of the Caribbean (not listing all that our)

[Capsu78]

I just tallied this up a few days ago and realized I have entered 37 different countries (38 if I count Hong Kong as a separate entity), with a good number of repeat visits.  I/we are not frugal travelers by any measure...but I can honestly say I do not regret any of the $$$ I have spent on travel.
Spent a good chunk of my career doing US business travel to over 250 trade shows and other events so not many convention centers I have not been in!  Most of our international travel started in 2004 and ramped up over the years, peaking when my wife took an international position.  I chose to "pretire" so I could be available to boondoggle along with her on the longer trips she would take to Asia, Australia on EU once. 
Now my "target" is 4 internationals a year, preferably one per quarter, with and without my wife, who still works...(someone has to keep the ATM's around the world topped off, I say, mostly when out of her earshot!)
Blessed to have been able to keep this schedule since 2015. 
Thinking about Viet Nam or Israel later this year.

[peppermint]

Canada
USA
France
Germany
Switzerland
Malaysia
Singapore
Australia
Costa Rica
Mexico
Cyprus
Greece

I love traveling, and seeing new places has had a huge impact on me growing up. Right now it's not a top priority though, I'm currently spending most of my travel money seeing loved ones instead.

[EXLIer]

I haven't been to many countries but I travel to Italy often.  Last year I went 6x.  I usually go 3x per year.  I know that amount of traveling isn't probably considered mustachian but at the end of my life, the experiences, sights seen, and adventures will be remembered more than the money in the bank I'll leave my kids.

Other countries I've visited:

Canada
Jamaica
Cayman Islands( British Territory)
Spain
England
Belgium

[living_la_vida_mi]

Just hit country number 40 in May (Panama for the Memorial Day Weekend)!! Last 6 years or so have been travelling with the kids (currently 7 and 3). Love to travel with my family, or by myself, with friends, with my husband. Like someone said, it is the eternal battle of #YOLO x FIRE. For fun and added challenge, my goal is to hit 45 countries before I turn 45 (end of next year).

I love planning trips and it is amazing how much I get out of it. Not only the trip itself, but the planning stage (takes me about 6-8 months between researching modes of transportation, AirBnBs / hotels, costs, everything about the city/ country). I take out travel guides from the library and read tons (not to mention Internet resources). Figuring out all the logistics, factoring in children, it is a pretty cool exercise in strategy. Usually I schedule 1-2 activities a day and the rest is wherever luck will take us. So I have it extremely well structured (don't want to waste time and money with things that are easily resolved with advanced planning, but also don't want to go over board - there is plenty of opportunity for spontaneity :-)

Then the trip itself. It lasts usually about 10 days to 2 weeks, or if it is a closer destination an extended weekend (2-3 days), because: kids school schedule and costs, of course. I find it AMAZING how we go on a time warp on vacation. One day seems to last a week. A week feels like a month. That is why even short trips are completely worth it.

Lastly, coming back I spend about 2 weeks on a high vividly reliving the experience. To top it off I make a photo book of each of our trips within a month of being back. To me travelling is truly the gift that keeps on giving (major rush lasts about 9-10 months for me for each trip). By the way, as a souvenir for each trip I buy one Christmas ornament. At the end of the year I get to see my tree decorated with all the places I have been over all the years. It is truly awesome. :-)

[Capsu78]

Living_,
I, too, get much satisfaction out of the planning process, shooting a ton of photos during the trip and then pulling the photos off my multiple devices after the trip and getting them into their appropriate file after the trip.  I have been using TripIt (Pro) for over a decade and sometimes go back and look at past trips itineraries...and am always a little sad when I have no upcoming trips!
As for planning timelines,  I have spent up to a year booking details for some trips.  However, my most recent trip was planned and executed in under 4 weeks.  I got the bug to go to Normandy around the time of the 75th anniversary, logistically competing with many, many travelers who had planned for over a year.  Found a flight, found the first of 2 rooms, decided my son in law wanted to go with.  Everything fell into place as perfectly as can be expected, even though my SIL had to return earlier than me to be home for his anniversary.  So glad we went and as a cherry on top of the delicious sunday, I got to spent an hour with a WWII vet who landed on Omaha Beach on day 6 of the battle.  We saw 4 of the 5 beaches, did a motorcycle/ sidecar tour one day and had an unforgettable experience.  Been watching movies and documentaries since May 10 and feel like I fully immersed in the history of this event.   

[Capsu78]

The other travel tip I like to do is to search for events going on while I am traveling to other places.  I have seen a famous Italian pianist perform in St Marks Sq in Venice, a football match in London, sakura/hanami in Tokyo and Kyoto, an F1 press conference in Milan, a professional track meet in Olympic Stadium in Rome, a Pope speak in Rome, street markets anywhere I find them- flowers, produce, fish, souks- doesn't matter to me.  I just like to be around the locals going about their business. 
I have done a couple organized tours with other Americans, and while they have their place, I find them a little inward focused on the spotting the differences between wherever and the USA... If I wanted to be around Americans, I would simply have stayed home!
One decision I choose not to do- I was in Paris on a Saturday night and started seeing all these people walking by my in loud Hawaiian shirts, then parrots and shark hats... I realized I was walking past a theater where Jimmy Buffet was about to perform.  Had a couple of Americans seated at a café next to me who had an extra ticket and wanted me to go.  I declined and I like JB, have seen JB a couple of times...but I had never been in Paris on a beautiful Saturday night and justed wanted to suck that up more than a Parrothead concert.
 

