Ask Lemmy

• People's Republic of China - I was born there, not much of a choice. Was there for approximately the first 10 years of my existence. Most of the time was spent around the Guandong Province. Went to Hong Kong (under PRC control) like once, or so I'm told, very fuzzy memories... [How was it: Serious Economic and Political issues at the time I left, so... not good 0/10]

• Seoul, South Korea (ROK) - Stayed for a few hours, at the airport, waiting for the connecting flight. Never entered into the country. I saw some noodles on the menu at a restaurant at the airport, and it was like 10,000 Korea Won or more, I was a kid that didn't underatand different currencies and exchange rates, shocked me lol. (Probably like $10 to $30 USD) Other than that, don't remember much happening) [How was it: Don't remember much, the airport looked nice, so... 7/10 I guess, but I didn't technically enter the country]

• United States of America - Been here ever since like I was around 10-ish. Here via Immigration Visa, I have since acquired citizenship. Lived at NYC and Philly, traveled around the NY/PA/NJ tri-state area when going back and forth between NYC and Philly. And went to DC once for a school trip. [How was it: Used to be like 6/10, now it's 2/10]

Does it even count if you never went through customs? Also, depending on the flight paths, I might have also flew over Japan/Russia/Canada's Airspaces... if that also counts 🤷‍♂️

(What does a flightpath from Seoul to JFK look like, anyways?)

I wanna to go to Canada, I've always heard it was a nice and friendly place, even friendlier than the US. But don't wanna face customs issues when returning since... ahem fascist administration, so I guess it'll have to wait 4 years... or more... 👀

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).