I’ve given myself a travel challenge, to visit 50 countries before I turn 40. So while I am open to suggestions of where to go, it might be helpful to know where I’ve been.

While trying to compose the list of countries,  I had to learn what is considered a “country”.  The United Nations acknowledges 193 countries. The US State Department recognizes 195. Other sources site 196.  Given that it’s not possible to get a straight answer on what is considered an actual countries vs territory, I am a little unclear how many I’ve actually visited.

For the sake of my challenge, I am going with 196, in hopes that it put me that much closer to 50.

So here is my list, in alphabetical order.

1 Argentina
2 Australia
3 Austria
4 Belgium
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina
6 Canada
7 Chile
8 China
9 Croatia
10 Czech Republic
11 Dominican Republic
12 France
13 Germany
14 Haiti
15 India
16 Indonesia
17 Ireland
18 Italy
19 Jamaica
20 Japan
21 Kenya
22 Korea, North (If the DMZ tour counts)
23 Korea, South
24 Mexico
25 Montenegro
26 Netherlands
27 New Zealand
28 Panama
29 Singapore
30 South Africa
31 Spain
32 Switzerland
33 Tanzania
34 Thailand
35 Turkey
36 United Arab Emirates
37 United Kingdom
38 United States
39 Vatican City

I am looking forward to discovering 11 countries before I hit the big 40. I am even more intrigue, however, to discover what those 11 countries might be.