Country lists

I have an app on my iphone called "Been" that I use to track the countries I have visited. I tracks anything world-wide and narrows down the areas by Europe/Asia/North America/South America/Oceania/Africa/Antartica. It has a second tab that you can use to track states in the USA as well.

FYI - it tracks England, Scotland, Wales, etc as separate entities. It also separates out the Vatican, Palestine, etc.

Edited - Forgot to mention that it also shows a map with places visited colored in so you can see visually and gives you a percentage that you have visited. That makes my travels seem very limited!

I actually only recently counted the number of States I've been to thus far, not countries. My feeling is that counting is more worthwhile if you're trying to reach a certain goal that's measurable or easily defined (like visiting all 50 States, etc.). Outside the US, it may be helpful to identify gaps in certain continents or to help prioritize new places to visit...I try not to confine my travels to Europe only. I only count for myself, not to compare with others. I have a list of places that I want to go to in the future in terms of priorities and interests (yes, on a spreadsheet no less).. that list is always growing. I have spreadsheets from every trip because that's where I do my budget, but I don't have a count of how many countries I've been to in my head.

In my family you have to have a beer and pee to claim a country.

There are some maps apps that color in the countries/states you've visited, but sometimes they frustrate me. For example, if you check Italy, it colors in Sicily and Sardinia. if you check France, it colors in Corsica. I can accept all that, even though I've never been to Sicily or Sardinia or Corsica. But one of the apps even colored in French Guyana (in South America) when I checked France! That's just silly.

In any case, the separate countries of the UK should be treated separately for counting purposes and for map-coloring purposes.

In my family you have to have a beer and pee to claim a country.

Emily, I take it no-one in your family has been able to claim Saudi Arabia, or Iran :-)

In any case, the separate countries of the UK should be treated separately

In which case, can I claim German Bundesländer, and Swiss Kantons (these do speak different languages)?

I want to do a list of borders crossed. Flying from one country to another does not count. How many borders have you crossed (a) by car, (b) by train (c) by bike or (d) on foot?

You can get alcohol in Iran if you know where to go...and I think we'd accept alcohol free as a substitute...we're not crazy.

You can pee and have a beer without leaving an airport. I have to stay overnight at least one night to count. States and Canadian Provinces too.

JenC - I like the idea of that app! I will check it out. We have a nice wall map that we put pins in, but it would be nice to have something a little clearer.

Agnes - I would like to visit all 50 states, but I'm not really sure why, I think it just seems like a neat achievement. I don't have a goal for the number of countries visited, but I do get asked fairly often so I like to know. I think it is kind of like tracking anniversaries- you always know how long you've been married because it's important to you. Someone who has been to several countries is obviously passionate about travel. Keeping a count gives it a sort of benchmark I guess.

Emily - I like it! :)

Stan - that makes sense. I always feel like you have to do something there, as if you just dri e through the interstate looks mostly the same everywhere.

Hi Tamara, I bought a "scratch map" for my 27-year-old nephew for Christmas. You scratch off the places you've traveled to. I thought it was a cool gift and something different.

http://www.uncommongoods.com/product/scratch-map

My standards aren't as stringent as some. If I have changed planes in Paris, then I count France off my list.

(Having said that, I'm not stupid. I want to go back and SEE France.)

Seriously, though, if I drive through a state/country, then I can say I've been there.

On that drinking a beer in a country to make it count thing, I might adopt that in the future, swapping out beer for wine. Thanks for the idea! ;-)

In my family you have to have a beer and pee to claim a country.

Well, those 2 things do go hand in hand. And yay, I've been to Ireland!

"Beer and to pee"
Or
"Peer and to be"
??

For grins, I did create a list.

I count driving though a place (state or country) but do NOT count visits where I didn't leave the airport or train stations. For example, I am considering a FinnAir flight that stops in Helsinki for two hours. I have never been to Finland otherwise...I would not count Finland as "visited" until I have actually left the airport. If the flight had a long layover and I was able to go into the city, then I would count it.

One I am having trouble with - I took a cruise that stopped at the cruise line's private island in the Bahamas. It did not stop for us (weather) in Nassau or any other inhabited island in the Bahamas - just the cruise's own island. I spent a nice day swimming and wandering this island. Have I been to the Bahamas? I did pee and drink on this island...

