Counting Countries

Key links & critical information: Get your official Counting Countries apparel Listen with Spotify We're on Amazon Alexa More about Frank Grosse-Oetringhaus: Born in: Germany Passports from: Germany Website: Frank Grosse Oetringhaus Map: Nomad Mania A final note, with this episode, it will mark the end of Season 1. A great thank you to all the listeners as well as all of the great travelers I have...

Key links & critical information: World Parks, Inc. SISO Club Counting Countries is now on Amazon Alexa Listen on Spotify Buy official Counting Countries apparel today More about Jeff Shea: Born in San Francisco, CA Passports from USA Favorite travel book: Bill Dalton's Indonesia Handbook 1983 Must carry: Headlamps, Neosporin, satellite phone if on an expedition Favorite food: My wife's cooking Fa...

George has set two ambitious goals. First, he wants to summit the tallest mountain on each continent. Second, he intends to travel to every country in the world. He has made great progress so far, summiting six of the seven summits and has traveled to 78 UN countries. George has climbed the highest mountain on each continent, except for Mt. Vinson Massif in Antarctica, which is quite remote and ex...

Babis completed his quest for 193 in 2004, but has not slowed down at all. In the late 1970s, Babis backpacked the Hippy Trail which included Pakistan and Afghanistan. He eventually found his way to Sri Lanka and joined the crew of a Greek ship and travelled even further. Babis is one of the few who has traveled to both the North and South Pole. He shares with us an amazing tale of 19 hours in a h...

Download Episode! Being a lazy workaholic propelled Artemy to become one of the world's most traveled people Artemy had exploration in his DNA. As a kid he traveled the metro in Moscow visiting scores of different theaters, satisfying his passion of cinema as well as exploring the nooks and crannies of his city. As an adult, he made a pact with himself ensuring that at least once a month he would...

Jonny loves travel and he has a special interest in micronations. Jonny has met Jonathan I, Emperor of Austenasia and was the first backpacker to visit the nation. He also visited the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, a unique political and geographical entity. Jonny shares stories of traveling to New Zealand and partaking in adventure sports and meeting tons of other travelers. He explains the c...

Download Episode! Tony has a sense of adventure not rivaled by many. Tony heard tales of travel from his Dad, a merchant marine. He also had two opportunities to study in the USA as a student. Yet, the gift of a kidney which prevented a life of dialysis supercharged his travel life, reminding him that his life is short. And did I mention that Tony is also blind and mostly deaf. Tony shows an incre...

A number of allegations have been made against William Baekeland by other members of the travel community. These allegations have not been proven in a court of law. Please listen in on this special episode. Photos provided with permission by Harry Mitsidis and Dominique Laurent. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friends: Chasing 193, Volume II: The Quest To Visit...

Download Episode! James is the current world record holder as the youngest person to travel to every country in the world according to the Guinness World Records James has travel DNA. His grandfather regaled him with tales of spending time in Yemen. His mother lived in Hong Kong. His father was an airline captain who flew to international locales like Senegal and Ethiopia, James sometimes accompan...

Pong has travel in his blood. He started traveling to nearby Asian countries and Europe with his parents as a kid. Pong spent a year as a thirteen year old in Bangalore, India learning English at a strict boarding school. He continued his schooling in Canada as he went to high school and university. Instead of heading back to Thailand on summer break he ended up visiting his classmate in the middl...

Download Episode! Arvi is nearly finished in completing his quest to travel to all 193 countries, and has had some amazing experiences on the way. Arvi only has 15 countries left and is hoping to finish this quest in the next year. During his travels, he has visited both Antarctica and the North Pole. He sailed around Antarctica from New Zealand to Chile, stopping and visiting McMurdo Station via...

Download Episode! Listen to Nina's inspiring story to learn how an offhand comment by a friend set her on the path of becoming one of the approximately 10 women who have visited every country in the world. Nina grew up in Frankfurt in a single parent home. As a child she dipped her toe in the water and traveled within Europe, visiting England on a language exchange program. She began to travel and...

