Sultan Of Slowjamastan
The World’s Newest Micronation This is a special episode of Counting Countries. Like many in the community I have a keen interest of de facto states and micronations. I love the idiosyncrasies of crossing the border into an Abkhazia or Transnistria. As I have shared with listeners before I was fortunate to visit the Principality of Sealand with the Extreme Traveler International Congress. I have been following the new micronation of the Republic of Slowjamastan on social media, founded by the Sultan Randy Williams better known to listeners as Ramblin’ Randy, a former guest of Counting Countries. He was first interviewed in Episode 36 in July of 2017. He was just at 86 countries at that time. Besides traveling up a storm, Randy has created a micronation in California. As you know, micronations range from high comedy to the deadly serious. The Sultan has poured in a ton of effort and money into creating this desert kingdom. This is a really fun project. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my [...]
Lucy Hsu … It’s A Compromise
Lucy Hsu Counting Countries has traveled to 187 countries Lucy and I met briefly at an impromptu meetup in Jeddah. I knew she was an accomplished traveler who was nearing completion of every country in the world, but did not realize the scope of her travel CV. This conversation was a great opportunity to learn more about her travel history. I always say there are so many fantastically interesting people to talk to in the Chasing 193 community, but simply not enough time to speak to them all. Lucy has managed some deeper travel experiences while balancing a family and teaching full time. I always marvel at the bandwidth of some in the travel community who are able to pursue different passions and manage so many different moving parts of their lives. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons: Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of this podcast. You can [...]
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #5
A Conversation With ITC Sudan To learn more about the Extraordinary Travel Festival in October 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia, please take a look at our website. www.Extraordinarytravelfestival.com To buy a ticket, use code ETF to save $50. https://extraordinarytravelfestival.com/tickets/ And please take a look at our friends and sponsor in Sudan, ITC Sudan. https://extraordinarytravelfestival.com/tickets/
Cameroon – 151st Country
Cameroon – 151st Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Cameroon is my 151st country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Cameroon is a country located in Central Africa packed with over 25 million people and 250 different languages. Cameroon was initially a German colony in the 19th century and after WWI, it was portioned between France (mostly) and the UK. It became an independent nation in 1960. The world’s 53rd largest country is a geographically diverse with rain forests, savannahs, deserts, beaches, and mountains including Mt. Cameroon at 4,100 meters. Over 70% of the nation is involved in subsistence farming. Two thirds of the nation practices Christianity with a quarter following Islam. I spent two weeks exploring Cameroon. It is a vast country with some brutal roads. I was partially based in Cameroon’s largest city, Douala. I spent time in the English-speaking part of Cameroon, Limbe, and visited the waterfall in [...]
Nigeria – 150th Country
Nigeria – 150th Country. To see where I have been so far, check out my map as I count down the final 93 countries on the road to all 193 UN countries. Nigeria is my 150th country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Nigeria is most populous country in Africa with over 200 million people. Indigenous civilizations date back over 4000 years ago. Modern Nigeria came into fruition in the 19th century under British colonial rule. Nigeria became an independent state in 1960, followed by a brutal civil war in the late 1960s. For the last 20 years, Nigeria has been ruled by a democratic government. Nigeria is comprised of 250 ethnic groups which speak 500 distinctive languages with English being the official language. Nigeria is split somewhat evenly with Muslims mostly in the north and Christians in the south. And this West African country is the largest economy on the continent which is powered my oil revenues. I spent two weeks road tripping from Abuja, the bland capital, to Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous [...]
Jorge Serpa … Worst Day On The Road
Jorge Serpa has traveled to 98 countries. Jorge Serpa Counting Countries Jorge caught my attention when I came across his blog. He is a true global citizen with an early move with his his family to Mozambique from Portugal followed by Venezuela and then attaining his higher education in the US. Between his career and his marriage to a US diplomat, Jorge has lived all around the world. Jorge has a passion for the road and the sea. He loves a great road trip whether it is overland on a big bike or a 4x4 or on his sailboat while on the open seas. We discuss balancing travel, family, and work. And of course, we touch on future goals. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons: Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of this podcast. You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries. You can also support Counting Countries be [...]
