El Salvador: My 100th Country
Welcome to El Salvador, my 100th country and territory that I recognise. That’s 93 UN listed plus 7 others. Am so stoked to be here. 100 countries, a huge milestone.
AdIt's been a long journey. More than 29 years since I set off as a backpacker to Austrailia back in 1992 at the age of 24.
And at 53 I still going. Still enjoying the adventure.
The debate about how many countries there are is never-ending. There’s the UN list, 193 plus a few others sort of included but not, the FIFA list if you are a footie fan, the Travelers Century Club whose list I would never contemplate for the territories they include that are bordering on ridiculous.
I don’t include the UK. Maybe I should. Maybe I should be counting, England, Scotland and Wales (I haven’t been to Northern Ireland) separately.
To qualify, I must sleep there for a minimum of one night. So for that reason, I don’t include Palestine. I don’t include Liechtenstein as I was travelling through in a car and didn’t even set foot on their soil. I don’t include Qatar. I was technically in Qatar but I had not gone through immigration. That is by default is no man's land.
The journey started at the Benito Juárez airport in Mexico City with Volaris flight 4301
And at 53 I still going. Still enjoying the adventure.
The debate about how many countries there are is never-ending. There’s the UN list, 193 plus a few others sort of included but not, the FIFA list if you are a footie fan, the Travelers Century Club whose list I would never contemplate for the territories they include that are bordering on ridiculous.
I don’t include the UK. Maybe I should. Maybe I should be counting, England, Scotland and Wales (I haven’t been to Northern Ireland) separately.
To qualify, I must sleep there for a minimum of one night. So for that reason, I don’t include Palestine. I don’t include Liechtenstein as I was travelling through in a car and didn’t even set foot on their soil. I don’t include Qatar. I was technically in Qatar but I had not gone through immigration. That is by default is no man's land.
The journey started at the Benito Juárez airport in Mexico City with Volaris flight 4301
AdArrival in San Salvador, El Salvador, my 100th Country:
Some travellers who have been to Every Country in the World, don’t even have to ‘see’ the country, merely setting foot in it is enough. Just crossing the border is enough.
People are just going for fame. Every Country in the World before they are 30. Yes, technically possible but what have they seen? They see the capital and one major site and get the hell out. I have backpacked on bad roads across Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, I try to see the country.
I took bus #138 to San Salvador Centro for just 60 US cents:
People are just going for fame. Every Country in the World before they are 30. Yes, technically possible but what have they seen? They see the capital and one major site and get the hell out. I have backpacked on bad roads across Senegal, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, I try to see the country.
I took bus #138 to San Salvador Centro for just 60 US cents:
I backpacked Cairo to Cape Town. Absolute No Flying. One very famous blogger and no doubt a few more have quoted, Cairo to Cape Town, or Cape Town to Cairo OVERLAND and then in almost unreadable small print they claim that they took a flight. WTF. Overlanding is not taking a flight.
But each to their own. I travel my way, you travel yours. If you want to include Alaska as a country and territory, then feel free. I am not in competition with anyone, except myself.
The trip to get here was not as I had originally wanted. I love overland travel and to travel from Mexico City to Panama City would have been a damn cool journey but, well, Covid and all that, Guatemala changed their entry requirements. They now call for a vax and an antigen test. And I am not feeling compelled to pay for another test to go back to Guatemala. I would rather spend the money needed for a test, on getting to another new country.
Once in town, I walked the 3km to my hostel.
Enjoying a cold one in my new El Salvador footie shirt:
But each to their own. I travel my way, you travel yours. If you want to include Alaska as a country and territory, then feel free. I am not in competition with anyone, except myself.
The trip to get here was not as I had originally wanted. I love overland travel and to travel from Mexico City to Panama City would have been a damn cool journey but, well, Covid and all that, Guatemala changed their entry requirements. They now call for a vax and an antigen test. And I am not feeling compelled to pay for another test to go back to Guatemala. I would rather spend the money needed for a test, on getting to another new country.
Once in town, I walked the 3km to my hostel.
