In 2010, we added:

Continents: +0
Countries: +10
States: +0

The new countries included: Albania, Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, British Virgin Islands (UK), Corfu (Greece), Croatia, Dominican Republic, Montenegro, Slovenia, and St. Kitts & Nevis.

We also took a couple of weekend trips at home in Florida, as well as to NYC.

Most notably, we added a new traveler to the mix… our beloved daughter, Emerson.

Other notable highlights / memories included: going to Albania (who’d have imagined that?), making an unplanned visit to Slovenia (and then getting ‘kidnapped’ and hit by a car there), going on the inaugural voyage of the M/S Nieuw Amsterdam, eating some excellent meals in NYC (DBGB, Les Halles, Craftbar), and enjoying a very relaxing week sailing around the Caribbean with the family.

In 2011, based on our current plans, we expect to add:

Continents: +2
Countries: +20!
States: +2

At this pace, Libby and I will pass the half-way point to our goal in 2011 with 80 of 157 places visited, specifically 5 of 7 continents, 54 of 100 countries, and 21 of 50 states.

Notable highlights / firsts of 2011 should include: crossing the equator, taking Emerson on her first overseas trip, returning to London after a hiatus of two years, visiting Antarctica, and traveling to Russia.

According to this corner of cyberspace, we seem to still be en route to Minnesota…

That’s a very long trip (since early October)! Actually, I started writing this post in mid-December on another plane flying across the country from Minneapolis to California for a business meeting. And, no, this isn’t that long of a post either.

Anyway, back to the plot line.

We actually had a very nice time in Minnesota during our October visit. I promise that I’ll write about that in the future. For now, I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to lately.

What I’ve been up to lately…

I’ve probably been back to the Twin Cities half a dozen times since for business. It’s a busy time in life for me right now. The career is great and exciting, but it’s also somewhat all consuming. That said, I’m not complaining. I’ve had jobs that enabled me to “phone it in” before… and candidly, my interest wanes quickly. No, I’d rather be in the game and running with the ball.

In addition to my work responsibilities, both Libby and I have been focusing a lot on the forthcoming kiddo. I’ve been spending my “free time” on the nursery: painting, adding additional trim, putting furniture together, etc. I have to say, it’s actually all very exciting. D-day (as in delivery day) is quickly approaching… we’re down to 40 days. In many ways, I think this will be “the trip” of a lifetime. We couldn’t be more thrilled, especially as getting here wasn’t exactly easy in our case.

Speaking of travel…

Anyway, back to the subject of the blog at hand: travel.

As readers might recall, we’d booked a cruise aboard the new Niuew Amsterdam while on Holland America in Alaska last summer. The cost was a little high, but the itinerary was pretty good for this inaugural cruise (including San Marino and Montenegro). However, with the high expense of this cruise, I was a little unhappy. So, Libby and I also reserved a space on a Princess cruise of northern Europe (same price, longer, seemingly more countries). Then, we both actually started getting cold feet about leaving the baby. So, we kept the trips booked, but we assumed that we’d probably end up canceling our plans.

This is part of my reason for writing less.

A travel blog is pretty lame when no travel is happening.

Lately, we’ve been reconsidering our position. As I’ve said before, we’re both committed to the idea of traveling together both with and without our child. And, since we have a solid support infrastructure of family at home, there is no practical reason that makes this plan unworkable. We also confirmed with the pediatrician at our pre-natal meeting that this was a sane decision that wouldn’t cause her any short- or long-term harm. So, if the baby is healthy, we’ll take the 7-day HAL cruise out of Venice, Italy.

Why the expensive HAL cruise? First, it’s no longer nearly as expensive (the price dropped 25%). Second, it’s short (we’d be gone for little more than a week – unlike longer trips). Third, I recently learned that there’s an optional excursion from Corfu, Greece to… wait for it… Albania! That’s a total of five new countries in 7 days… at least three of which are fairly exotic/unusual or not conveniently accessible (San Marino, Montenegro, and Albania).

