Hit 30 countries in 2 years and it hit me different

Honestly, I didn't even realize I had been to 30 countries until I counted them last week. I was stuck in a co-working space in Chiang Mai updating my travel tracker and the number just jumped out at me. It surprised me because I never set out to hit some big milestone, I just kept moving for cheap rent and good WiFi. Has anyone else had a moment where the numbers sneaked up on you like that?

2 comments

2 Comments

miller.paul18d agoMost Upvoted

Three years living in Greece covering the crisis there and I still don't get the appeal of counting countries. You're basically bragging about seeing 30 places from the inside of a laptop screen. Maybe slow down and actually learn a local language instead of chasing numbers on a spreadsheet.

simon_chen18d ago

Buddy of mine spent two years backpacking through Southeast Asia. He had this whole spreadsheet with every country color coded and check marks next to each one. Got to like 15 countries before he realized he couldnt remember a single conversation he had with a local. Just pictures of himself in front of temples and beaches. The guy literally sat in a coffee shop in Vietnam for an hour because his bus was late and never even tried to order in Vietnamese. He admitted later that he was so focused on hitting the next border crossing he missed everything that made the trip worth taking. Counting countries is just a way to make yourself feel important without actually learning anything about the places you visited.