My Journey To Visit All 197 Countries in the World!

Eurovision geek. Currency collector. Hobbies from a young age that turned me into a travel nerd!

It all started when I was collecting stamps as a child. I would greedily harvest stamps off envelopes that friends and family would send me. Throughout the years, I connected with hundreds of fellow stamp collectors worldwide, learning about their countries and cultures. That's where my passion for travel started.

If I couldn't sound any more nerdy, I confess I'm also a HUGE Eurovision geek. I blame my family. We Cypriots LOVE to follow the Eurovision Song Contest and vote religiously (usually for Cyprus and Greece). So, every May growing up we'd all gather and watch the Scandis, Soviet Bloc, and Balkan countries giving ‘douze points’ to each other…the point is, thanks to Eurovision, I would dream of venturing to places like North Macedonia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan from a young age.

Today, I get all my travel inspiration from historical fiction. I love reading books like Wolf of the Plains by Conn Iggulden about the Genghis Khan dynasty or watching series like Vikings and Marco Polo on Netflix.

Throughout my late teens and twenties, I traveled whenever I could. This also coincided with my coming out as gay. Travel gave me the courage and confidence to be myself.

I met Seby in 2009. We instantly clicked.

“I want to discover the world!” he told me on our first date at Le Beaujolais bar in Leicester Square.

“I'll go with you!” I replied to the person who would become my life partner.

I've been to a fair number of countries and one of my life goals is to one day be able to say I've covered the entire globe, having visited every country (and every continent). Seby is not as interested in achieving this, which is why some of these trips are done solo, and others together.

This article is dedicated to my journey to visit all 197 countries with a live update of the latest new places I've visited.

A warning about country counting!

I feel it is important to make this point. The whole point of this adventure is not to try to see every country before a certain specific time…well, ideally in my lifetime, if possible! The reason for this is that it encourages me to reach out and explore as much of our beautiful planet as possible. Maybe I won't reach every single country in my lifetime, but I'd love to say I tried – it's the journey to achieve it that is the most exciting part.

Also, airport layovers don't count! My rule is that I've had to have left the airport (bus or train station!) and experienced that destination in some way.

How many countries are there in the world?

Some say 193 because that's the official number of States that are members of the United Nations. Others say 195 because of the 2 UN Observer States – Palestine and Vatican City. This seems to be the most accepted number by sites like Worldometer. By contrast, FIFA (football/soccer!) goes further and recognizes 211 ‘affiliate associations'.

Others say 197 to include Kosovo and Taiwan because enough nations officially recognize them as sovereign nations.

So I've gone with 197 because that seems to be the consensus from fellow online travel geeks and makes the most sense. To be clear, I've not included non-sovereign states like Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Wales, or Aruba.

The 197 includes:

• 193 UN Member States: this covers every country. The latest member was South Sudan in 2011.
• 2 UN Observer States: Palestine and the Vatican City (aka the Holy See).
• Kosovo: recognized by over 100 UN States including the USA and most EU nations.
• Taiwan: recognized by 11 UN States, and the Vatican City. Most countries avoid the issue to prevent upsetting China.

Organizing each country by continent

I've listed each country below, organized by each continent in order of size: Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Oceania. I have used the UN breakdown for each continent, which has also classified each member state into a distinct sub-section.

1. ASIA: 28/49

Asia is massive, with 49 countries. I've followed the UN classification and broken them down into geographical sub-regions. Note that North Asia only includes Russia and given that most of its population is on the European side of the country it has been classified as East Europe.

Interesting article to check out is our guide to the most gay friendly nations in Asia and our gay travel to Asia page.

Note that most of the Middle East is included in this section in West Asia. We have a page dedicated to gay travel to the Middle East as well as a fascinating article about the most gay friendly Arab countries.

• Central Asia: 0/5 – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan.
• East Asia: 4/6 – China, Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Mongolia, Taiwan.
• Southeast Asia: 9/11 – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Vietnam.
• South Asia: 5/9 – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Iran, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka.
• West Asia: 10/18 – Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Georgia, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine, Syria, Türkiye, UAE, Yemen.

2. AFRICA: 4/54

I have a lot of work to do in Africa, having only visited Tunisia, Kenya, Egypt, and South Africa to date. There are 54 UN members in Africa, organized below by sub-region. But we've written about our trip to Egypt and our more gay trip to Cape Town and Johanessburg.

• North Africa: 2/6 – Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia.
• Sub-Saharan Africa: 1/18 – Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
• Central Africa: 0/9 – Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.
• West Africa: 0/16 – Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.
• South Africa: 1/5 – Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa.

3. NORTH AMERICA: 9/23

North America is broken down into 3 parts by the UN: North, Central, and the Caribbean. Our article about gay friendly countries in the Caribbean is an interesting compliment to this section as is our page dedicated to gay travel to North America.

• North America: 2/2 – Canada, USA.
• Central America: 4/8 – Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama.
• Caribbean: 3/13 – Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago.

4. SOUTH AMERICA: 9/12

South America is easy because the countries are large and few.

There are 12 UN countries in South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela. We think you should check out our guide to the best gay Pride events in Latin America as well as our page about gay travel to South America.

5. ANTARCTICA: 0 countries!

Antarctica doesn't count as a country even though it's its own standalone continent.

Instead, seven nations have claimed their stake in it: New Zealand, Australia, France, Norway, the United Kingdom, Chile, and Argentina.

It is my ultimate Travel Bucket List DREAM to visit Antarctica one day and to be able to say I've visited all 7 continents on our planet! We have a fascinating guide to the best gay tours to Antarctica, which we hope to sail on one day very soon!

