Saturday, March 25, 2017

Travelers' Century Club


My second passport is about to expire, with each stamp, visa, and crease a piece of my globetrotting history and testament to my passion for travel. Reflecting on my travel highs and lows, I started thinking of other friends who share my same passion, especially the few I know who are in the Travelers' Century Club (TCC). What is the TCC? According to the official club website and wikipedia, the Travelers' Century Club is a nonprofit social organization representing world travelers who have visited 100 or more of the world's countries and territories.

The TCC believes world travel is the passport to peace through better understanding of the world and its cultures, and I couldn't agree more. One of my most profound moments of travel came in Thailand, meeting people whose lives couldn't be more different than mine, but who shared the same basic desires; to love and be loved, to be connected to others, to discover what makes them happy, to grow, and to be part of something bigger than themselves. The realization that we are all more alike than different made the world smaller, burst open the bubble of fear and xenophobia, made places and people less scary, and made me want to do more, be more, learn more.
Below is the Travelers’ Century Club’s official list of countries and territories, a total of 325 as of Jan. 1, 2016. Although some are not actually countries in their own right, they have been included because they are removed from the parent country, either geographically, politically or ethnologically.
I currently have 42; although I travel frequently, my style of travel doesn't lend itself well to checking off countries rapidly. I love finding a small city or town, staying there for a week, and immersing myself in the culture; meeting people, finding favorite spots, living like a local. I will likely be old and gray if I am lucky enough to hit the century mark, but when I get there I will not just have passport stamps, but friends and grand memories from around the globe.
PACIFIC OCEAN (39)
  • Australia (1998, 2006)
  • Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands)
  • Chatham Islands
  • Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn)
  • Easter Island
  • Fiji Islands
  • French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier)
  • Galapagos Islands
  • Guam
  • Hawaiian Islands (1988, 2003, 2004)
  • Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island)
  • Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island)
  • Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
  • Lord Howe Island
  • Marquesas Islands
  • Marshall Islands, Republic of (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok)
  • Micronesia, Fed.States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
  • Midway Island
  • Nauru
  • New Caledonia and Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands)
  • New Zealand (2007, 2019)
  • Niue
  • Norfolk Island
  • Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
  • Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima)
  • Palau, Republic of
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Pitcairn Island
  • Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
  • Samoa, American (Pago Pago)
  • Samoa (Apia)
  • Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi)
  • Tasmania
  • Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union)
  • Tonga (Nukualofa)
  • Tuvalu (Ellice Island, Funafuti, Vaitapu)
  • Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands)
  • Wake Island
  • Wallis and Futuna Islands
NORTH AMERICA (6)
  • Alaska
  • Canada (1993, 1998, 2002, 2008)
  • Mexico (1998, 2015)
  • Prince Edward Island (2019)
  • St. Pierre and Miquelon
  • United States (continental) (1975-present)
CENTRAL AMERICA (7)
  • Belize (British Honduras)
  • Costa Rica (2011)
  • El Salvador
  • Guatemala
  • Honduras (2011)
  • Nicaragua
  • Panama(2011)
SOUTH AMERICA (14)
  • Argentina (2011)
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia (2011)
  • Ecuador
  • French Guiana
  • Guyana (British Guiana)
  • Nueva Esparta (Margarita Island)
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Suriname (Netherlands Guiana)
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
CARIBBEAN (30)
  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Deps. (Barbuda, Redonda)
  • Aruba (2006)
  • Bahamas (2006)
  • Barbados
  • Bonaire
  • Cayman Islands (2011)
  • Cuba
  • Curacao
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Grenada and Deps. (Carriacou, Grenadines)
  • Guadeloupe and Deps.(Marie Galante)
  • Haiti
  • Jamaica
  • Leeward Islands, French (St. Martin) (2008, 2013)
  • Leeward Islands, Netherlands (Saba, St. Eustatius)
  • Martinique
  • Montserrat
  • Puerto Rico (2008, 2013, 2015)
  • St. Barts
  • San Andres and Providencia
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • St. Lucia (2001)
  • St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles) (2008, 2013)
  • St. Vincent & Deps. (Bequia, Canouan Grenadines)
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Virgin Islands, U.S. (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas) (2008, 2013)
  • Virgin Islands, British (Tortola, etc.) (2015, 2016)
ATLANTIC OCEAN (13)
  • Ascension
  • Azores Islands
  • Bermuda
  • Canary Islands
  • Cape Verde Islands
  • Falkland Islands
  • Fernando do Noronha
  • Faroe Islands
  • Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
