Ask Lemmy

1. Canada (I live here)
2. USA (many many family/friend visits since I was a child; also lived there for ~6 years as an adult)
3. England (one week in London, one week in the South Downs)
4. Denmark (three weeks for a family visit)
5. France (a weekend in Paris)
6. Belgium (about 2-3 days in Bruges)
7. The Netherlands (about 2-3 days in Delft)
8. Germany (roughly 6 hours, driving from Belgium to Denmark)

1. Went to Canada. No earthly idea why. Drove through London on our way to the Niagara Falls, then looped back around, saw hydroplane races in Syracuse, and stayed in the weirdest motel ever somewhere in Penn or Ohio because it was really cheap. This was the most WTF vacation I've ever been on. No idea what my parents had in mind. I literally only remember being on the car.
2. Went to Thailand for about ten days. Stopped in Laos for an afternoon and got a t-shirt and snake whisky. Almost set foot in Cambodia, but the border was closed so we got our passports stamped and that was all. Saw a bunch of monks on cell phone's and smoking cigarettes. Saw so many freaking temples. Went to the bridge on the river Kwai. Ate some good food. Saw the red light district. Thought it would be sexy, but it was just depressing. Loved the people and the experience and want to go back some day. Also saw Tokyo through airport window.
3. Went to Mexico to get drunk and eat good food for a week at a resort. Got drunk and ate well for a week. Went to a xenote and swam.
4. Went to the Bahamas to get drunk on boat for a week. Twice. Got drunk for a week both times. Also snorkeled at some point and visited pigs on an island.
5. Headed to the Dominican Republic to get drunk in Punta Cana for a week in about ten days. Might do a topless cruise depending on how my wife feels. Jury is still out, but I have a feeling I'll successfully get drunk for about a week.

9, but around half of them were just quick layovers.

Australia, New Zealand, United States, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Luxemburg, and Netherlands.

I have transited via Thailand, Austria, UAE, and Singapore but I don't count those as visited.

Around 82. Most of them by train, bus and boat.

But the country count is irrelevant. Travel should be a personal experience, not a form of conspicuous consumption. Mass airplane travel in particular is completely unsustainable, which is why I hardly ever do it. I've been to a ton of very remote and interesting places but I don't blog about my adventures or post anything on social media. Only a handful of people ever hear anything about it, which is the way things were for everyone until approximately yesterday. Traveling slowly is not particularly expensive, it just requires time and a patient mindset.

I've been back and forth to Australia, because I have family there. Melbourne and a dusty little coastal town in South Australia called Whyalla. I've also attended a Worldcon there, and I think, accidentally insulted Charles Stross.

I've also been on a month-long trip to Europe which covered the Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Germany and the Netherlands. I fell in love with each and every one of those countries as I toured through them, although it was a little bit disappointing to be trapped in Essen while my wife attended Der Spiel because of a public transport strike.

We had plans for a trip to the US next year, which may not happen now. Perhaps we'll head back to Europe.

Norway
Sweden
Denmark
Finland
Germany
Poland
France
Czech Republic
Slovakia
UK
Ireland
Spain
Portugal
Croatia
Austria
Belgium
Netherlands
US
Brazil
Malaysia
Nigeria
Cameroon
Equatorial Guinea
Singapore
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Hungary

The shortest stay was in Bahrain, for three days. I'd add duration and impression to the list, but that'd take me forever. So instead I'll just say that my favorites are Singapore, Malaysia, Czech Republic, and Croatia. Honorable mention: Bahrain

1. Belgium for 10 days as part of a school exchange trip in high school. Was a lot of fun. We saw a lot of touristy stuff, but also the first time I was able to legally buy alcohol or go to a bar. That was over 20 years ago and I still have a pair of bowling shoes I stole from a bowling alley on that trip.

2. Belize. I've been twice. The first was for 2 weeks when my uncle was marrying a woman from Belize. We spent a week near where her family is from so we could meet that side of the family, then a week on the island where the wedding was. The second time was for a week for a vacation. My friend's dad owns a house in Belize, so we had a free place to stay. Second trip was MUCH less touristy than the first one, which was nice. We mostly hung out in local bars.

3. Guatemala. During my first trip to Belize we took a day trip to visit Tikal. I really wouldn't say I "visited" the country as Tikal was the only place we stopped, but my passport got stamped, so I'll include it.

4. Mexico. Spent a week on vacation. We stayed in Playa del Carmen and did some very touristy things.

5. Costa Rica. Again, for a week. Again, pretty touristy. I liked Costa Rica a lot.

6. China. Went for the first week of my honeymoon. I have friends who live in Beijing. We spent the first half of the week there, mostly going to restaurants, bars, parks, and other places my friends hang out at. We also went to the Great Wall. For the second half of the week we went to Xian to see the Terracotta Soldiers.

7. Malaysia. Spent the second week of our honeymoon here. First few days were on a resort island to do the SUPER honeymoon resort thing. Second half was in Kulala Lumpur where we mostly just wandered around checking out the city.

8. Japan. Spent an hour layover there on our flight home from Malaysia. Again, I wouldn't really count it, but they stamped my passport.

9. Cuba. Spent a week in Cuba on vacation. By far, the most enjoyable country I've ever visited and most fun vacation I've ever had. Before getting to the country, the only prep we did was book a room for our first night. Everything else we just figured out along the way and stayed where people suggested might be fun. Also the only country I've felt a strong desire to visit again. (Not that the others were bad, but I tend to want to go somewhere I've never been when I vacation).