[Awesomeness]

At 48 I've never left the country.  Ex was retired military and hoped all over the world,  we talked about space A travel when he retired. He had a secret life and other plans and we ended up divorcing. We also had an airstream and truck and were supposedly going to see all of the US first. lol. what a joke. He's keeping the bar stools in town warm on a full time basis instead.

It's all good though since it will be nice to create those new memories either by myself or w my kids someday.  I dream about it and have some travel accessories on my amazon wish list as I'm a horrible packer and need to get better.

I do tear up the south w 3-4k miles road trips every 6 months, visiting family and friends as I got stuck in the midwest after divorcing. I thoroughly enjoy driving in west Texas w some good music on the radio.

My wanderlust was pretty non existent for many years as I was content w my family and home life. It's growing though...

[living_la_vida_mi]

The other travel tip I like to do is to search for events going on while I am traveling to other places.  I have seen a famous Italian pianist perform in St Marks Sq in Venice, a football match in London, sakura/hanami in Tokyo and Kyoto, an F1 press conference in Milan, a professional track meet in Olympic Stadium in Rome, a Pope speak in Rome, street markets anywhere I find them- flowers, produce, fish, souks- doesn't matter to me.  I just like to be around the locals going about their business. 
I have done a couple organized tours with other Americans, and while they have their place, I find them a little inward focused on the spotting the differences between wherever and the USA... If I wanted to be around Americans, I would simply have stayed home!
One decision I choose not to do- I was in Paris on a Saturday night and started seeing all these people walking by my in loud Hawaiian shirts, then parrots and shark hats... I realized I was walking past a theater where Jimmy Buffet was about to perform.  Had a couple of Americans seated at a café next to me who had an extra ticket and wanted me to go.  I declined and I like JB, have seen JB a couple of times...but I had never been in Paris on a beautiful Saturday night and justed wanted to suck that up more than a Parrothead concert.
 

Thank you for sharing these lovely experiences! I look forward to being able to plan trips around an event like you described. Right now that has not been possible due to our schedule constraints.

A few of my memorable experiences: climbing up to the Abbey at Mont Saint Michel with my 6 month old baby girl in tow :-) catching a classical music concert with my mom at Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, the best acoustics ever! Eating at an amazing restaurant in Slovenia (featured in Netflix's Chef's table) with our small children being entertained by the chef herself.

Also, I hear you on the organized tour front. We prefer to do everything independently. Having said that, doing a cruise once in a while can be very relaxing.

[Villanelle]

At 48 I've never left the country.  Ex was retired military and hoped all over the world,  we talked about space A travel when he retired. He had a secret life and other plans and we ended up divorcing. We also had an airstream and truck and were supposedly going to see all of the US first. lol. what a joke. He's keeping the bar stools in town warm on a full time basis instead.

It's all good though since it will be nice to create those new memories either by myself or w my kids someday.  I dream about it and have some travel accessories on my amazon wish list as I'm a horrible packer and need to get better.

I do tear up the south w 3-4k miles road trips every 6 months, visiting family and friends as I got stuck in the midwest after divorcing. I thoroughly enjoy driving in west Texas w some good music on the radio.

My wanderlust was pretty non existent for many years as I was content w my family and home life. It's growing though...

A few years back, my mom, sister, and I went on a Mediterranean cruise.  Mom had always wanted to see Italy and after much discussion, we decided a cruise was the best fit.  (We also saw a bit of France, Spain, and Montenegro.)  It was such a special time for the three of us.  Mom is in her 70s and my sister and I are in our 40s.  We also did a  long weekend in Vancouver.  And I just returned from a few days in Scottsdale (clearly not quite as exotic, but it's what we could make work).  These trips are so important and special to all three of us, and I will forever treasure the memories we make on them. Hopefully in the future you and your kids or someone else can go on similar adventures!

[sui generis]

One travel tip that the above reminded me of is to connect with an English club at a local university.  We did this first in Vietnam and have done it a couple times since then, meeting up with a couple of students who want to practice their English by showing us around their city and chatting.  We always buy them lunch at the end of the walking tour (and often give them a little spending money, but the lunch is the more formal thank you gift).  It doesn't have to be students at a university - we've found some cities just have groups of locals that want to do this, always free as truly a mutually beneficial thing - but that's a good place to start.  You won't regret it.

[CNM]

I was fortunate enough to travel a lot as a child/young adult.  My mother is from a different country, so I would go there often in the summer to visit my grandparents, cousins, and other family.  I also traveled a lot in college- study abroad and so on.

