2023 – a year in review

2023 – a year in review

Time for some facts from 2023. Looks like 2023 is an absolute record year in terms of the number of countries I visited.

• Visited countries: 30 (without Belgium and Ethiopia where I only spent a night near the airport)
• Visited new countries: 20 (3 more than in 2022)
• Longest time spent in one country: 8 days (Philippines)
• Shortest time spent in one country: 2 hours (Vatican City)
• Visited continents: 6

Looking at the figures, I could quickly come to the conclusion of quantity over quality. The fact that the longest period in a country is only eight days probably leads to this result. However, I visited some absolute gems in 2023, which is why I can’t say that there was a lack of quality this year. I still work full-time, by the way. In 2023, I got six weeks of paid leave and took another three weeks of unpaid leave. Like I did in the two years before.

This year started in Australia. In Sydney to be precise. A classic destination for New Year’s Eve, so to speak. While many people have New Year’s Eve in Sydney on their bucket list, I found it madness and can very well do without it in the future. The last week in Australia, which consisted of Sydney and Melbourne, was also the best part of this trip and was a small compensation for the rather disappointing time on the east coast of the country.

The first new country was Brunei, my country no. 144/197, which I entered on January 7. Brunei is considered by many well-traveled people to be one of the most boring countries in the world. My expectations were accordingly low, but they were clearly exceeded. Of course, Brunei is not a destination where I would want to spend a week. However, I didn’t find the two nights there bad at all and certainly not boring.

This was followed by a short intermezzo in Malaysia, although this stopover on the way home was a forgettable one. At least, it did not rain non-stop like it did on our first stopover in KL on our way to Australia. It was also not a new country for me, as I had already been to Kuala Lumpur in 2012.

I took a break from traveling from mid-January to the end of February. After that, it was once again time for good old West Africa. I spent a night at the airport in Brussels before flying to Ghana, one of the most popular countries in this region. I found Ghana… okay. The slave castles were impressive and sad, otherwise what I saw in Ghana didn’t really knock my socks off. At the same time, I experienced corrupt police officers there, although Ghana is actually said to be an easy destination. Like I said, it was alright, but will I ever come back? Not sure.

On the other hand, the next country was an absolute hit: São Tomé & Príncipe. This tiny country, consisting of two inhabited islands (plus a few more), is the ultimate insider tip. A gorgeous, safe country, with very friendly locals, good food, world-class chocolate and beaches that you don’t have to share with anyone. Unfortunately, I only spent two days there, which was definitely not enough. Once I have seen all 197 countries, I would like to return to this country for a week or even longer.

My last stop on this trip was Liberia, a typical West African destination. It took my cab three and a half hours to cover the 50 kilometers from the airport to the capital, Monrovia. Although Monrovia doesn’t offer a huge number of sights, I had a good time there. In total, I only spent one day in Liberia before flying back to Brussels. Is it a country I will revisit someday? Honestly, I don’t think so.

Over the Easter weekend, a trip to Azerbaijan was on the agenda, my last of the Caucasus countries. Azerbaijan was great. I really liked the capital Baku and the trip to the autonomous region of Nakhchivan with probably the best unknown sights in the world was even more interesting. Definitely a cool trip!

The first big trip in 2023 happened in May. I visited five new countries in two and a half weeks. My first stop was Qatar, my 149th country. Qatar is a country that many people visit as part of the Qatar Airways stopover program. I did the same on my way to the Philippines. Conclusion on Qatar: although the country is an “artificial” one, I enjoyed it for a day and can definitely imagine going back again.

Philippines followed as my country number 150. Apart from two short stopovers in Singapore and Malaysia, Philippines was my first Southeast Asia trip since 2013 and I absolutely loved it. The ocean, the beaches, the cheap prices, the nice people…. I really can’t find anything bad about the Philippines. Of all the new countries I visited in 2023, this one was my favorite!

