2024 recap: the good, the bad & the ugly

2024 recap: the good, the bad & the ugly

2024 was another year in which I took a big step towards the finish line on the road to 197. I visited 16 new countries, which is pretty much my average for the last few years. In addition to these 16 countries, there were also revisits to Sweden, USA, France, Germany, UK, Turkey (2x), Tunisia, Czech Republic, Morocco and Thailand, so I saw 26 countries in total. Four less than in 2023.

In this article, I would like to take a quick look back at 2024 and describe the highlights and lowlights.

My year began in a rather unusual destination: Central African Republic. I arrived in this country on December 31, 2023, so it no longer counts as one of the new countries in 2024. However, I spent New Year’s Eve there (unspectacularly) and went on a trip to Baoli Falls, one of the country’s few attractions, on January 1. Central African Republic was probably the worst of all the countries I have been to in 2024.

On January 2, I flew on to Cameroon, my second destination on this Central Africa trip (my first in this region!), and my country 164/197. This trip to Central Africa was characterized by various flight cancellations, so that in the end I only had two days in Douala, the economic capital of the country. My time in Cameroon was rather poor, one tour turned out to be an absolute shitshow and I was glad when I was able to leave the country again.

From Central Africa I made a little detour to West Africa, more precisely to Benin, country 165/197. This country completely surprised me. Although Benin is tiny, the country offers a lot of cool things to do. Moreover, Cotonou, also the economic but not real capital, was more modern than I thought. Benin turned out to be one of my favorite countries in West Africa.

I finished this one-week trip in Equatorial Guinea. Admittedly, due to its bad reputation among travelers, I was not really looking forward to this one. But my time in the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa and 166/197 was okay. I didn’t see much of interest, but I can’t really say anything bad about my stay.

Several weeks passed before my next trip in March and April. In a three-week trip, I visited all the countries in Central America that I had not been to before. This trip started and ended in Miami, the first city I visited in the USA. In 2016, I was completely blown away by this city. Now, eight years later, I realized that Miami is not that interesting if you don’t want to party 😀 Still, a good place to spend one day at the beginning and two days at the end of this trip.

My Central American trip started in Nicaragua, a totally underrated country and my second favorite of the seven Central American countries. My number 1 followed later on the same trip. I visited Grenada, Ometepe, and San Juan del Sur. With a little more time, I would have visited Leon and the Corn Islands. Nicaragua, my country 167/197, is an absolutely cool country that I can recommend to everyone.

From Nicaragua I went to Honduras, country no. 168/197, where I spent two days at Lake Yojoa, which were not particularly exciting but not bad either. I found Honduras the least interesting of the seven Central American countries, although there are some beautiful places on the coast that I didn’t see and that might change my mind.

Belize was my country 169/197 and also not one that I found exciting. We spent a few days there on Caye Caulker, a pretty touristy island. I associated Belize primarily with beach vacations, only to learn there that the country doesn’t have as many beautiful beaches as I actually thought. Not a bad country, but also not one that I absolutely have to visit a second time.

The final destination in Central America was Guatemala. Wow, what a country. Definitely the best country in Central America for me, a diverse country where you can easily spend 2-3 weeks. The highlights were Tikal, Antigua and the Acatenango hike. My country no. 170/197 is probably also one that would be in my top 25. Guatemala is country that you have to see.

In April, I took a short trip to a special destination: Isle of Man. Not an independent country, nor part of the United Kingdom, but a self-governing British Crown Dependency. The island is best known for the deadly motorcycle race that takes place every year. We were very lucky with the weather as the Isle of Man is not a destinaton with plenty of sunshine, but it was perfect. The island definitely impressed me and would have loved to spend another 1-2 days there.

In May, I visited country no. 171/197: Tajikistan, my last country in Central Asia, not a terrible one but perhaps my least favorite in this region. I had two days in the rather dull capital Dushanbe and then drove to Iskanderkul Lake, where I got food poisoning. My first during a trip, by the way, with another to follow in 2024. The highlight of the trip was the 24-layover in Istanbul before my arrival in Tajikistan.

The next new country followed just a week later: Libya, country 172/197. Libya is considered one of the most difficult countries in the world and getting a visa was a pain. However, the country is now reasonably safe after being labeled as one of the most dangerous countries in the world for a long time. In Libya, I saw the capital city of Tripoli and the two Roman sites of Leptis Magna and Sabratha. All in all, it was a cool short trip. I also spent a night in Tunisia on the way there and back.

