Fourth Time Is The Charm, My Journey To Nauru
FIRST TIME – MARCH 2024 I shuffled down the staircase attached to the 737-800, one of just four planes in the entire Nauru Airlines passenger fleet. Night had already fallen. I tried to get my bearings as I walked toward the terminal—a journey of less than 200 feet. To my right, the runway lights glowed in the darkness. For a fleeting moment, an absurd thought crossed my mind: Could I just run for it? Evade security. Slip past the perimeter. Escape the confines of this impossibly simple airport. I feigned a smile, as I debated to make a run for it I had about 90 minutes before my connecting flight to Brisbane boarded. I sat inside the airport—one room, one gate—as frustration washed over me. Eventually, I wandered to the bathroom. As I washed my hands, another irrational idea took shape: What if I hid in a stall and deliberately missed my flight? Two weeks earlier, I had been sprinting across the international runway in Tuvalu at sunset, soaking in the local scene, when I [...]
Konstantin Liorek … Strawberries Forever
Konstantin Liorek has been to every country in the world Hey now, I am your host, Ric Gazarian. In this episode, I have the pleasure to speak with traveler Kostia Liorek. I met Kostia at the ETF in Bangkok in 2024, and I’ve known Kostia for years virtually on FB. But on this podcast I really had the pleasure of learning his fascinating story from growing up in Ukraine, taking advantage of opportunities to travel abroad after the fall of the Soviet Union, and his journey to Chasing 193 and beyond. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons. You know them, you love them! Bisa “fully nomadic” Myles, Ted Nims, Adam “one-away” Hickman, Steph “Phuket” Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Katelyn Jarvis, Philippe “BC” Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Dana Mahoutchian, Mihai Dascalu and Ryan Knott for supporting this podcast. You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries. My patrons will hear [...]
Brian Johnson … Slightly Bigger Office
Brian Johnson has been to 128 countries Hey now, I am your host, Ric Gazarian. In this episode, I have the pleasure to speak with traveler Brian Johnson. I met Brian twice in the last two years, first at the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok in November of 2024 and 12 months later in the Omo Valley as we escaped a hot zone of Marburg Virus, more on that later. Brian’s stories of overlanding in Africa in the 1990s caught my attention and I realized he would be an interesting guest. And here we are … I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons. You know them, you love them! Bisa “fully nomadic” Myles, Ted Nims, Adam “one-away” Hickman, Steph “Phuket” Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Katelyn Jarvis, Philippe “BC” Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Dana Mahoutchian, Mihai Dascalu and Ryan Knott for supporting this podcast. You can support this podcast by going [...]
A Year In Review 2025
A Year in Review: 2025 Another year winds down, and once again I’m looking back at the places, people, and moments that shaped my travels in 2025. When I zoom out, I’m reminded just how fortunate I am to still be exploring the world. I ended 2024 at 181 UN countries. By the close of 2025, I’d pushed that number to 186—progress … slow, steady, and sometimes grudgingly earned. I’m now just seven countries away from completing the quest to visit all 193 UN member states. The current plan is to finish in Ireland in April or May of 2027—though there’s one enormous caveat. More on that later. The New Ones. 2024 closed with a huge milestone: visiting every country in Africa—all 54. That’s a tough act to follow, and unsurprisingly 2025 didn’t offer anything quite as monumental. The plan had been to finish the Caribbean this year. I still had seven countries left. My father fell ill right after New Year’s, and I spent January through mid-March in Boston with him. My month-long Caribbean trip shrank [...]
Extraordinary Travel Festival III Update III – Matt Gray Of Pangea
Join the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok, October 22-25, 2026. Use code BANGKOK to save on your ticket. One of the goals of the Extraordinary Travel Festival is to bring the leaders of the travel industry together. Why? We want to make your travels richer and more meaningful. Hearing from these thought leaders keeps you abreast of changes and benefits that can help you. We have founders and leaders like Ian Cumming of Travel Massive, Stefan Krasowski of Every Passport Stamp, and Orest Zub of NomadMania. I am excited to be speaking with Matt Gray on this episode who will also be joining us at ETF. He is the founder of Pangea, whose goal is to connect and explore the world, and who better to do that with than friends who share your same passion. Download the app so you can better connect with travelers around the world. Since this interview with Matt, Pangea has been on a roll, acquiring and integrating several other Digital Nomad & Travel Community apps into their core platform. Their general thesis [...]
20 Best Photos Of 2025
20 Best Photos Of 2025. I am back again with my annual wrap-up of my best travels from the year. I went through 9,205 photos and chose these photos to share with you. Over the years, I have taken hundreds of thousands of photos, but this year was a substantial drop off. For most of my trips, I declined to bring my "real" camera, my Sony a7riii mirrorless camera, and took most of these photos with my iPhone. I got tired of lugging my Sony around in my carryon and having is strapped over my shoulder when strolling around. The one big exception was in the Omo Valley where I knew I would put the Sony to use. And consider this camera strap to keep your camera accessible and ready for your next great shot. Remember to come to the Extraordinary Travel Festival in October of 2026. Meet up with the world's top travelers, incredible speakers, parties & dinners, and optional trips. Buy your ticket today. Trinidad and Tobago I headed over to the Caroni Bird Sanctuary [...]