The next one was another gem: Palau. This small island nation is a three-hour flight from the Philippines and is located in Oceania. Palau proved to be not so easy as a solo traveler (because most tourist activities are only done with a minimum number of people) and was also quite expensive, but boy, this country is a strong candidate for the most beautiful one I’ve ever been to. Of the small countries in Oceania, I found Palau to be the best so far. And I could even fly a plane in this country. 🙂

What I didn’t like so much was Papua New Guinea, my country 152/197, although to be fair I have to say that I didn’t like the capital Port Moresby. After all, I didn’t see much more of this country, although the highlights of this country lie outside the capital. What will I remember most about PNG? Probably my strange guide. Apart from that, my visit was certainly one of the least interesting of the year.

The end of this trip was the Solomon Islands, another country in Oceania. Admittedly, in the 24 hours I spent in the country, I only saw the capital and its surroundings. However, I also planned my visit to this country so briefly because I found relatively little in my research that I would have declared worth seeing in this country. So my stay was okay, but the Solomon Islands would still be relatively low down in my Oceania ranking.

By the way, I’m one trip away from finishing Oceania, logistically the most difficult part in the world to travel. Nauru, Kiribati, Micronesia and Marshall Islands are my last countries on the continent.

In June, I traveled to Rome for a weekend, where I also made a short visit to the smallest country in the world, Vatican City. Actually surprising, as I once said that the country would not see me a second time. This was my third time in Rome and it is still one of the best cities in Europe.

In July, I went to Mongolia, my 154th country. Don’t ask me why, but somehow I didn’t warm up to Mongolia. Maybe it was because this trip consisted of a lot of hours in the car each day and I’m less and less in the mood for that kind of travel. In addition, I didn’t have the feeling that Mongolia offered me anything that I hadn’t already seen somewhere else. But that’s not Mongolia’s fault, many countries have had the misfortune because I went there after I have already been to 120+ countries…

A weekend in Frankfurt, a city I have visited several times before, followed one week after Mongolia. It was mainly to see a concert of The Weeknd. Apart from that, there are not many reasons for me to revisit Frankfurt. The city seems more run-down to me with every visit.

Belarus was my next country in late July. It was actually my second last country in Europe and I guess up to this date the most difficult to get to. Not only did I need a visa, I also had to fly to Lithuania first and take the bus from Vilnius in order to get to Belarus. The bus ride took about seven hours with a very slow border crossing. The effort was worth it, though, because I absolutely loved the capital city Minsk and I also enjoyed the day-trip to Brest. Belarus is definitely one of the most underrated countries in Europe.

My last weekend trip in Europe this year happened a few weeks later. I went to Warsaw, my second visit to Poland, but the first to the capital. I liked the old town a lot and had some delicious pierogi. Bottom line: Warsaw is very interesting city that I would love to revisit someday.

Three new countries followed in September. Burundi, Uganda and Seychelles. Burundi was actually a pleasant surprise. I expected not much but saw an often misunderstood country with friendly locals, stunning scenery and some cool tourist attractions. I’d be lying if I said I’d be traveling there again soon, but the country was well above my expectations.

Uganda was also fun. Admittedly, the country was rather repetitive for me, as I had already done chimpanzee and gorilla trekking in Rwanda and the safari parks weren’t really anything new either. Nevertheless, it was a cool trip and Uganda is a country that I can recommend to everyone. The only downside was that the gorilla trekking ended in disaster…

Seychelles was the last stop on this trip and the biggest disappointment of the year. We had more rainy than sunny days. As we were only there for six days (actually a long time for me), this was even more bitter. The country is beautiful, no doubt about it. However, I think Seychelles a little overrated and in my opinion there are better and above all cheaper places in the world for beach vacations.

Libya should have followed in October, but various circumstances caused this trip to be postponed to 2024. Instead, I went to Angola for a long weekend. Great country, if you ask me. The capital is impressive and with Calandula Falls and Piedras Negras, Angola has two beautiful sights a few hours’ drive from the capital. Despite a very chaotic outward and return journey, it was a pretty awesome weekend trip to Africa.

