Jan 272020
 


This is a blog I’ve been wanting to write for some time, but it’s also something I wanted to do lots of thinking about before I wrote it. How do you distill 196 countries and 30+ years of travel down into 12 trips that were the most memorable for you? What makes a trip memorable? Is it the places? Is it the people? Is it something you did? Or, is it some combination.

Initially, I wanted to keep this to ten most memorable, because everyone likes a Top 10 list. But, I was struggling to get it under 20. I did narrow it down a bit, but in the end, there were really 12 trips that I felt really needed to be told because they’ve formed such an integral part of my travel journey.

That said, it’s obviously not a comprehensive list, and there’s a few honourable mentions that I have to put out there:

  • Traveling to Penticton, British Columbia for my first Ironman race
  • Spending three weeks traveling the South Pacific and visiting small island nations most people haven’t even heard of like Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu
  • Overland from Kinshasa, DRC to Brazzaville, Congo and then to Point Noire, Congo by train and eventually overland to Cabinda, Angola
  • First group of Americans allowed into North Korea in decades back in 2005 (you know it’s a tough choice when a trip like this doesn’t even make the list! A photo regardless:

So, with those said, let’s kick off the Top 12 list….in a bit of an order in that #1 is almost certainly the best travel memory I’ll ever had, but other than that it’s a bit random….so please don’t get offended!

#12 – Zimbabwe Coup – End of Mugabe’s Rule

I’ve been a follower of Zimbabwe for years, going back to grad school when I was studying sanctions. Ever since my first trip to Africa (where the plane actually stopped over in Harare on the way to South Africa) I’ve been fascinated by Zimbabwe and its struggles since Independence.

A few years ago for Thanksgiving I found myself with absolutely no plans when I saw in the news that the military had decided Mugabe’s time as the long-time ruler was coming to an end…and he had “decided” to resign. Except then he went on tv…and did what nobody expected with Generals standing around him: didn’t resign, or even mention it.

Knowing this wouldn’t stand, and I had a five day weekend ahead of me, I booked a last minute trip to Harare, and when I was in the air the military staged a “not coup” and removed him from power. I landed to parties in the streets celebrating hope for the future…which unfortunately has largely proved to be more of the same.

Huge historical moment, and so excited I could be there for it!

#11 First Trip to the Florida Keys

Despite a year filled with health issues, my amazing friend Jen managed to convince me that “running” 100 miles in the Florida Keys would be something I should do. Health issues continued to be a challenge, so I dialed it back to the 50 mile option (which I could easily walk in the time allowed) before finally deciding the week before not to do the race.

It turned out to be the right call, because having never been to the Keys before I way underestimated the sun, heat, and humidity. That said, I totally want to give it another go in 2020 health permitting.

I did still go down there, which gave me a chance to cheer Jen on in her 100 mile quest and spend time with my friend John who had flown down to be my crew for the race when I thought i was going to do it. Great friends, sun, and gorgeous scenery. What’s not to enjoy?!

#10 Abkhazia

What do you do when you’ve been to every country? You start “inventing” new ones of course! Not recognized by the UN, Abkhazia is a country that broke away from Georgia a few years back with the support of Russia, and now lives in relatively autonomous peace. Need proof that these “countries” are “worth” visiting? Where else can you:

  1. Have lunch at a restaurant called Al Capone’s Pizza where they insist you take pics with toy prop guns and gangster hat
  2. See a beautiful lake in the middle of winter where Stalin used to have his datcha
  3. Run into a guy walking his bear on the side of the road, only to have him tell you “have bigger one at home”
  4. In the middle of a delicious Georgian dinner have a rando drunk restaurant patron start going on and on about his love for Omar Bradley to you?!

So, if that doesn’t convince you that a long weekend in Abkhazia with a great friend is worth it, I don’t know what will!

#9 Kosovo and Macedonia

I’ve known my friend Dewon for nearly 20 years now, ever since he moved to Washington, D.C. from South Africa for work. His American adventure has taken him all around the country since then (and currently to New York) but we still manage to connect from time to time for amazing adventures.

A few years back he mentioned he’d be in Frankfurt for work and have some time afterwards, so I should pick a country in Europe I hadn’t been to yet (this was 10+ years ago I think?) and we would go for the weekend.

Well, I couldn’t just leave it at one country, and that’s how we ended up flying into Kosovo and eventually hiring a driver to take us to Macedonia. Both were fascinating in their own way: Kosovo because it was still newly-independent and finding its footing as a country, and Macedonia because…well…there were literally statues and monuments everywhere in the capital. It was totally surreal.

Plus, of course, the chance to spend the weekend with a great friend I don’t get to see enough of! Great friends and great times!

#8 Longyearbyen/Svalbard Marathon

I had always wanted to run the Antarctica Marathon, but it’s a hugely expensive undertaking…with no guarantee the boat will even be able to dock so you can run it. So, what did I do instead? Found the northernmost marathon in the world in Svalbard, Norway way above the Arctic Circle.

On top of being a stunning and scenic locale, it was also by far the smallest marathon I’ve ever run, with less than 30 participants. Unfortunately I got injured about 10 weeks before the race, but recovered enough I was still able to do it at a slow jog and really take in the scenery. Amazing memories!

