How do you count the countries you have been in?

Matthew,

I'm fortunate that I have been in all 50 states and none of them are questionable. I've lived in 14 different states. I have a friend who drove through the Northern part of Oklahoma for 4 hours and was unsure if they should count it.

I guess I would. If you drive on terra firma for that length of time I think it counts. Always best to use Shane's criteria and stop for a transaction. You can always buy a coke and move on.

For me counting that I have been there and really declaring that I have experienced a place would be two different definitions. That is why when we travel we prefer to spend extended amounts of time in each country or state. I want to get a feel for the people and the life they live.

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I disagree. Antarctica should most certainly be counted. It is not a country... it is an entire continent. When I count mine, I proudly include Antarctica. Not only because it is a continent, but becuase it is the hardest one to get to. Reply to this

In response to: Msg #163192 I was thinking of adding Antarctica to my bucket list, but most ways of getting there only take you to the ice surrounding the continent, and even then you don't land on the ice...you just see it up close. To count, does one have to fly in to a research station on land (even if it is ice covered)? Reply to this

In response to: Msg #163209 I agree that land being covered in ice doesn't make it less worthy. The question is, does it count if you just sail by the continent or just touch an iceberg? Reply to this

In response to: Msg #163212

I agree, you would need to walk on firm land in Antarctica (even if it is an ice shelf) in order to count that as a "country".

Am very keen to head to Antarctica one day, but it will need to wait until my bank account is able to withstand such a substantial assault on its funds ;-) Reply to this

This is a great topic. I've actually had this sort of problem in 2010 while we were in Europe. After Paris, our next destination was Amsterdam and to get there we would have to ride a bus. The bus stopped twice in Belgium (first in Brussels, then in Antwerp) for around an hour each, before heading on to Netherlands. At first I considered having been to Belgium because of that, and had this sort of a very liberal rule that as long as I've seen the country personally, I would consider having been to that country.

When we got back in the Philippines I had a change of heart and decided to remove Belgium from the list of countries I've been to. Mostly it was because as I was trying to write entries about the countries we've been to on that trip, I couldn't write anything about Belgium. I mean, I've been in Belgium for about half a day, roughly the same amount of time I spent in Dubrovnik and the Vatican, but the difference was that I was able to explore the latter two more and get to have a feel of these places. As a result, I managed to squeeze a couple of paragraphs from my experience in these two, whereas I'm really staring at a blank wall regarding Belgium.

Right now my rules on whether I consider having been to a country is, firstly, airports don't count. If they do, then I had been to Japan as well. Japan happens to be one of my top favorite countries and I guess to have a memory of my trip there to entirely consist of airport staff and airport stores would do a great disservice to what else the country has to offer. And thinking that I haven't been to Japan yet gives me more incentive to go there sometime in the future.

As for time, this is really an arbitrary issue. I guess this depends on how I experienced the country. Going back to that issue on Belgium, I might have spent half a day in the country but most of that was inside the bus and it really didn't add to my experience. I never talked to a Belgian, I never saw the sights (except for the EU headquarters and the Atomium), and I never got to eat Belgian food.
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