 | Flytrippers cofounder |
My goal is to visit every country in the world, but I’m absolutely not in any rush to do this at all. I’ve visited “only” 76 out of the 197 countries (or 74 out of 193 using the other list), despite traveling a lot: about ⅓ of the year (120 days). So I could easily go faster if I wanted… but I really don’t.
Since forever, I’ve dreamed of going everywhere… but I also love taking advantage of my many trips to return to countries I enjoy. And no, I’m not “lucky” to travel this much, one of a few strong opinions formed after 76 countries I’m sharing here today! 😅
Kevin, Flytrippers’ other co-founder, shared his own quest, and it’s my turn. Flytrippers helps you travel for less with our 3 types of content, namely flight deals, travel rewards, and tips/inspiration/news.
Here’s an overview of my quest to visit every country in the world.
Which 76 countries I’ve visited
Here’s a map of the countries I’ve been to so far (as of August 2026).
You can check out all the details on my NomadMania profile once you create a free account (which I also highly recommend doing).
I have 3 more new countries planned during my summer trip to Europe with my girlfriend coming up very soon, and then probably at least 1 more new one on my multi-week trip in November (destinations still undetermined).
You can always follow along in real-time in my stories on my personal Instagram account.
Keep in mind that when we launched Flytrippers in 2017, I had only been to 7 countries…
But again, this is not a short-term objective. I know I’ll eventually visit every country, given the average life expectancy. I don’t mind taking another 20 years to do this at all; it’s not like I won’t want to travel anymore! 😅
I could easily have been to every country by now if I wanted to, but I honestly really don’t get the obsession with doing this super fast.
To each their own, of course. But personally, I’d much rather spend more time where I want to spend more time. I try to visit a few new countries every year, but I absolutely don’t plan everything around that at all.
For example, I’ve been to Türkiye 7 times, and to China 5 times… and I’m definitely going back to those amazing destinations before visiting many African countries for the 1st time.
In recent years, I also have been traveling more for specific events (conferences, festivals, concerts, etc.), and these tend to be in Canada and the U.S., unfortunately.
But if I want to go, I’m not going to miss out just to instead visit a new country (and not for any politician either, in my case).
These are the worst places in the world to travel to, but the appeal of the events makes up for it. And most importantly, this allows me to do shorter trips (which my girlfriend appreciates; more on that in the next section).
It’s harder to justify going all the way to another continent for just a week. And even if it’s certainly not as fun as getting a good culture shock, there’s always something great to discover anywhere, so even in North America!
It’s just a matter of staying the appropriate number of days in any given destination. For example, Brunei was a fun country… but you don’t need to spend a week there! The city of Memphis was nice… for a few days. You get the idea.
What it’s like to try to visit every country in the world
The single most important action that can help you explore more is getting into the wonderful world of travel rewards! We repeat it because it’s such a shame that so many people don’t take advantage of this.
The huge welcome bonuses that are so easy to get make it so much more affordable to visit all these countries… and more enjoyable as well.
Recently, I’ve been traveling a bit less (by my own admittedly high standards), so it’s been very easy to have more than enough points to often fly business class for long journeys or to splurge on stays at luxury hotels.
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Welcome bonuses have been incredibly high these past few years, so much so that I’ve barely even touched both prizes of 1 million points I got in 2024 and 2025 by doing a round-the-world flight challenge and a 6-continents flight challenge!!!
So, for anyone who actually wants to travel more, it’s not hard at all to make up for the lack of money thanks to rewards.
It is usually harder to make up for the lack of time.
I travel about 120 days of the year, which is great. But I’m not “lucky” at all: I’ve purposely designed my life in a way that allows that. Not the same thing at all! 😉
One thing I am truly lucky to have is a longtime girlfriend who lets me travel this much.
She has a normal 9-to-5 job here in Canada, so we only have about 6 weeks to travel together each year, and anyway, she’s really not interested in traveling to every country (or even traveling as much as I do).