#7 Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia used to be a really tricky place for “country counters” to check off their list. Unless you got invited there for work, or are Muslim and went on the Hajj, the country was completely closed to tourists. A few people have managed transit visas over the years, but I had to be content with an epic airport story (which I only tell in person over drinks) for my every country visit.

In late 2018, the Saudis announced a limited one-time-only tourist visa for a Formula-E Race that was coming to Riyadh, and country counters descended on Saudi en masse to take advantage of it. Sure, in the meantime the country has opened up even more to the point just about anyone can go at just about any time, but we didn’t know that back then. It was just dozens of country counters taking advantage of what they thought might be a one-time opportunity.

The cool thing about the whole thing was: as cool as Saudi itself was, the people were even more amazing. It was like finding a whole world full of people that “get” you, and understand why you do what you do, and why you travel to the places you do. I made many good friends out of the trip – people I still talk to frequently today.

I’d go to the “Edge of the World” with these people…and quite literally did!

#6 First Round-the-World – 40 Days for 40th Birthday

Believe it or not, back when I was at just under 100 countries visited I still hadn’t done a true round-the-world trip, where you cross both oceans basically continuing in one direction. So, I decided for my 40th birthday I would book a 40 day round-the-world trip that would be epic in its scale! What was the rough itinerary, well, something like:

  1. Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire
  2. Venezuela, Colombia, and Panama
  3. Hawaii, Micronesia, the Marshall islands, and Guam
  4. quick stops in Japan and Thailand en route to:
  5. South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland
  6. Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana: Victoria Falls!

Tired yet? It was an exhausting and amazing trip, and an unforgettable way to celebrate four decades on this planet!

#5 Johannesburg for U2 PopMart Concert

For me, this is where it all really started.

Sure, I’d been to the Soviet Union and a few trips to Europe. Less than ten countries total, but then came the opportunity to see U2 in Johannesburg for the final concert of the PopMart Tour, and when my friend Matt (as anyone who knows me knows – it’s ALWAYS a Matt) said he was game for it…a plan was hatched.

My first time in Africa, first time outside Europe and North America, and I was absolutely addicted to travel. If I could pull this off, I could do anything! It would take a few more years until I had the time and money to really start ramping up the travel, but once I did there was no stopping me.

I have U2 to thank for my love of music (I was at the original Red Rocks concert – the best thing about divorced parents who hear about these “cool new bands kids are into” and take you to a random concert) and have seen them all over the world now.

I can still pretty much see the entire concert in Johannesburg as vivid as if it was yesterday (despite being more than twenty years ago) and to this day when I go back to Johannesburg I always stay in the same hotel that I stayed in 20 years ago on that first trip. For me, it really was the trip that started it all.

#4 Dominican Republic

They say that true friends show it when you need them most. After ending a ten-year relationship I was more than a little bit of an emotional mess, and really needed something to get my mind in a better place and start moving forward again.

As luck would have it, my close friend John was headed to the Dominican Republic the next week (a country which at that time I still hadn’t been to!) with a group of 20+ friends, and pretty much insisted I join them. Anyone who knows me knows I’m very anti group trip, anti resort, anti cruise, blah blah blah, but I’m very glad I went on this trip!

I made some absolutely amazing friends, it was exactly what I needed at that point in my life, and despite just meeting all these new people they were really there for me over the coming years as I moved on and figured out my next steps in life!

Shout out to my Ottawa family for being there – and being amazing people!

#3 Easter Island

Continuing the theme of things to do when you’ve been to every country, I found a great fare to Chile a couple years ago, booked it for a week, and figured I could decide what I would do later. I had only spent a couple days in Chile my first trip, so really wanted to explore more.

Well, my friend Phil who recently moved from DC to California was up for joining, and together we hatched a plan to visit Easter Island…where we actually spent several nights sleeping in a geodesic dome! I’m normally the type to opt for posh hotels, but yes, I pretty much roughed it for several days there…and loved every minute out in nature!

Everyone knows Easter Island for the Moai statues, but what you probably don’t know is it’s also home to amazing food and some of the freshest fish I’ve ever had. I would love to go back and spend a week again – this time maybe doing more hiking all over the island!

#2 Soviet Union

When I was 17 I left North America for the first time for a four week study trip…to the Soviet Union. Yes, my first time out of North America was to the USSR! Probably proof I was destined for off the beaten path from a very young age!

My school didn’t have a ton of language options, and I had pretty much outgrown them by 11th grade so I had started spending summers at a Russian language camp to get more of a challenge. When they offered a trip over Christmas and New Years to the Soviet Union I begged and pleaded with the parents who were surprisingly ok with the idea, and off I went.

I went into the unknown with absolutely no idea what to expect, and although I dialed it back for the next few years (since I still had to learn how to travel independently and not in a school trip) I think this is what convinced me that I wanted to see more of the world.

“Weird” foods (I still remember the aspic for dinner on the first night and the joy my host family took me in serving pomegranates and coke in the middle of winter), strange customs, and not to mention “communism” (psst. mister, you have jeans? Buy rabbit skin hat?) it was all strange and so very foreign to me…and I loved it!

