I was very short on details in my first post about the up-coming sabbatical trip. That was on purpose, as I want you to have the feeling that you’re going on a journey with me, not just a trip. A journey is more open-ended and packed with surprises, and the goal isn’t simply getting to the destination. But no one starts a journey without some idea of where they’re headed. So I’ll give a little more to go on… after working up to it a bit.
I keep lists of things — the places I’ve lived (16), the cars I’ve owned (also 16), the churches I’ve attended (18 hmm… more than the places I’ve lived… what does that say about me?), and so on. One of the difficulties with keeping such lists is determining just what counts. How many times do you have to visit a church before it counts as one of the churches you’ve attended? That problem rears its unquantifiably difficult head for the list of countries I’ve been to. How should we count these?
First, I think we can all agree that it doesn’t count as having been to a country simply because you’ve passed through its airspace. But then, we might not all agree on whether it counts if you’ve only been to an airport on a layover. For example, on a trip to India in 2011, I landed in Abu Dhabi. We even had to get out and walk on the tarmac to board a bus which took us to a separate part of the airport. Does that count as my having been to UAE?
Or how about this one: on a trip to the Dominican Republic in 1991 with some fellow students, our host took us to the river that divides the DR from Haiti. We walked out onto a bridge that had a red line painted across the middle which demarcates the border of the two countries. There were Haitian guards standing at the other end, but they didn’t care too much that we walked across the line into their territory. Does that count as my having been to Haiti?
And of course there is the problem with the UK: how many countries are in that country?? I’ve been to all of them, but does that still only count as 1?
If you take the most generous interpretation on such questions, my list says that I’ve been to these 24 countries (besides the USA):
Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, England, France, Germany, Haiti, Iceland, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Netherlands, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Puerto Rico, Scotland, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Spain, UAE, Venezuela, and Wales.
So at long last, here’s the itinerary tease for my upcoming trip: I’m going to be in four of these countries again. And if all goes well, I’ll be adding three more to the list.
I hope you’re excited for the journey!
I would generally say you have to leave the airport AND/OR have a v long layover and really explore the airport for it to count.
just driving through? grey area! did you at least stop for gas and buy a bag of junk food with labels you don't entirely understand? COUNT IT.
Maybe not on this journey, but let's get Mexico on that list!