Visit 50 Countries
Ticked off in October 2014
Fifty flags is the point where travel stops being a holiday habit and quietly becomes a way of life.
The adventure
Fifty countries is where a passport starts to tell a story. It often begins close to home: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in one long weekend by train, or a stroll from Rome into Vatican City without noticing a border. Then come the bigger leaps, the first long-haul flight, the first unfamiliar alphabet, the first market where nobody speaks your language and somehow it doesn't matter.
By the time you reach fifty, you have tasted dozens of cuisines, slept on night trains and in the odd airport, and learnt to read a new city in an afternoon. You know which border crossings take minutes and which take hours. And it's usually the moment you realise you are nowhere near finished, and start counting towards a hundred.
Why it’s epic
- Europe alone has more than 40 countries, including microstates such as San Marino, Liechtenstein, Monaco and Andorra.
- Open borders across the Schengen Area let you cross several countries in a single day by train or car.
- Mixing continents, from the souks of Marrakech to the temples of South-East Asia, makes the number mean far more than the total.
What it is
Fifty countries is a realistic first big travel goal and a great way to see a wide range of cultures.
How to do it
Europe is the easiest place to build up numbers quickly thanks to short distances, cheap flights and open borders.
Top tip
City breaks to small neighbouring countries add up fast.
Need to know
- UK travellers can spend 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen Area, and the EU's Entry/Exit System now records fingerprints and a photo at the border.
- Decide early what counts; most serious travellers don't count airport transits.
- Some countries insist on six months' passport validity and blank pages, so check both before every trip.
Do it yourself
- Adventure travel insuranceWorld NomadsWe receive a fee when you get a quote from World Nomads using this link. We do not represent World Nomads. This is not a recommendation to buy travel insurance.
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My experience
Ticked off, but the full story is still to be written up.
Over to you
Is “Visit 50 Countries” on your bucket list, or have you already done it? Tell me in the comments, and if you've got a question about it, ask away and I'll answer.