Believe it or not, in November I was in New York for the first time in my life. Before my trip to the Guianas, I spent four days in the biggest city of the USA. What can I say? Of course, New York is a fantastic city, albeit with a few flaws. Nevertheless, it was of course the highlight of the trip. In the annual ranking, New York competes with Sydney for the title of best city. Even if this is a little unfair, as the circumstances (Sydney at 30°C and New York at 5°C and sunset at 16.30) were completely different.

Of all my trips this year, my week in the Guianas was probably the least interesting. This region is energy-sapping for solo travelers and also expensive. I started in Guyana, my least favorite country in South America because of the high crime rate in the capital and because it is so difficult to book tours. Unfortunately, the tour I booked was totally shit and one of the worst I ever had (and believe me, I had some pretty bad tours before). For these reasons, Guyana was my personal lowlight in 2023. It is a country I won’t visit a second time.

I liked Suriname, my country 161/197, better than Guyana. The capital Paramaribo was more peaceful and also more beautiful than Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. In Suriname, in addition to the UNESCO WHS part of the capital, I went on a river cruise where we were able to see pink dolphins. All in all, I found Suriname the most interesting of the three Guianas.

The third and final Guiana was French Guiana, a French overseas territory in South America that is part of the EU. French Guiana offered two cool things: on the one hand, the Salvation Islands, where the penal colony (famous from the movie Papillon) used to be. On the other hand, the European Space Center is in French Guiana and you can visit it on a free tour. However, French Guiana was also expensive and since I saw the two main sights, I don’t think I’ll go there again.

My country number 162, Eritrea, followed in December. Eritrea had one of the most difficult visas in the world for a long time, but fortunately it is no longer that difficult to travel to this country. Eritrea was weird for me in a very positive sense. The former Italian colony is like traveling back in time to the 1940s. This short trip is certainly one of my highlights of the year.

All in all, 2023 was a very good year for me and another big step towards 197. The end of this huge project, which started in 2015, is getting close.

My travel year is not quite finished yet. I’m currently in Paris and am traveling to my country 163 for New Year’s Eve. After that, 34 countries are left. I’ve visited an average of 16-17 new countries per year over the last few years. So you can do the math as to when I will have finished my journey….

How would I generally rate 2023 as a travel year? Most people have probably already forgotten, but some countries still had closed borders at the beginning of 2023 due to the pandemic. China, for example, only reopened its borders in March 2023 and allowed tourists to enter the country again without quarantine. As of today, there is only one country that is still keeping its border closed due to COVID-19: North Korea. Fortunately, I’ve already been…

The pandemic was also one of the reasons why travel was quite expensive this year. On the one hand, there was pent-up demand, as many people did not travel abroad from 2020 to 2022. On the other hand, there were other issues such as rising commodity prices, geopolitical disputes and general inflation. All that made travel very expensive this year. It was also my most expensive travel year to date. And since I get asked every now and then: my trips are also all funded by me personally. I have no sponsors, nor do I get free flights, accommodation or tours.

Finally: what is the goal for 2024? I have already booked up to country 170, which I will visit at the end of March. However, I expect to be in around 180 countries by the end of 2024. That means there will be a few more. At the same time, I’ll be in the USA at least once more in 2024, and of course I’ll also be visiting various countries in Europe again.

At the moment, it is also the case that entry to all countries I have not yet been to is currently possible. Even countries like Niger or Gabon, which have just had a military coup, are currently open to travel. I’m worried a bit about the annexation plans of Venezuela, my last country in South America, which apparently wants to attack its neighbor Guyana. But let’s see. Ultimately, in most cases there is a solution to traveling to a country, even if the situation there is not stable.

With this in mind, I wish you all a happy and successful 2024. Thank you for stopping by this blog from time to time. Without your visits, which I track on Google Analytics, the effort required for this website would definitely be too much for me. So thank you for keeping this blog alive. 🙂

Cheers,
Nicolai