I have been to three countries that no longer exist: East Germany, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia. I have been to 70 countries. I don't count East Germany, but I count the Czech Republic (haven't been to Slovakia). I don't count Yugoslavia, but do count where I visited, Croatia and Slovenia. I do count the Vatican and Lichtenstein as well as San Marino, but don't count Korea where I changed planes once. Also, I do count Hong Kong, that was a territory. I don't count the nations in the UK, just the UK.

Interesting. . .I've been to the Soviet Union (and not back since it broke up), yet I would definitely count Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania separately . . . that's great food for thought though!

I agree you can have a beer and a pee in plenty of airports, so that standard would seem to include every place and not just if you've gone into the city (à la Helsinki example, which I'd be more inclined to follow).

The most embarrassing for me is that growing up with only one state between us and Mexico, I've never been to Mexico! And even starting out in the middle of the country, my first trip to California was when I was 30 years old and because my brother was getting married there.

In my family you have to be go outside the airport, train station or bus terminal to count. A layover does not count and there have been major disputes regarding that! My hubby doesn't drink so the drink a beer qualification would not work. How about a soda and pee? At our age, the pee is not a problem. LOL As far as the UK is concerned, my Scottish buddy would absolutely insist on Scotland being a different entity...I am checking out that app.

The definitive rule would be the country must be a UN member state and that references are made to the current boundaries.

definitive rule would be the country must be a UN member state

Does that mean I can no longer claim USSR and Yugoslavia? Or do they count as Russia, Croatia and Bosnia?

Haha.
If you are counting USSR PLUS Russia, and Yugoslavia PLUS Serbia (for example) then you are guilty of double dipping.

I have never been to a country that is no longer a country but I would count like this - if I went to Prague and Bratislava when Czechoslovakia was the country I would now count 2 countries - Czech rep and Slovakia. Not 3 (Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore). If I went to only Prague in that time I would count Czech Republic now but not Slovakia.

I do tend to count countries, but I do not count England, Scotland, Wales as separate. The Vatican is a separate country from Italy, and recognised as such by a treaty with Italy, its diplomatic relations with numerous countries, etc.

I do not count a country if I have not left the transport system. So I do not count Luxembourg, because I only changed trains there. I suppose I can count Portugal, because I visited Macau when it was still a Portuguese colony, though I have not been to Portugal proper. I am not sure how to count Taiwan (which I visited last year) which is in practical terms an independent country, but still officially regards itself as part of China, and calls itself the Republic of China. I have also visited the mainland aka the People's Republic of China, so I am not sure whether to count them as one or two countries. But I suppose I can count them as two.

I have actually read some blogs of people who have either visited every country in the world, or are still attempting to. They try to visit all the UN member states, plus those with observer status. There are two of the latter, Palestine and the Vatican. Note that the UK is a UN member, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have separate memberships. Taiwan aka the Republic of China is not a member.

These blogs are quite fun to read, but they sometimes take risks visiting some dangerous countries, and often only make hit and run visits to some other countries. Some countries such as Nauru and Tuvalu just sound boring from these accounts.

Everyone can count however they choose. If you want to count the UK as one country, or if you want to count Northern Ireland, England, Scotland, and Wales as separate countries, feel free.

If you want a standard, you could do worse than http://travelerscenturyclub.org/countries-and-territories, which counts 325 distinct countries and territories and admits members to their century club if they have visited 100 or more. They happen to allow people to count transit stops (even just an airplane fueling stop).

I keep a list of airports I've used, with notes if I just changed planes there or touched down there but didn't visit the place. Just like countries that don't still exist, I've been to some airports that don't exist anymore, like Denver Stapleton and Hong Kong Kai Tak.

As for countries and states, what I keep is a list of where I went when (in date order, so I just keep adding to it). So, I can look and see exactly how long it's been since I saw Florence (1989) or how many times I've been in Paris (five, last in 2009).

There is some interesting food for thought here. Wow, you guys are well traveled! 70 countries! I hadn't thought about countries that are no longer countries, that makes an interesting twist. I like the idea of looking at the UN members. I'm glad to know there are other people out there that ponder these things!