Since launching Flytrippers in 2017, the vast majority of my travels have been solo trips. That said, many were with my girlfriend, and a few shorter ones were with friends.
I also meet up with friends or make new ones all over the world on many solo trips.
I can’t recommend solo travel enough; it’s such a great experience. I am even willing to go so far as to state confidently that you cannot be considered a travel pro if you’ve never traveled solo. You just can’t.
(You don’t need to do it all the time, of course… but you do need to have tried it. It’s so unlike anything else!)
Logistically, I do tend to do rather short visits, as I love getting a first feel for a country before committing to investing a longer period of time there. Maybe that’s my ADD, who knows?
And I tend to prefer culture over nature in general, so I do like to spend a lot of time in cities.
Why I want to visit every country in the world
Same as Kevin: I really love discovering new places. I want to see every place. That’s humanly impossible, so I’ll settle for at least every country.
There are classics you must see, of course…
But like literally every single experienced traveler I know (and I know many thanks to this community of country collectors), I quickly realized that touristy countries where everyone goes… are absolutely not the best the world has to offer.
Quite the opposite!!!
So, I love going off the beaten track, and it’s so much easier to do when you stop sticking to the Caribbean or like 5 countries in Western Europe, as most people sadly do.
That’s normal when you don’t know. But that means missing out on all the best. Literally all of my favorite countries in the world are countries that are not popular.
The authenticity of the country and the joy of locals who are happy to see you and welcome you are just completely unmatched. Can’t recommend it enough.
And I do absolutely want to reiterate what Kevin said about safety: the list of countries that you shouldn’t go to is incredibly shorter than almost every inexperienced traveler thinks it is.
Here’s another unpopular opinion that’s still very right: Being irrationally scared of everything is completely incompatible with being an experienced traveler. It just is.
Please, if there’s one thing you take away, make it this. Stop thinking that just because you heard something bad about a country on the news once, it’s “dangerous” to go there. That’s complete nonsense, and I won’t ever apologize for not sugarcoating this.
Fear is a normal human (initial) reaction to a lack of information, but it’s not normal to stay in a state of lack of information in 2026 when it’s so easy to find it.
Everyone (who’s not an experienced traveler) was so incredulous when I went on my independent trip to Iraq in 2019. Me… I was so incredulous that I “worried” even a bit, as it was way safer than many urban areas in Western Europe…
What counts as a country
I won’t repeat Kevin’s good summary of the question.
What I do differently is use the 197 list rather than the UN list.
Just because the 4 added countries are usually pretty well agreed upon and definitely exist, so they should count. You can disagree with that opinion; this one is really subjective!
I’ve loved visiting countries that don’t exist like Transnistria and Northern Cyprus, or territories that are nothing like their “mainland” country like Bonaire, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, and Macau… but they sadly don’t count.
What counts as a visit to a country
I use the same rules as Kevin, which I think are the most universally used too.
Simply being in the country counts as a visit, unless it’s an airport transit or a ride through without stopping.
So, technically, I’ve been to 6 additional countries that I don’t count.
I’ve had airport transits in Austria (didn’t leave the airport), Norway (didn’t leave the airside part of the airport), and Saudi Arabia (didn’t leave the plane). And I rode all through Slovakia on a bus (didn’t stop).
I’ve even been physically in 2 other countries, but just barely over the border without visiting. Those were in Namibia on a boat safari, and in the Vatican while visiting Rome.
How I’m visiting every country (and how you can too)
I don’t have anything to add to all the tips Kevin shared, as I use the exact same ones.
Which countries are left for me to visit
I still have a whopping 121 countries to visit, so I’m nowhere near finished.