6. EUROPE: 44/45

My home region and the place I've traveled the most in. The UN stats break categorize Europe into 4 distinct geographical areas for its 44 members. The 45th nation on the list is Kosovo. The only country on the continent that eludes me is Belarus. For more check out our guide to gay travel to Europe.

• East Europe: 9/10 – Belarus, Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine.
• North Europe: 10/10 – Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, UK.
• South Europe: 16/16 – Albania, Andorra, Bosnia, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Kosovo, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Vatican City (Holy See).
• West Europe: 9/9 – Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, Switzerland.

7. OCEANIA: 2/14

Home to skippy, Kylie, the Hobbits – and a bunch of other Pacific nations I've not yet explored! The UN subdivides them into the following 4 groups:

• Australia and New Zealand: 2/2 – self-explanatory which these 2 countries are.
• Melanesia: 0/4 – Fiji, Papa New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu.
• Micronesia: 0/5 – Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau.
• Polynesia: 0/3 – Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu.

My live update of the countries I've visited: 96/197

I've set these out in the chronological order I visited them. As a British/Greek Cypriot, I have a base in London, Greece, and Cyprus, so these 3 countries are more like my ground zero which I've visited all my life and continue to visit today. The same applies to France, which has become my adopted nation through Seby, who is from Lyon.

1. UK: 1982-present day
2. Cyprus: 1984-present day
3. Greece: 1987-present day
4. France: 1994-present day
5. Netherlands: 2001, 2012, 2018
6. Belgium: 2001, 2012, 2022
7. Spain: 2001, 2007, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2022, 2023, 2024
8. Portugal: 2001, 2024
9. Ireland: 2002
10. Tunisia: 2002
11. Turkey: 2004
12. Peru: 2005, 2016, 2017
13. Bolivia 2005
14. Chile: 2005, 2016, 2017
15. Argentina: 2005, 2016, 2017
16. Brazil: 2005
17. Paraguay: 2005, 2016
18. Uruguay: 2005, 2016
19. Poland: 2006, 2007
20. Czech Republic: 2006
21. Slovakia: 2006
22. Austria: 2006
23. Hungary: 2006
24. Croatia: 2006, 2022
25. Bosnia: 2006
26. Slovenia: 2006
27. Italy: 2006, 2010, 2018, 2022, 2023, 2024
28. Vatican City: 2006, 2022
29. Kenya: 2006
30. Germany: 2007, 2016, 2023
31. Latvia: 2007, 2014
32. USA: 2008, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023
33. Cuba: 2008
34. Guatemala: 2008
35. Mexico: 2008, 2017
36. Norway: 2008
37. Russia: 2008, 2014
38. Israel: 2009
39. Palestine: 2009
40. Sweden: 2009, 2022
41. Denmark: 2009, 2022
42. Ukraine: 2010
43. Monaco: 2010
44. Finland: 2010
45. Estonia: 2010
46. Thailand: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
47. Bulgaria: 2012
48. Serbia: 2012
49. North Macedonia: 2012
50. Japan: 2013, 2016, 2020
51. Lithuania: 2014
52. Mongolia: 2014
53. China: 2014
54. Nepal: 2014
55. India: 2014
56. Sri Lanka: 2014, 2016
57. The Maldives: 2014
58. Myanmar: 2015
59. Laos: 2015
60. Cambodia: 2015
61. Vietnam: 2015
62. Malaysia: 2015
63. Singapore: 2015, 2024
64. Indonesia: 2015, 2024
65. The Philippines: 2015
66. United Arab Emirates: 2015
67. Andorra: 2016
68. Ecuador: 2016, 2017
69. Colombia: 2017, 2019
70. Canada: 2017, 2018
71. Panama: 2017
72. El Salvador: 2017
73. Lebanon: 2018
74. Romania: 2019
75. Moldova: 2019
76. Georgia: 2019
77. Malta: 2018, 2019, 2023
78. Taiwan: 2019
79. Luxembourg: 2020
80. Switzerland: 2020
81. Liechtenstein: 2020
82. Bahamas: 2020, 2021
83. Dominican Republic: 2020
84. Iceland: 2022
85. Jordan: 2022
86. Kosovo: 2022
87. Albania: 2022, 2023
88. Montenegro: 2022
89. South Africa: 2022
90. San Marino: 2022, 2023
91. Egypt: 2023
92. Australia: 2023, 2024
93. New Zealand: 2023
94. Qatar: 2023
95. Armenia: 2023
96. Bhutan: 2024

Where am I traveling to next?

Where will my next thirst trap be taken? All going well, my next trip will be to Azerbaijan in July 2024, which will be my country #97…

Interesting fact about Azerbaijan, they won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2011 with Ell and Nikki and the song Running Scared. Although my favorite Azeri song is Hold Me by hunk Farid Mammadov…

Follow my personal Instagram for more.

Read more travel adventures like this in our book!

We've published our very own gay travel book called, ‘Out in the World'. It has all our practical safety tips, first-hand advice, and travel stories from some of our favorite destinations.

We hope it inspires you to have a fun and safe trip!

Click on the book to order:

For more inspiration:

• Read about the Varosi Ghosttown in Cyprus where Stefan's family are all originally from
• Hit up our insightful guide for gay couples traveling together…!
• One of our first gay stories on our blog is about the only gay bar in Mongolia
• Read the story of how I proposed to Seby in Cartagena, Colombia
• For swooning read our stories about first-time gay experiences
• Read about that one time we learned to swim like mermaids in Boracay, Philippines