Where I’ve Been

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It all depends what you count as a “country”, but I’ve been to:

• 106 of the 195 countries (sovereign states) officially recognised by the UN
• 2 of the 11 disputed states partially recognised by most UN countries
• 13 of the 39 additional territories, islands, and dependencies from the Matador Network list which are not countries in the internationally agreed and recognised sense, but which are quite distinct from their parent country. For example, Greenland is technically part of Denmark, but you can’t go to Copenhagen and consider that a tick in the box for Greenland, ditto for the Faroe Islands. Likewise, a visit to Paris doesn’t really tick the box for the French Polynesian islands of Tahiti and Bora Bora, or French Guiana in South America. While it’s certainly easy to tick off the UK, that really doesn’t cover you for the Isle of Man, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, British Virgin Islands, Guernsey, Jersey, etc. This list also counts England, Scotland and Wales separately.

PS, whether you (probably a British person) like it or not, England is not a country. Some people are offended by that, believing it to be disrespectful and dismissive of England’s status. It’s nothing to do with respect – what makes a country a country is by definition international recognition. Inside the UK, we commonly refer to the constituent UK provinces as countries, and why not. But on an international level, the United Kingdom is a country, not its constituent provinces. Internationally, a country has widespread (not necessarily universal) recognition of its status and borders, autonomy over foreign trade, prints its own money, controls foreign policy, education, and transport. England does not control any of those things – the United Kingdom government does. That’s an important distinction. England does not have its own military – the United Kingdom does. England does not have foreign embassies – the United Kingdom does. The Bank of England is the central bank for the United Kingdom. England is not externally recognised as a country – the United Kingdom is a member of the United Nations, not England. If you’re upset and railing against all these points as “mere semantics”, then you’re missing the whole point – what makes something a country is nothing to do with importance, heritage, cultural identity, language, geography, or history, it’s down to how you define a country for the purpose of international law and global political interaction. England is not an independent international country – the United Kingdom is.

The Complete List of Places I’ve Been

Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Comoros, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jersey, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea (South), Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Mayotte, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Reunion, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Scotland, Serbia, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Swaziland (eSwatini), Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Vatican City, Vietnam, Wales, Zambia, Zimbabwe

USA

Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wyoming.