We are both lucky enough to be pretty well travelled, as well as living in five different countries in the last 15 years. The list below is where we’ve been, and roughly when – in reverse order (ish!) just so it makes it easy for me to add more as life and travel unfolds.

85. SRI LANKA – Blown away by the beauty and friendliness of this fantastic country.  Highlands, lowlands, Dutch forts, heartbreaking tsunami stories, ancient cities, huge Stupas and the best tea in the world.

84. PHILIPPINES – A memorable 21st wedding anniversary trip to Manila and Luzon, delighting in exploring a fabulous old city and volcano excursions.

–. NORTH KOREA – Not counted because we didn’t actually go.  Our trip to the DMZ is cancelled the very morning we were due to go.  Our alternative took us actually closer (to within 1km) where we could see towns and people from the S. Korean observation station.  Closer than the DMZ… but sadly not actually the DMZ.

83. SOUTH KOREA – Christmas 2019 and where better to spend it than far far away!  We have a wonderful time travelling around South Korea… and maybe bring something viral back with us?!

82. INDONESIA – July 2019 we backpack from Bali to Jakarta.  It’s only once we are on our journey that we realise why everyone does it in the other direction! We climb active volcanos and visit some lesser known places on the way.

81. LEBANNON – A random week in March 19, chosen to spend expiring Air Miles, and I fall in love all over again with the Middle East.

80. BOTSWANA – On safari… for a day!

79. ZIMBABWE – The end of the cycling trip allows a few days R&R on the Zim side of the Falls.

78. ZAMBIA – I’m cycling again! This time from Lusaka to Victoria Falls.  I only manage half the trip before severe heatstroke hits and I spend half the trip passed out on the floor of the support vehicle… but I was there!

77. MALAYSISA – In October 2017 we visit a friend living in Penang, and take the opportunity to travel around the main peninsula including Kuala Lumpur.  Borneo will have to wait for another visit.

76. ARGENTINA – A visit to the breathtaking Iguazu falls spending a day on the Argentinian side

75. BRAZIL – I’m cycling from São Paulo to (almost) Rio with a group of lovely friends in May 2016

–. US VIRGIN ISLANDS – Our second US territory, and very unlike Puerto Rico. This one is a sanitised mini America for the rich.

–. ST MARTEN/SINT MAARTEN – technically overseas territories of France and the Netherlands so not counted.  We hire a car and visit both sides of the island; including a nudist beach and that beach where aircraft land right on your head (not literally).

74. ANTIGUA & BARBUDA – probably my favourite of the cluster of islands we visit on this trip in March 2016. Beautiful mountains and lush rainforests.

73. ST LUCIA – A rainy day where I’m disappointed not to climb the Pitons, but console myself with beer of the same name

72. BARBADOS – Time spent in Bridgetown and the first dip in the Caribbean Sea

–. PUERTO RICO – technically not a country, so not included in the count. A bit of Caribbean island hopping in March 2016 top and tailed in beautiful Puerto Rico.

71. LAOS – Tricky decision to count or not to count. We went on purpose, spent an afternoon drinking beer and buying souvenirs. It must surely count?

70. THAILAND – February 2015 and we travel Thailand from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi (Bridge over the River Kwai) and north.

69. HONG KONG, MACAU, TAIWAN – I know, I know; these are all technically China.  But I haven’t visited China proper so I have to list them somehow.  When we do visit China then I will just add it to the headline.  Christmas 2014 spent bouncing between the three.

68. TUNISIA – Nigel is away for my birthday so I book a week in the sun and explore the north east around Tunis and Sousse.

67. ESTONIA – A lovely week with lovely friends in Tallinn where we see in the new year of 2014 Baltic style.

66. FINLAND – A two hour ferry from Tallinn finds us spending a gorgeous few days in Helsinki. The end of December is not, perhaps, the best time to visit; but some clear skies and crisp coldness as we walk our way around the Finnish capital have us in love with Finland in an instant.

65. ARMENIA – We end Caucasus exploits with a fantastic homestay, too much vodka and an overdose of beautiful monasteries.

64. GEORGIA – Country number 2 on the Caucasus route.

63. AZERBAIJAN – September 2013 and we decide to backpack the Caucasus, starting in Baku. From Armenia, we pay a visit to Nagorno Karabakh later in the trip; technically Azerbaijan, but occupied by Armenia, and campaigning for independence – the FCO told us not to go… but we couldn’t help ourselves.

62. SAN MARINO – May 2013 we find ourselves with a long weekend and nowhere to spend it. We get severely wet, and pledge to come back on a clear day. You mean there’s a castle on that hill?!

61. ICELAND – February 2013 a week spent in the land of fire and ice chasing the Northern Lights… and we found them.

60. QATAR – Not counted previously as a transit hub (more than once!) I made sure we stopped off for a few days on the way back from Kuwait in Oct 2012. An unexpected delight which was halfway between the glitz of Dubai and the ‘Middle Eastern-ness’ of Kuwait City.

59. KOSOVO – Fledgling and alive. The newest country we’ve been to.

58. MACEDONIA – Balkans Odyssey II 2012 sees us backpacking the bits of the Balkans we missed out during our 2009 trip. Lake Ohrid and Skopje.

57. PALESTINE – Volunteering in Bethlehem April 2012; one of the most rewarding experiences in my life.

56. ISRAEL – A necessary stamp in order to reach the West Bank, but I spend time here travelling solo before and after the Palestine detour.