Almost three months passed before my next new country. I used June and July for two weekend trips to London and Prague. Until then, the Czech Republic was the only country I couldn’t prove I’d ever been to. So I took a few pictures of me there. Just in case anyone questions the legitimacy of my 197 project after completion. 🙂 Prague is still a cool city, although the summer there is a bit horrible with all the hordes of tourists. I wouldn’t go there again in July. London was great again, of course.

The second short stay in Istanbul followed in August, before I went on to Mauritius, my country no. 173/197. After the disappointing experience in the Seychelles in 2023, the Indian Ocean got another chance… and disappointed again. During the four days, the weather was really good on one day and so-so on the others. In any case, it wasn’t warm and sunny enough to go swimming.

Madagascar, the country we visited right after Mauritius, was a pretty tough trip. Long drives on terrible roads, poverty that was extreme even for Africa, my second bout of food poisoning this year and an even worse illness in my girlfriend. My country 174/197 certainly has its advantages. The nature and wildlife are amazing. But you pay a high price to experience all this. Madagascar was also the country where I spent the most time in 2024 (11 days) outside of my home country.

Country 175/197 was the absolute highlight of the year: Venezuela. I went to my last country on the South American continent in September with relatively low expectations, but wow, what a destination! Venezuela really has everything you could wish for. The trip took me to Caracas, Colonia Tovar, Los Roques and Angel Falls in Canaima National Park. An amazing country, probably even one in my top 10 and one that I will definitely visit again. Venezuela was my favorite of the new countries in 2024.

October was then rather quiet. A short trip to Dijon in France followed. The city is best known for its mustard and is only two hours away from my home.

Three more new countries should have followed in November. The emphasis is on should have. I didn’t make it to Niger, the first new country on that trip. You can read the reason here. Canceling Niger just one day before my planned arrival will probably be one of my all-time lowlights on the road to 197.

Instead, I spent a few days in Morocco, a revisit to my country 31/197, which I was only supposed to visit for one day at the beginning and one day at the end of this trip. In the end, however, I spent five days in Morocco and was absolutely thrilled by the country, which is a small consolation for the Niger cancellation.

The Niger incident also had a direct impact on my country 176/197: Burkina Faso. I had planned to visit the southwest of the country. Due to flight rebooking, there wasn’t enough time anymore, so I spent my remaining time in the capital, Ouagadougou, and the surrounding area. Burkina was okay, but the places I saw were not ones I will remember forever. At least, I could pet a crocodile… 🙂

At the end of this trip, I spent another day in Mali, my country no. 177/197. Why only one day? Most places in Mali can no longer be visited by tourists. So I decided to visit only the capital Bamako and Siby. I can do the rest at a later date. Mali is also considered one of the most difficult countries in the world.

This was followed in December by a longer trip to Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. I spent the first three nights in Bangkok, a city I’ve been to four times now, but the last time was in 2013. This time I found the Thai capital to be more modern and less filthy than before and really enjoyed my time there. I also used my time for a trip to Ayutthaya, which I haven’t made it to yet despite three visits to Thailand.

From Bangkok I went on to my country no. 178/197: Myanmar, my second last country in Southeast Asia. Myanmar had been on my bucket list for a long time and I spent a week there. There is currently a civil war in Myanmar, but the tourist areas are not (yet) affected. I visited the former capital Yangon, Bagan and Mandalay. Myanmar mainly has temples and pagodas as attractions and I felt pretty out-templed after this week. But all in all, I had a cool time in this unique country. Myanmar was for me the third-best of the new countries after Venezuela und Guatemala.

The final country for 2024 was Bhutan, my country no. 179/197. I would have liked to end the year with a country count of 180/197, but that was no longer possible after the non-trip to Niger. Bummer… but it is what it is. Bhutan is also a unique country and I spent three days there, which I found the perfect amount of time. All in all, I found Bhutan okay, no more and no less.

What is the outlook for 2025? I had actually planned to finish this project in 2025. However, due to a new situation at work, it may well be that the completion will be postponed by a few more months, so that it will be 2026 at the latest. Let’s see.

By the time I post this, I am on the way back to Bangkok and in two days, I will travel to country 180/197, the last destination of my current trip. After that, I have country 181/197 booked for the end of January. Five new countries will follow either in March or April.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the readers of this blog. Last year, I had 55,000 users on my blog and over 160,000 page views, which is not a lot, but is enough motivation for me to invest hours in this blog after work. Without you, this blog would probably no longer exist. 🙂

Have a great 2025,
Nicolai