How long does it take to travel to every country as a full-time worker?
Update 2021: I wrote this article in 2018. When I read it again three years later, I realize that some of my statements were incorrect. Therefore, I hereby want to give a new estimate.
The first time I counted the countries I have already visited was in summer 2015 right after my trip to Bulgaria. That was my 30th country.
Now, in January 2021, I’ve just traveled to my 112th country and I am currently planning to reach country no. 125 by the end of 2021. Corona is still around and traveling was never more challenging, but I still managed to reach my last year’s goal by visiting 110 countries by the end of 2020.
Anyway, in the past few days I’ve asked myself when I would reach country no. 197. Three years ago, when I had 71 countries down, I was still the only one believing in my goal. I think now, three years later, could convince most doubters.
I’m still obsessed with this idea. Not a day goes by without thinking about new trips and optimizing my plans. Of course, sometimes things happen out of my control (like the pandemic). I might get sick someday or maybe I’ll have family obligations in the near future. Who knows. But still, I am more than 100% convinced that I’ll reach my goal. Rather sooner than later!
So, how long does it take to travel to all countries in the world as a full-time worker?
It all depends on the pace
Meanwhile, I’ve seen many blogs of people who have the same goal like me. All of them seem to have different strategies, but the three most common ones are:
- As many countries as possible in a short amount of time
This seems to be one of the most popular strategies. The travelers who follow this strategy visit 12 countries in 14 days spending one day or maximum two in each country. This certainly helps to visit all countries in maybe 8 years or even less. To be honest, it is my least favorite strategy, because I don’t see the point in just spending a day in the capital of the country. Of course, some countries can be visited in one day without missing much. Nevertheless, some even spend only one day in countries like Argentina, Turkey, Vietnam or India. That would be too fast for my personal taste. I don’t only travel to get into as many countries as possible. I want to see the world!
- Focusing on a few countries and collect the others by passing by
With this strategy the traveler chooses a country, in which she or he wants to spend 10-14 days, and then adds one or two more countries to the trip. This is my strategy. For example, I decided to travel Ethiopia for almost two weeks, but I also added Somalia and Djibouti to this trip. Thus, I can say that I really traveled some countries, while I saw a bit of other countries too on the same trip.
- Taking some time in order to travel all the countries for a longer amount of time
I haven’t seen many country counters doing this, some of them do it though. That means that these travelers try to spend as much time as possible in every country and see the most of it. Obviously, this strategy is the slowest and it’s gonna be hard to reach all countries without taking a few years off. Perhaps, some of the people traveling like this have been to many countries when they were younger and can afford to reduce their pace therefore.
Of course, it also depends on how many vacation days you have. I have 30 days, plus 11 national holidays plus 52 weekends. Moreover, my company allows to purchase up to 15 additional vacation days per day. A traveler from the U.S. has probably less days off though.
How many countries remain?
There are still 85 countries I haven’t been to yet. In every continent, there is a fair amount of countries I need to visit on my journey:
Europe: 3 countries
South America: 8 countries
Oceania: 9 countries
North America: 15 countries
Asia: 21 countries
Africa: 29 countries
total: 85 countries
I’ve visited 16 countries on average in the last four years. If I keep that pace, my journey will be over in 5 years, probably before my 40th birthday.
So, what’s the plan?
From the remaining 3 European countries, I guess I will visit 2 in the next 12-24 months. The plan is to leave one out so that my last country will be a European.
South America should be completed with 3-4 trips.
I am planning to visit all 14 countries in Oceania in 3-4 long trips. One trip already happened in 2019/2020, so there are (at least) two more trips to visit the remaining countries. These trips will take at least one month each.
Although there are 15 North American countries left, this continent should be completed after 4-5 trips. The good thing is that I can visit 7-8 new countries in one trip when I island-hop the Caribbean. It’s a region in which I don’t intend to spend more than 2-3 days in each country.
Asia will take 7-8 more trips. The good thing is that I can visit some of these countries on a long weekend trip, as they are not very far from Europe. Another good thing is that there are some micro-states that will not take a lot of time to visit.
Africa… well, this is the big challenge. 29 countries are left. It’s gonna be hard to travel the whole African continent without using the first strategy (as many countries as possible in a short amount of time). Many countries demand a visa, many countries are not easily accessible and it’s also an expensive continent to travel. I might use the as many countries as possible-strategy at the end of my journey. This road to 197 countries would take too long otherwise.
How long does it take to visit all 197 countries?
Realistically, it will take about 5 years to visit all the remaining 85 countries. Let’s add the last 6 years for the countries I’ve visited before and we have a total of about 10-11 years. I guess, this is the realistic time-frame you need as a full-time worker.
Obviously, this is the time-frame for my strategy and it could be done sooner if you just tick off as many countries as possible in a short time. It’s also a matter of focus. I enjoy revisiting countries and cities and I would be finished maybe 2-3 years earlier, if I consequently visit new countries only.
Personally, my goal is to finish this project in 10 years, though. Although I just wrote that it would take about 5 years to visit the remaining countries, I might take it slower in 2-3 years when I found a family. Of course, it won’t be possible anymore to visit 15-20 countries a year.
My most important goal now is to get a good foundation so that if I become a father I can still visit the last countries. On the one hand, this means that I must have visited a certain number of countries by that time. Let’s say 150. I could still visit the remaining 47 together with the family and/or alone.
On the other hand, it means that until then I have to focus on certain regions that are difficult to travel as a family. The South Pacific, for example. Even as a couple, such a trip costs a small fortune and a lot of time. Traveling to all these remaining countries as a trio would be a big challenge.
So for me, that means one thing above all: I have to hurry. Pandemic or not. This year, I have to reach country #125. Next year, I have to reach at least country 140, and I have to hope that Australia and the South Pacific countries will be open again by then.
Wanna see which countries I have already been to? Click on this link.
Good luck, You can do it!!
Thanks Colin!! Hope to see you again in another country! 🙂