197 Travel Stamps

Knowledge About Every Country

About Me and Where I’ve Been

Even as a kid I dreamt of going everywhere. Whenever my teacher talked about a trip to a remote country I felt that itch to go there too one day. And whenever I saw a documentary about a place I had that same feeling.

Landmark Travel Quiz Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque Brunei
I took this photo on a trip to Brunei Darussalam in 2012

Usually you find a carefully selected travel quote in the “About” section. I didn’t find one that fits (or maybe I was just too lazy searching for one). I might even add one at some point. Who knows.

This blog is not about nomadic travelling. I have a “normal” 9 to 5 job and a normal everyday life that I absolutely love. In my everyday life, I am an big fan of turtles since I have kept a beautiful box turtle in my childhood. Also during my travels, some of my best experiences have been encounters with turtles. One of the best memories is the encounter with the Galapagos giant tortoise on the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. Snorkelling in the great barrier reef with loggerhead turtles was also an incredible experience.

Galapagos Turtoise
The majestic and impressive Galapagos giant tortoise

Since I don’t have an unlimited number of vacation days and money, I am always looking for perfect opportunities to find affordable ways of travelling to remote places in a short amount of time. Very often that is Friday until Sunday or Monday morning.

So what can you expect to find on this blog?

Lots of trip reports from short trips to surreal places that I have taken in the past. I am also a huge fan of travel trivia and quizzes and we regularly post new interesting and fun travel quizzes.

Where I’ve been so far

There is not one number of countries that make up “every country in the world”. Depending on who you ask, you will get different answers. Currently, there are 193 member countries to the UN, so 193 is the minimum number of countries in order to visit every country.

In addition, there are two observer states to the UN: The Holy See (Vatican) and Palestine.

There are several other countries that are de facto independent, but cannot enter the UN due to political reasons. The most famous countries in this group are the Republic of China (Taiwan) and Kosovo.

These countries make up the 197 places I want to visit in my lifetime (or preferably sooner). Hence the name 197TravelStamps

So far, I’ve visited 132 countries. That is already more than 50% – but the really hard part is still to come. Countries like Syria, Lybia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are still on the to-go list. Places, that are much harder to travel to and much more dangerous than a weekend in Amsterdam.

This is the list of countries I’ve been so far – follow the links to read about the countries

Africa

Americas & the Caribbean

Asia

Australia & Oceania

  • Australia
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Marshall Islands
  • New Zealand
  • Palau
  • Solomon Islands
  • Tonga
  • Vanuatu

Europe – All Countries Visited

  • Albania
  • Andorra
  • Austria
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Bulgaria
  • Cyprus
  • Croatia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark & the Faroe Islands
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Greece
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Italy
  • Kosovo
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • San Marino
  • Serbia
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Spain
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • The Netherlands
  • The Vatican
  • Turkey
  • Ukranie
  • United Kingdom

Check out these posts too:

Seville – Travel Inspiration for the Best City to Visit in 2018

My Top 10 Travel Photos of 2017

How to make travelling affordable – Part 1: Flights

Most amazing countries by category

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