A long time agoβfive years, to be preciseβI had an idea to visit every country in the world. I like travel, I like big goals. Smash the two together and you get: official countries, plus a bunch of other places. So I started working toward it, around the same time I started publishing this online journal that people from almost as many countries are now reading. I set the deadline of April to coincide with my 35th birthday.
No international travel for four months! I knew I had to work hard to get ahead during the first half of the year. While hopping around the world over the past two weeks, I did a personal check-in on the progress. Am I on track?
Am I in trouble? Monaco is easily reachable from the south of France. I was hoping to get down that way this year, but it now looks like it will be before I make it. The Five Stans of Central Asia. All of them require visas of varying difficulty. I can do Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on the same trip. Afghanistan will probably be a quick trip to Kabul and back. Rogue States and Other Interesting Places.
Otherwise, the only option will be to go with an organized trip from Beijing, which is only allowed a few times during the year for U.
I also need to get started on the plans for Iran , which as an American requires going on a group tour with a local sponsor. Cuba is another country that is difficult for U. North Africa. Three countries in a row are missing from my map of completed countries.
