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| Us in front of one of the most exciting ruins of Ephesus Jordan on this date in 2013. |
Note: To all of our readers visiting our site via a smartphone, please click the “View web version” tab under the word “Home” at the bottom of the page to access the web version enabling you to access all of our archives on the right side of the page. We’ll be updating our site in a few months, making these extra steps unnecessary. Thank you.
Today’s photos are from June 13, 2013, while in Ephesus, Turkey. See the link here for more details.
We are often asked how many countries we’ve visited. In a request for topics for future posts, a few days ago at this post here, a suggestion that recurred in many messages was, “How many countries have we visited since we began our world journey on October 31, 2012?”
Considering that we often stay for extended periods in any particular country, visiting several states, cities, and areas, we haven’t been to as many countries as one may think after almost eight years of world travel.
Of course, we’ve visited all seven continents, finally accomplished when we sailed to Antarctica in February 2018.
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| As our long walk began with a series of similar ruins. |
With a total of 195 countries in the world, we certainly have many more to visit if our goal had been to visit as many countries as possible. That particular objective has never been on our radar.
Instead, we’ve visited countries, some on cruises, that appealed to us for a more extended stay considering sites/countries we’ve been attracted to and the scenery and, in many cases, the opportunity to see abundant wildlife.
Now. I’m busy working with our new web developer for our new and updated site, including easy viewing for smartphones eliminating the necessity of the above instructions on how to view our archives on the phone.
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| We never miss a photo op at the ruins. |
The process of assisting our web developer, Kate, who by coincidence is located in India with some of the most innovative tech people in the world, enables us to easily talk on the phone as needed as we work our way through this comprehensive and complicated process.
I am not in a head-space right now to be overly creative, so I’m working on my part of the project into bite-sized pieces over many days. For some reason, being in lockdown seems to make it more difficult for me to develop creative ideas. But, I’m doing my best.
We’re making it especially easy for our readers to see the daily posts, recent past posts, photos, archives, and links, our single most important goal in this process. At this point, I only have one more morning to work on my part of the development while the rest will be left up to the developer, each day sending us new mock-ups to review. It’s going relatively smoothly so far.
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| Ornate rock. |
However, in the process, Kate suggested we include a link with each country we’ve visited on a simple numbered list. This morning, before beginning today’s post, Tom reviewed our travel map on the right side of the home page, reading off each country we’ve visited while I typed the following list, both for today’s post and our new site.
Here are all the countries we’ve visited since the onset of our travels:
- Mexico
- Guatemala
- Costa Rica
- Panama
- Columbia
- Grand Cayman
- Belize
- Honduras
- Bahamas
- Grand Turks & Caicos
- Portugal
- Spain
- France
- Egypt
- Jordan
- United Arab Emirates
- Italy
- Greece
- Turkey
- Croatia
- Kenya
- Tanzania
- South Africa
- Morocco
- England
- Ireland
- Faroe Islands
- Iceland
- Canada
- Moorea, French Polynesia
- Papeete
- Bora Bora
- Fiji
- Australia (plus Tasmania)
- New Zealand
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Indonesia
- Cambodia
- Vietnam
- Thailand
- New Caledonia
- Vanuatu
- Nicaragua
- Ecuador
- Peru
- Chili
- Argentina
- Uruguay
- Falkland Islands
- Antarctica
- Mozambique
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Botswana
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Russia
- Finland
- Sweden
- Wales
- Bermuda
- India
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| We could imagine a leader standing atop this structure, speaking to his people. |
On a similar note, there are several countries we’ll never visit, such as those listed below by Forbes Magazine as the most dangerous countries in the world.
Some of the Most Dangerous Countries (in no specific order) from this site:
- Libya
- Syria
- Iraq
- Yemen
- Somalia
- South Sudan
- Central African Republic
- Part of the Congo (DRC)
- Part of eastern Ukraine
- Mali
- Parts of Pakistan
- Afghanistan
- Part of Egypt
But, this still leaves us with over 100 countries we haven’t visited, some of which hold little interest for us. After all, this adventure has been all about what appeals to us the most, not what others think we should do. It’s all a part of the sense of freedom we’ve felt along the way.
Varying stones were used to avoid a slippery surface.
In lockdown in India, we don’t necessarily feel a sense of freedom being stuck in this hotel room, day after day, month after month. But, in the future, we’re committed to only traveling to a country with open borders (once the Mumbai International Airport re-opens) that appeals to us.
We’re not considering visiting any countries simply due to the fact their borders are open. We’re dedicated to waiting it out until we can travel to a location that we’ll find enjoyable and a true continuation of our world travels.
Thank you, dear readers, for all the ongoing input and support you provide daily. Please bear with us if a few days pass before I reply. With my inbox jammed with messages, it may take a few days.
Stay safe.
Photo from one year ago today, June 13, 2019:
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| We stopped by the pier on a sunny day in Connemara, Ireland. For more photos, please click here. |