Unsurprisingly, like Kevin, the biggest chunks I have left are the countries that are expensive to travel to:
- Africa
- Oceania
- Caribbean
In Africa, I have 41 (!!!) left. There’s even 1 of the 5 different regions of Africa that I’ve never even been to: Central Africa. I’ve only been to 1 country in the East, 2 in the North, and 3 in the West (Southern Africa is the only spot that’s more filled in). That’ll take many trips…
In Oceania, I have 13 left. All but Australia. And even Australia was just a very short trip to Sydney. At some point I’ll probably try to visit half of the islands for short periods of time on a single trip, since they’re tiny. But I’m honestly not that attracted to this entire region.
In the Caribbean, I have 11 left. This is literally the least appealing part of the world to me, since everyone loves going there and I hate going where everyone goes. Boy do I hate touristy spots and overpriced resorts, viscerally. Someday I’ll visit every island, but it’s absolutely not very high on my list.
The exception to the expensive country rule is South America. I still have 9 countries to visit there, but it’s never been as appealing to me as Asia or Europe. I did enjoy Brazil, Colombia, and Peru, though… so I’ll certainly go back soon-ish. Maybe even November; I’m undecided.
To do something a bit different, I’ll share a few countries I came soooooo close to visiting.
I don’t mean like a 1-hour drive away, because that would be a long list for me… but really close. And this is apart from the 6 I’ve been to that I don’t count, which I mentioned above.
I was 5 kilometers away from Bosnia and Herzegovina when I drove from Dubrovnik, Croatia, to Herceg Novi, Montenegro. My girlfriend didn’t want to have one fewer day in those nice spots. She’s really more into slow travel than I am.
I was 10 kilometers away from Mauritania when I spent a week in Saint-Louis, Sénégal. But the actual border crossing was 100 km away, and I knew I wanted to go back to do the famous iron ore train ride anyway.
I was 13 or 16 kilometers away from Kazakhstan when I was in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, and Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. I figured those 2 wonderful countries had more than enough to keep me occupied. Indeed, they are among my favorites, so I can’t wait to go back to complete Central Asia.
I was 80 kilometers away from the Bahamas when I was in Miami, which isn’t as close… but I’ve been there literally 36 times. And it’s just a 159 USD 4-day cruise away. However, cruises are about as appealing to me as all-inclusive resorts… which is not at all, as you’ve understood.
I’ve also had to cancel trips to 4 new countries due to the pandemic governmental response to the pandemic, despite starting to travel again rather quickly in the summer of 2020.
I had an epic previously booked points redemption to visit Fiji, Kiribati, and Vanuatu (and even Alaska, 1 of the only 3 U.S. states I haven’t been to)… but those remote Oceania islands were very closed.
The deal for just 40,000 Alaska Airlines miles (now Atmos points) was a simply insane itinerary: New York–Seattle–Los Angeles–Fiji–Kiribati–Vanuatu–Fiji–San Francisco–Portland–Anchorage–Denver! Yes, for only 40,000 points. Wild.
I also had booked one of our flight deals to visit Kuwait, one of the few countries I haven’t been to in the Middle East. It’s a fascinating region I love… but the country hadn’t reopened either.
The deal was just C$301 roundtrip for Toronto–Kuwait, which was an incredibly low price for such a faraway destination. Even better than my Montreal–Lebanon deal for C$393 to go nearby in 2019.
Lost opportunities; so sad. It’s the worst feeling. So please stop wasting time if you want to travel the world; we’ll help you.
I’ll make it to those countries soon enough. Having a lot of easy-to-earn travel rewards and taking advantage of flight deals will certainly keep making it easier to visit all the many countries I haven’t been to (yet).
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Summary
In my quest to visit every country in the world, I’ve now been to 76 of the 197 countries. I could have been finished quite easily by now, but I’d much rather not be obsessed with this goal and go wherever I want to go at any given moment. I’ll definitely visit them all eventually.
What would you like to know about my quest to visit every country? Tell us in the comments below.
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Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Guatemala (#61) and Montenegro (#25) [photo credit: Andrew D’Amours/Flytrippers]