Enjoying a cold one in my new El Salvador footie shirt:
So here is my list. Feel free to leave comments on DISQUS at the end of this post.
UN LISTED
Americas:
1. Canada
2. the United States
3. Mexico
4. Guatemala
5. El Salvador
Oceania:
6. Australia
7. New Zealand
Africa:
8. Morocco
9. Mauritania
10. Senegal
11. The Gambia
12. Mali
13. Guinea-Bissau
14. Guinea
15. Sierra Leone
16. Liberia
17. Ivory Coast
18. Tunisia
19. Egypt
20. Sudan
21. Ethiopia
22. Kenya
23. Tanzania
24. Malawi
25. Mozambique
26. Zimbabwe
27. South Africa
28. Lesotho
Europe:
29. Portugal
30. Spain
31. France
32. Italy
33. Germany
34. Belgium
35. The Netherlands
36. Luxembourg
37. Switzerland
38. Austria
39. Ireland
40. Norway
41. Sweden
42. Finland
43. Denmark
44. Estonia
45. Lithuania
46. Latvia
47. Belarus
48. Ukraine
49. Moldova
50. Romania
51. Bulgaria
52. Hungary
53. Poland
54. Slovakia
55. Czech republic
56. Slovenia
57. Bosnia
58. Greece
59. Serbia
60. Albania
61. North Macedonia
62. Montenegro
63. Croatia
Asia:
64. Turkey
65. Russia
66. Georgia
67. Armenia
68. Azerbaijan
69. Kazakhstan
70. Kyrgyzstan
71. Tajikistan
72. Uzbekistan
73. China
74. South Korea
75. The Philippines
76. Singapore
77. Malaysia
78. Brunei
79. Indonesia
80. Thailand
81. Myanmar
82. Laos
83. Vietnam
84. Cambodia
85. Pakistan
86. Nepal
87. India
88. Sri Lanka
89. UAE
90. Israel
91. Syria
92. Jordan
93. Lebanon
Others:
94. Abkhazia
95. Nagorno-Karabakh
96. Transnistria
97. Kosovo
98. Hong Kong
99. Taiwan
100. Western Sahara
UN LISTED
Americas:
1. Canada
2. the United States
3. Mexico
4. Guatemala
5. El Salvador
Oceania:
6. Australia
7. New Zealand
Africa:
8. Morocco
9. Mauritania
10. Senegal
11. The Gambia
12. Mali
13. Guinea-Bissau
14. Guinea
15. Sierra Leone
16. Liberia
17. Ivory Coast
18. Tunisia
19. Egypt
20. Sudan
21. Ethiopia
22. Kenya
23. Tanzania
24. Malawi
25. Mozambique
26. Zimbabwe
27. South Africa
28. Lesotho
Europe:
29. Portugal
30. Spain
31. France
32. Italy
33. Germany
34. Belgium
35. The Netherlands
36. Luxembourg
37. Switzerland
38. Austria
39. Ireland
40. Norway
41. Sweden
42. Finland
43. Denmark
44. Estonia
45. Lithuania
46. Latvia
47. Belarus
48. Ukraine
49. Moldova
50. Romania
51. Bulgaria
52. Hungary
53. Poland
54. Slovakia
55. Czech republic
56. Slovenia
57. Bosnia
58. Greece
59. Serbia
60. Albania
61. North Macedonia
62. Montenegro
63. Croatia
Asia:
64. Turkey
65. Russia
66. Georgia
67. Armenia
68. Azerbaijan
69. Kazakhstan
70. Kyrgyzstan
71. Tajikistan
72. Uzbekistan
73. China
74. South Korea
75. The Philippines
76. Singapore
77. Malaysia
78. Brunei
79. Indonesia
80. Thailand
81. Myanmar
82. Laos
83. Vietnam
84. Cambodia
85. Pakistan
86. Nepal
87. India
88. Sri Lanka
89. UAE
90. Israel
91. Syria
92. Jordan
93. Lebanon
Others:
94. Abkhazia
95. Nagorno-Karabakh
96. Transnistria
97. Kosovo
98. Hong Kong
99. Taiwan
100. Western Sahara
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