Download Episode! Ella made a drastic decision after graduating university and starting her first corporate job. She quit on her 89th day. Despite having a great opportunity in the corporate world, she realized quickly that she craved a life of independence and freedom. She ended up living in Rwanda working for a NGO for 6 months. And this started a transition to becoming a digital nomad and begin...

Download Episode! A family that travels together stays together. Jakob travels frequently with his girlfriend and two young children. Jakob travels often with his girlfriend and two young children. Family vacations include overland West African road trips, visits to Somaliland, and family excursions to Afghanistan. His children aged 10 and 8 respectively have traveled to 72 and 55 countries respec...

Download Episode! Maurizio was a travel outlier at a young age. Riding the rails in Europe independently as a 13 year old. At 17, he left Italy to travel the Trans-Siberian to visit his penpal in Mongolia. After university in the UK, be began an international career as a journalist and NGO worker. This allowed ample opportunity to travel and lives overseas. Maurizio has spent time living in Haiti,...

Download Episode! Fabio is closing in on his goal of 193 countries as he narrows down the list! Fabio was born in Milan and spread his wings as a model as he travelled to Miami and then moved to East and Southeast Asia before he was even 20 years old. Before he knew it, he had visited dozens of countries and he was on his quest. Fabio shares with us why Kabul and Caracas are the most dangerous cit...

Download Episode! Drew is 26 and has already been to 110 countries and holds two Guinness World Records. As a ten year old, Drew spun a globe in his room and memorized the countries of the world. As a college student, he did a semester abroad in Prague and visited 20 European countries. After college, he moved to a small town in South Korea to teach English and started his travel blog. Drew now tr...

Download Episode! Randy is a well-known radio personality who happens to be on a quest to travel to every country in the world. Randy became intrigued with travel while listening to his Spanish teacher's travel stories. At the age of 26, he ventured abroad for the first time, and immediately became smitten with Brazil. He traveled there over 30 times, and lived there for two years. While discoveri...

Download Episode! At the age of 24, Eric visited his last UN country beating Guinness World Record Holder, James Asquith. Eric grew up in northern California, the son of Vietnamese immigrants. He had the opportunity of international travel with his family growing up. But his travel began in earnest when he went backpacking in East and Southeast Asia when he was just 18. He was inspired to visit ev...

Dustin balanced his career as a dentist while completing all 193 UN countries and then some. Dustin grew up in small town America yet ended up living in Singapore working as a dentist. Despite a childhood of limited travel, he spread his travel wings after settling in Singapore and began to discover the region. Dustin shares with us an amazing collection of travel stories. He crossed the border in...

Download Episode! Thomas grew up behind the Iron Curtain, joined the military to travel, and now lives in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thomas was raised in in East Germany in modest circumstances, with virtually no travel in his life. He joined the military for 12 years which allowed him the opportunity to travel. During that time he traveled to hotspots like Afghanistan and Kosovo. After the mili...

Thanos is on a quest to visit every country in the world and has already visited 146 UN countries. Thanos initial focus in life was education and business, not travel. In fact, one of his first overseas trips was a basic package trip to Sri Lanka. After completing his doctorate in theoretical physics and starting his own business in India his life eventually transitioned into a life of travel. Now...

Download Episode! Audrey is a member of an elite club of female travelers who have traveled to all 193 UN countries. I thought it was important to have a member of this club to speak on the podcast in regard to the media's claim that Cassie DePecol is the first woman to travel to every country in the world. This false narrative has been embraced by the public. During the podcast, we speak about th...

Download Episode! Gary sold his house and all of his belongings in 2007 and began his life of travel. Gary over his 10 years of travel has established himself as an elite travel blogger with an expertise in photography. Gary shares with us many tales from the road. Gary, single handedly, changed the visa rules for the Pacific Island of Kiribati with one email. He tells us why his motorbike driver...

Download Episode! Lee has led an incredible life, traveling to all 193 countries and being the youngest American to accomplish this feat at that time. And he is only 6 territories away from completing the Travelers Century Club. Lee travels in style whether it is entering his 193rd country under a hail of gunfire or hanging out with Prince Harry in Antarctica. Lee grew up in modest circumstances a...