We spent four weeks in Moscow, Leningrad, Kiev, and Novosibirsk, and I wanted more! Strangely, it would be nearly 25 years until I would return to an independent Russia, but all the memories came flooding back. I can’t find the pictures from 1988 (hopefully I’ll find them in a box somewhere eventually) so I’ve included some of my Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Novosibirsk pictures above.

#1 Iceland – 196th (Every!) Country Visited

So, this one is probably pretty obvious! What better way to celebrate visiting every country than to hit your final country with more than 30 friends and family for four days in a gorgeous place like Iceland! It was truly a special and wonderful time and meant a lot to me that all these people I had spent so much time away from as I ran around the world were all willing to come to Iceland to celebrate with me.

From our guided walk around Reykjavik to a silly afternoon at the Blue Lagoon, to a day with SuperJeeps around the Golden Circle I think I pretty much spent the entire trip with a giant smile on my face…well, except maybe the hour I spent getting the unplanned “Iceland 196” tattoo to celebrate the achievement!

Is it terrible I’m secretly hoping someone else declares themselves independent in the next year so we can have a #Jason197 party somewhere for my 50th birthday?


  7 Responses to “12 Most Memorable Trips”

  1. A wonderful range of places that you presented, Jason. It seems among travelers that are those who stick to the tried and true, those who branch out a bit and those who really will dig (resources permitting) for the extremes. Perhaps it depends on one’s initial experiences, or just what you’re interested in and want to learn more about. I well remember being on my first big trip, taking a bus in Slovenia in ’68 and seeing on the horizon a domed Eastern Orthodox church…”Go further, see more,” it seemed to say, and I’ve tried to do that ever since.

    It is great there are so many like us who do just want to go and see as much as we can, and damn the comfort and feeling that somebody else is taking care of everything. Meeting fellow travelers, like on a day trip from Barcelona to Andorra, or backpackers in Beijing (“hey, you guys are me 40 years ago!”) and you know that spirit is alive. So long as we travel there will be another, probably more accurate, view than what governments and news organizations want us to believe without question.

  2. This was a great read. It seems as if you kept good records and pictures of your travels. I’ve been to 49 countries (and 47 states). Peru in April will be my 50th country.

    Growing up (and still living) in the WDC area, with well educated grandparents on both sides, my parents never encouraged me to travel (nor did they travel). That changed in 1983. My Catholic high school, via The Catholic Travel Agency, sponsored an Easter ‘pilgrimage’ to Moscow and Leningrad. My very first time on an airplane – AY JFK-Moscow and an Aeroflot domestic flight. Pretty amazing. Not sure how much we spread the word of Christianity in the USSR as there was a lot of beer to drink!

    I wish I knew then that I’d have a passion for travel and then I would have had more pics, notes, and souvenirs. It has only been the last five years or so that I’ve truly documented my trips. So good for you that your documentation has been so good and allow you to pick the top 12 trips!

  3. Ian is so hot with that little bear..when will he come back?

  4. Lovely blog!!! I am glad to read all these. Trips are always fun and are the best to create memories. Thanks for sharing!

  5. Well done, Old Chap!

  6. You should do a post about coronavirus.

  7. Not quite sure how to otherwise reach you, but I just wanted to say Thank You for the recommendation not to take South African. They suspended service just before I got to Cape Town. Here’s my little adventure, which began giving lectures on a cruise ship sailing from Dubai. Every port after Muscat was closed to us.

    Outside of Cape Town we sailed in circles for a day then were tied up under lock down for another. (At least they could bring fruit and vegetables on board. The vegetarians had been living on rice and beans.) Every passenger was told to immediately leave the country, though those with later flights or whose airlines were shut down were given a couple of days more. There was complete chaos as people frantically tried to make new reservations, and when I did get out there were several dozen still in hotels with no firm plans. Given the country is now in lock down, for all I know some will be stuck there for weeks.

    Just by luck I had a good reservation on Qatar, one of the lines still running. At least I did till arriving at the airport and discovering their computer was overwhelmed and now had “issues.” My ticket was canceled. After 12 hours there they got me a route for the next day. I went to a hotel.

    The next leg went fine…until the Cape Town to Doha flight (on an Airbus 350) lost an engine and we made an unscheduled stop in Salalah. Oman. Nine hours later we got to Doha, and of course my connection was long gone. They got me on the next day’s flight but nobody could leave the transit area. Thus there was no hotel they could put me in. I slept on the floor. When it got too cold I wandered the airport for half the night.

    The final flights from Doha to Chicago (14 1/2 hours) and Chicago to Minneapolis were good. The airports looked like ghost towns and given how empty that big flight was I don’t see how a long haul like this can possibly continue.

    Personally I’ve had many travel experiences–sleeping under a full moon at Machu Picchu, a week in Eater Island, driving to the far north of Afghanistan, walking into Iraq (both in better days), and so on. 121 countries worth of visits. This trip definitely wasn’t one of the best but you learn to roll with things or go nuts and get nowhere. Here’s to better days, they will come.

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