Guinea-Bissau – 146th Country
Guinea-Bissau – 146th 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. Guinea-Bissau is my 146th country. Check out the best 193 travel books to read! Guinea-Bissau is a country of less than 2 million people located on the Atlantic Ocean in West Africa. GB gained its independence from Portugal in 1973 being led by freedom fighter, Amilcar Cabral. GB per capita income is one of the lowest in Africa and its economy is primarily powered by agriculture such as fish and cashew nuts. GB is comprised of many tribes with the two biggest being Fula and Balanta. Portuguese is the official language, but the majority of people actually speak a creole version of the language. And there is a number of local languages also spoken. The top three religions are Islam, indigenous beliefs, and then Christianity. I crossed into GB via a land crossing after picking up the Guinea-Bissau visa in southern Senegal in the town [...]
Drew Binsky … We Are All The Same
Drew Binsky has traveled to every country in the world Drew made his first appearance on Counting Countries in 2017 when we both were Wanderers for G Adventures, the global travel company. We also crossed paths in Bangkok when Thor Pedersen passed through Thailand. Drew and I continued a correspondence over the years with some recent communications when Drew was visiting Saudi Arabia, his last country, while I was also in the KSA. This episode is Counting Countries’s 100th episode, and several months ago I pondered who would be a good choice for this milestone. I decided Drew was a great fit for this episode, timing with his completion of every country in the world. And also, Drew is arguably one of the most successful travel content creators, especially in the Chasing 193 universe. I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons: Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of [...]
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #4
A Conversation With Harry Mitsidis On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania. We spoke with Harry Mitsidis on the last episode when he shared that the 2nd Annual NomadMania Travel Awards. Harry will also be hosting a trip to Armenia before the festival. So this is a great opportunity to travel w a legend and visit all 3 nomad mania regions of this historic country. You can check out the Extraordinary Travel Festival website to overview the trip. Please listen in and enjoy.
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #3
A Conversation With Harry Mitsidis And Julian Carnall Of Large Minority On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania and Julian Carnall, the founder of Large Minority. Harry has big news to share ... The Second Annual NomadMania Travel Awards will take place in person at the Extraordinary Travel Festival on October 16, 2022 in Yerevan Armenia. Large Minority is one of our sponsors and partners of the festival. The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be creating a Curated Trips of 2023. Large Minority will be contributing a trip to this list, which we will discuss during our conversation. This will be an awesome adventure, a tuktuk rally up the KKR in Pakistan. Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 At the Armenia Hotel Yerevan For the: Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun and unwind This is a great opportunity to meet avid & accomplished travelers from [...]
Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #2
This is the Counting Countries Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #2 On this episode I am speaking with Charles Veley, the founder of the Most Traveled People, and Gianluca Pardelli, the founder of Soviet Tours. Charles will play two roles at the festival. He will be a speaker, sharing stories of some of his travel adventures. And Charles will be hosting an optional trip to Georgia and Armenia that takes place before the festival. You can view the agenda here. Soviet Tours is one of our sponsors and partners of the festival. The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be creating a Curated Trips of 2023. Soviet Tours will be contributing a trip to this list, which we will discuss during our conversation. This will be an amazing trip to the North Caucasus. Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 At the Armenia Hotel Yerevan For the: Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun and unwind [...]
A Year In Review 2021
A Year In Review 2021. Sitting down to write my yearend review, really feels like several different years rolled into one with the beginning part of the year being an echo of a distant memory. My year can be broken down into four parts. The first couple of months still found me in Bangkok into my 12-month extended Thai Covid lockdown with a great beach trip in Thailand. In March after being away for over a year, I returned to the US, splitting my time mostly in Boston and Chicago (with a couple of roadtrips in between). Missing travel my patience wore thin, and in August I returned to the road and traveled for over three months, finally visiting some new countries after an 18 plus month hiatus. And as always, the fourth part of my year, found me in the US for Thanksgiving and Christmas. The year will end with a NYE back to Bangkok. Making friends in South Sudan I really had no expectations of 2021. I learned after all of my failed [...]