At this point in my life, with a job and two small children at home, I travel very little.  I know that this is simply the phase of life I am in and I get enjoyment doing other things - going places locally, traveling within the US to see family and friends, etc.  My 6 year old has already been to two foreign countries (one in Europe, one in Central America) and I hope to travel internationally more when the baby gets a little older.

[fantabulous]

I'm not well traveled, apparently.

Permanent address:
US

Brief visits:
Canada
Singapore
Cambodia

Long term stay with family:
Thailand

Although I do have a current passport due to my gender transition, I haven't left the country for the past 10-15 years. Aside from my trips to Canada to drink and gamble when I was 19-20, I was too young to really appreciate my time in Asia in my early 20s, but it was certainly influential.

[Awesomeness]

At 48 I've never left the country.  Ex was retired military and hoped all over the world,  we talked about space A travel when he retired. He had a secret life and other plans and we ended up divorcing. We also had an airstream and truck and were supposedly going to see all of the US first. lol. what a joke. He's keeping the bar stools in town warm on a full time basis instead.

It's all good though since it will be nice to create those new memories either by myself or w my kids someday.  I dream about it and have some travel accessories on my amazon wish list as I'm a horrible packer and need to get better.

I do tear up the south w 3-4k miles road trips every 6 months, visiting family and friends as I got stuck in the midwest after divorcing. I thoroughly enjoy driving in west Texas w some good music on the radio.

My wanderlust was pretty non existent for many years as I was content w my family and home life. It's growing though...

A few years back, my mom, sister, and I went on a Mediterranean cruise.  Mom had always wanted to see Italy and after much discussion, we decided a cruise was the best fit.  (We also saw a bit of France, Spain, and Montenegro.)  It was such a special time for the three of us.  Mom is in her 70s and my sister and I are in our 40s.  We also did a  long weekend in Vancouver.  And I just returned from a few days in Scottsdale (clearly not quite as exotic, but it's what we could make work).  These trips are so important and special to all three of us, and I will forever treasure the memories we make on them. Hopefully in the future you and your kids or someone else can go on similar adventures!

Thanks!  I occasionally ask them where they'd like to go if we had the money for a trip and they still say Disneyworld. We've been there a couple times and had a blast but I have something else in mind that requires passports. Hopefully with time, money and good health it will happen but Disney w just the three of us is probably next. 

We did a 5 day road trip to the beach a month ago. They're 21 and 26, boy and girl, completely awesome people and we did have a great time.  It just went by too fast. 

So wonderful you do that w your family and you've definitely had some adventures!

[Capsu78]

One travel tip that the above reminded me of is to connect with an English club at a local university.  We did this first in Vietnam and have done it a couple times since then, meeting up with a couple of students who want to practice their English by showing us around their city and chatting.  We always buy them lunch at the end of the walking tour (and often give them a little spending money, but the lunch is the more formal thank you gift).  It doesn't have to be students at a university - we've found some cities just have groups of locals that want to do this, always free as truly a mutually beneficial thing - but that's a good place to start.  You won't regret it.

Great tip!  I  have never done that formally but when I did the Cherry Blossoms in Japan I hooked up with a large group of expats from all over the world.  A number of them were English teachers and they brought students with them to practice English.  I taught them useful phrases like "Say hello to my little friend..." and "This is how WE roll..." along with hand gestures to go along with it.
Also had some fun in Sweden explaining the proper usage of "Dude!" to my former exchange students children! 

[BussoV6]

One travel tip that the above reminded me of is to connect with an English club at a local university.  We did this first in Vietnam and have done it a couple times since then, meeting up with a couple of students who want to practice their English by showing us around their city and chatting.  We always buy them lunch at the end of the walking tour (and often give them a little spending money, but the lunch is the more formal thank you gift).  It doesn't have to be students at a university - we've found some cities just have groups of locals that want to do this, always free as truly a mutually beneficial thing - but that's a good place to start.  You won't regret it.

This is a good way to see some cities. A few years ago a colleague and I had a free morning in Prague during a business trip. The hotel concierge asked his daughter to show us around the city. She was a history masters student at the university and wanted to practise English. We got a glimpse of an insiders view of Prague and we all had a nice lunch after.

[londongrad]

Not including short stop overs this is my list

Permanent Address
England (not counting Wales and Scotland as we're one big happy family)

Countries Visited:
Ireland
France
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Switzerland
Germany
Norway
Iceland
Cyprus
Greece
Tunisia
Uganda
Kenya
South Africa
Hong Kong
USA
Canada

Pretty good amount. When I go abroad I try not to go to somewhere I have been before as who knows what I am missing out on. S.E Asia is next on the list.

[PaulMaxime]

For me:

Canada
Mexico
France
Spain
Czech Republic
Germany
Austria
Ghana
South Africa
Zimbabwe
Zambia
Botswana
Australia
New Zealand
Vietnam
Japan
India
Cuba