  • Iceland
  • Madeira
  • St. Helena
  • Tristan da Cunha
EUROPE and MEDITERRANEAN (67)
  • Aland Islands (Mariehamn)
  • Albania (2017)
  • Andorra
  • Austria (2013)
  • Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca)
  • Belarus
  • Belgium (2008)
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina (Sarajevo)
  • Bulgaria
  • Corsica
  • Crete
  • Croatia (2015, 2018)
  • Cyprus, Republic
  • Cyprus, Turkish Fed. State
  • Czech Republic (2014)
  • Denmark (2010)
  • Dodecanese Is. (Rhodes)
  • England (1997, 2008)
  • Estonia (2010)
  • Finland (2010)
  • France (1997, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019)
  • Germany (1997, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019)
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Guernsey and Deps (Alderney, Herm, Sark, Channel Islands)
  • Hungary
  • Ionian Islands (Corfu, etc.)
  • Ireland (Eire) (2010)
  • Ireland, Northern (Ulster)
  • Isle of Man
  • Italy (2012, 2015, 2017, 2018)
  • Jersey (Channel Islands)
  • Kaliningrad
  • Kosovo
  • Lampedusa
  • Latvia
  • Liechtenstein(2018)
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg (1997)
  • Macedonia
  • Malta
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Montenegro
  • Netherlands (1999, 2008, 2014)
  • Norway (2010)
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Romania
  • Russia (2010)
  • San Marino
  • Sardinia
  • Scotland (2017)
  • Serbia
  • Sicily
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia (2018)
  • Spain (1997)
  • Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Bear Island)
  • Srpska
  • Sweden (2010)
  • Switzerland (2018)
  • Trans Dniester
  • Turkey in Europe (Istanbul)
  • Ukraine
  • Vatican City (2012, 2015)
  • Wales
ANTARCTICA (7)
  • Argentine (Palmer Peninsula)
  • Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
  • Chilean (Palmer Peninsula)
  • Falkland Islands Dependencies (British Antarctica, Graham Land, So. Shetland, So. Sandwich, So. Georgia, So. Orkney)
  • French Southern and Antarctic Territory (Kerguelen, Crozet, Amsterdam, St. Paul)
  • Norwegian (Queen Maud Land, Bouvet)
  • New Zealand (Ross Dependency)
AFRICA (55)
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Benin (Dahomey)
  • Botswana (Bechuanaland)
  • Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
  • Burundi (Urundi)
  • Cabinda
  • Cameroon
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Republic of Congo
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Egypt in Africa
  • Equatorial Guinea (Bioko Fernando Poo)
  • Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni)
  • Eritrea
  • Ethiopia
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Ghana (Gold Coast, British Togoland)
  • Guinea (French)
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Ivory Coast
  • Kenya
  • Lesotho (Basutoland)
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Malawi (Nyasaland)
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Morocco (2018)
  • Morocco,Spanish (Ceuta, Melilla)
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Rwanda
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Senegal
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia (Italian Somaliland)
  • Somaliland (Brit.)
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Swaziland
  • Tanzania (Tanganyika)
  • Togo
  • Tunisia
  • Uganda
  • Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara)
  • Zambia (No. Rhodesia)
  • Zanzibar
  • Zimbabwe (So. Rhodesia)
MIDDLE EAST (21)
  • Abu Dhabi
  • Ajman
  • Bahrain
  • Dubai
  • Egypt in Asia (Sinai Peninsula)
  • Fujeirah
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Israel
  • Jordan
  • Kuwait
  • Lebanon
  • Oman
  • Palestine
  • Qatar
  • Ras Al Khaimah
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Sharjah
  • Syria
  • Umm Al Qaiwain
  • Yemen
INDIAN OCEAN (15)
  • Andaman-Nicobar Islands
  • British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Arch, Diego Garcia)
  • Christmas Island
  • Cocos Islands (Keeling)
  • Comoro Islands (Anjouan, Moheli, Grand Comoro)
  • Lakshadweep
  • Madagascar
  • Maldive Islands
  • Mauritius and Deps. (Agalega, St. Brandon)
  • Mayotte (Dzaoudzi)
  • Reunion and Deps. (Tromelin, Glorioso)
  • Rodriguez Island
  • Seychelles
  • Socotra
  • Zil Elwannyen Sesel (Aldabra, Farquhar, Amirante Is.)
ASIA (51)
  • Abkhazia
  • Afghanistan
  • Armenia (Yerevan)
  • Azerbaijan (Baku)
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Brunei
  • Cambodia
  • China, People’s Republic (2017)
  • Georgia
  • Hainan Island
  • Hong Kong
  • India
  • Indonesia (Java)
  • Japan
  • Jeju Island (South Korea)
  • Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
  • Kashmir
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Korea, North
  • Korea, South
  • Laos
  • Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali,Timor, Indonesia)
  • Macau
  • Malaysia
  • Moluka
  • Mongolia, Republic
  • Myanmar (Burma)
  • Nakhchivan
  • Nepal
  • Pakistan
  • Papua (Irian Jaya)
  • Philippines
  • Sabah (No. Borneo)
  • Sarawak
  • Siberia (Russia in Asia)
  • Sikkim
  • Singapore
  • Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
  • Sulawesi (Celebes, Indonesia)
  • Sumatra (Indonesia)
  • Taiwan. R.O.C.
  • Tajikistan
  • Thailand (2000)
  • Tibet
  • Timor Leste
  • Turkey in Asia (Anatolia, Ankara, Izmir)
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vietnam

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