Are You a Country Collector?

I don’t know about you but I love a good “to-do” list

There is something truly satisfying about firmly pressing pen to paper, striking through whatever task you’ve accomplished. It’s the adult equivalent of earning the smiley face sticker on your homework back when you were a kid. Some of us (and you know who you are) even add ridiculously simple things to our list just for that extra dopamine boost that comes from crossing them off. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

So, it’s no surprise that when it comes to travel, I love the curated lists of Must-see Places and 10 Best Things to Do created by everyone from National Geographic to hobby bloggers. These lists offer some insight on how to get the best value with our limited resources (time and money) when we travel. I often reference these lists when deciding where to go and what to do while I'm there. My favorite and usual go-to is Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travelist: The 500 Best Places on the Planet…Ranked. I use it as a guide when creating an itinerary and I always look forward to coming home and highlighting the places I’ve been.

But travel for me is not about keeping score. It’s not a race to the finish line of checking all the boxes on a to-do list. The fulfillment is in the experience itself. So, while I love a good list, probably more than most, collecting countries or cities or sites for the sake of achievement is not my goal. People often ask me if I’ve been to a certain place and I have my own requirements for saying yes. You’re free to choose your own. For me, I will only say I’ve been to a place if I’ve had a meaningful experience with the culture there. By my standards, a layover in the airport certainly doesn’t count.

While in Amsterdam, I took a day trip to Brussels. I spent the day with a local guide, experiencing the iconic sites of the city, having lunch at an outdoor cafe. If you ask me if I’ve been to Belgium, my answer is yes. While in Paris, I walked by Notre Dame. Because of the fire of 2019 visitors were not allowed inside. Did I check the box on Lonely Planet’s list next to Notre Dame? Yes, since I experienced it as fully as I could.

Spoiler alert: Posts about unavoidable disappointments coming soon...

So make the list. Or don’t. Check it off, or don’t. It’s all up to you. Either way, the journey is the ultimate reward.