Here’s a photo of a street in Doha, Qatar that I took a week ago. Qatar is the 50th country that I have visited – and I am so thrilled about hitting this mark. 50 countries is quite a number when you think about it. Still, a long way to go to 193 – which is the number of states recognized by the UN. A quick comment on the counting method – I don’t count occasions when I’m just at an airport, only ticking off the ones where I’ve been outside of transport hubs.
Adding the 50th country happened almost by chance – I had a long layover between my flights that happened to be in Doha. With a couple of hours to spare, I took the subway train (what a modern and excellent subway they’ve got!) to downtown Doha, and took a stroll through the city’s market in the scorching October heat.
My 49th was a day trip from Saudi Arabia to Bahrain, which – very conveniently – is just a one-hour drive away from the city of Dammam where I was staying.
Traveling is fun, and I enjoy it quite a bit. In my travels, I’ve been shopping for a carpet in a market in Tunisia, chasing my towed car after a wrong parking move in Saudi Arabia, taking a ferry from Morocco in Africa to mainland Spain, and riding a moped through small villages in Vietnam. Such great experiences making very cherished memories.
Discovering new countries does wonders to you – you become more understanding of people from other cultures, people who you’d assume are very different from you – as they come from a very distant place, a very different set of customs, and speak the most unrelated language. And yet you find kind, generous, curious people everywhere. People who can laugh at a joke with you, even when you don’t have any shared vocabulary.
With all the countries visited so far, the Americas, Africa and Asia are still largely untapped. So much to look forward to!