Some resolutions…

Finally, I’m making some New Year’s resolutions (for travel blogging):

1. Strive for at least weekly posts going forward.
2. Post my reviews of both the Eastern Med (last April!) and Alaska (last August!) by the end of January.
3. Post the pictures from the aforementioned cruises too!
4. If I get this far, worry about step #5.

This probably strikes you as silly, especially if you’re an American. Indeed, I had a similar initial reaction. (Although after visiting Alaska, I have to say in some ways it felt more foreign, or at least more detached, than say Toronto, Canada or Nassau, Bahamas.) However, it turns out it’s not so easy to define a list of countries.

It’s actually a significant point of debate.

Let’s start with something easy. How many countries are there?

As of today, the United Nations lists 192 members. The United States of America recognizes 194 independent states (the UN list plus Vatican City and Kosovo). Wikipedia (that store of all knowledge) lists 203 countries (the UN members, Vatican City, plus 10 other “sovereign” states recognized by some number of other countries).

Of course, a number of dependent territories or dependencies also exist in the world. These territories are often the remnants of colonization. The Caribbean and South Pacific are chock-a-block with examples: Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico, Netherlands Antilles, US & British Virgin Islands, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Saint Martin, Aruba, and so on.

Since 1945, the United Nations has maintained a (not uncontroversial, I might add) list of “Non Self-Governing Territories” with the expressed intent of decolonization: the unconditional transfer of all powers to these states “so that they might enjoy complete freedom and independence.” And, in fact, the UN has been successful. A number of current countries were dependent territories back in 1945, including Cyprus and Malta (which we visited this year). Clearly, the list of countries is fluid.

Some places also have people who argue for their own independence. Many of these groups are members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO). Here are a few you’ve probably heard of: Taiwan, Tibet, Kurdistan, and Kosovo. There’s also a long list of peoples and places you’re likely blissfully ignorant of, such as Batwa, Khemer Krom, Mari, and Tsimshian (note: each of these are on different continents, including North America). Yet, despite the seemingly long odds, at least six members of the UNPO have become recognized independent countries: Estonia, Latvia, Armenia, Georgia, Palau, and Timor-Leste.

Let’s also not forget the locations under “military occupation” (depending upon whom you ask). This list includes places like the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Golan Heights, Kashmir, Northern Cyprus, and Tibet.

We also have the “unusual” exception cases, such as: how to treat the European Union (a supranational organization), Antarctica (lacking a permanent population, but many land claims), or even the Knights Templar (Sovereign Military Order of Malta)!

And, I haven’t even brought up the issue of micronations!

Clearly, this is messy.

We weren’t happy with either the lists of the UN or USA. I’ll avoid specific geopolitical disputes. But, we simply believe that many non-independent territories should become (or be recognized as) sovereign entities. Others—many of which we’re not even familiar with—will become so. It’s the course of history.

Moreover, many dependencies have little resemblance to the parent states.

Is visiting Aruba really like traveling to the Netherlands? Can you skip Tahiti because you’ve “been to France” already? When you’ve visited the Cayman Islands, why bother traveling to Gibraltar or Scotland, right? You see how the logic breaks down.

Given that the list of countries is evolving and relative (based on who you ask) anyway, a more useful question is where to draw the line?

Enter the Traveler’s Century Club. Their list of 319 “countries” is based on independent states, as well as places that are “politically, geographically, or ethnologically” removed from the parent country. To us, this seems like a reasonable standard.

That’s why we’ve accepted it.

Of course, the TCC isn’t the final word. MostTraveledPeople.com lists 762 unique places in the world to visit. This seems to be accomplished primarily by adding internal divisions within a country to the list (such as states in America and provinces in Canada). Is this an equally valid list? Sure. We’ve just opted for a different standard.

Now… what constitutes a visit?

I also realized that I’d forgotten a country in my prior count: Vatican City, thus bringing the total to 24 (+1) countries.

To that end, I cobbled together this permanent blog dedicated to chronicling and reflecting upon all of our journeys in pursuit of the “Travel Trifecta” — 7 continents, 100 countries, 50 states.

This will probably be a multi-year multi-decade project.

So, make lots of popcorn to follow this show.