55. GREECE – How did I get to 40 without setting foot on Greece? A bit of Island hopping between Rhodes and Kos in 2011 and topping and tailing Balkans Odyssey II in 2012 with Thessoloniki and Crete.  During our time living in Turkey, we manage to travel to quite a few of the nearby Green islands (Samos, Lesvos, Chios), and in 2016 we finally make it to Athens.

54. SINGAPORE – Where a Sling was compulsory.

53. CAMBODIA – The end of the cycle at Angkor Wat. 550kms cycled in the heat and rain, but the warmth of the people and triumph through adversity makes Cambodia a place I’d very much like to return to.

52. VIETNAM – An epic cycle from Ho Chi Minh rasing money for Breast Cancer Campaign. My first real taste of Asia.

51. BULGARIA – A long weekend in Sofia.

50. NEPAL – This is satisfying my Bucket List and where I wanted to spend my 40th birthday. One of the few countries I’ve left with a heavy heart and an urgent desire to return. You never forget your first view of Everest.

49. INDIA – This is a trip to satisfy N’s Bucket List and the only country he’s ever expressed a specific interest in visiting. Sunset on the Taj and the grittiness of Varanasi will be forever remembered. In 2013 I go back to cycle the section from Jaipur to Agra to raise money for charity.

48. MOROCCO – A Backpacking journey around Morocco finds me disappointed on an epic scale with Casablanca.

47. KUWAIT – A work trip to Kuwait City in March 2011 where I can tag along. We revisit in October 2012 to visit friends and eat a lot of Lebannese food.

46. VATICAN CITY – In Feb 2011 we move to Rome and within days I’m gazing over the rooftops from the top of St Peter’s Basilica.

45. BAHRAIN – We spend Christmas Day 2010 in Bahrain, and Christmas dinner is a kebab from a ‘hole in the wall’.

44. OMAN – Marvellous Muscat.

43. UNITED ARAB EMERATES – I meet N in Dubai for a surreal journey (on a cruise ship) around more of the Middle East.

42. PORTUGAL – My final solo trip whilst N is away. A journey to and around Porto provides an ideal opportunity for developing a taste for Port.

41. TURKEY – The first Turkey trip that counts sees me in Istanbul with a girlfriend while N is away. Much Shesha and mint tea taken.  In February 2014 we move to Izmir for three years.

40. MALTA – With N away for several months, it’s my opportunity to visit some places he’s already been. A lovely solo destination to spend a (not significant) birthday when otherwise you’d be home alone in September 2010.

39. LITHUANIA – Another Baltic country. I wish we had been able to do all three together but sometimes there’s just not enough time available in a chunk. Friends are moving to Estonia in 2012, so the third Baltic country is in my sights…

38. LUXEMBOURG – A work trip for N and an opportunity for the girls to tag along for a few days. Mostly I remember it being hugely expensive; probably to match the salaries of most of the people working there.

37. KAZAKHSTAN – From Almaty to Astana. An overnight train journey and time with friends in the new capital.

36. KYRGYZSTAN – Epic for adventurousness and the first visit to Asia. We skied Karakol – doesn’t everyone?!

35. ROMANIA – A visit in 2009 to Bucharest. Still regenerating 10 years after the fall of Ceaușescu, the first place the vast difference between the wealth of the ruling Party and the people was evident.

34. LATVIA – Probably the second place. The first Baltic country we visited, remembered particularly for learning about the Baltic Way/Chain of 1989; the powerful way in which the people of the region demonstrated their wish for independence from Russia.

33. SLOVAKIA – The first place I’ve drunk beer by the litre that only costs €1

32. ALBANIA – The final stop on the Odyssey. In 2009 we went for the day, and always felt we didn’t do enough to ‘count’ it. When we travelled Balkans Odyssey II in 2012 we returned to Albania for a longer stay.

31. BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA – Balkans Odyssey highlight. The beautiful Mostar.

30. CROATIA – The Balkans Odyssey continues. We backpacked up the coast from Dubrovnik to Split to Zadar.

29. MONTENEGRO – Balkans Odyssey next step. Pretty Kotor was our base for a homestay and the journey around the coast to the Croatian border was truly lovely.

28. SERBIA – More Balkans Odyssey. A visit to Belgrade.

27. SLOVENIA – The first country on our 2009 backpacking trip to the Balkans which I fondly named our ‘Balkans Odyssey’. The beautiful city of Ljubljana was our base.

26. LICHTENSTEIN – Tucked beneath Germany, we had a few nights in the YHI Hostel and saw what there was to see in this tiny Principality.

25. NORWAY – My first trip as a solo traveller. N was unable to make the flight so I went alone. A journey from Oslo to Flåm which will forever be remembered for the most beautiful scenery and for my own personal travel milestone.

24. POLAND – A ‘Bucket List’ journey to visit Kraków and the camps of Auschwitz.

23. BELGIUM – We first visited from Germany in 2008 for the Grand Prix at Spa and a long weekend in Brussels. In 2011 we moved here.

22. HUNGARY – Budapest, and the rest.

21. IRELAND – A very lovely journey around the South in the summer of 2007. Not to be confused with NORTHERN IRELAND.

20. CZECH REPUBLIC – There’s nothing like New Year’s Eve in Prague.

19. GERMANY – We spent some time in Berlin in 2005 at the Christmas markets and visiting N’s old haunts. Two years later we would be moving to Germany to live and work.  Another 10 years later in 2017 we would be back to live there again in another beautiful city.

18. MEXICO – We visit as part of a trip to California, nipping across the boarder to Tijuana for a cheeky Mexican.  In 2024 we return for a longer trip to tick off some bucket list Myan ruin adventures.

17. ANDORRA – Skiing and tax free shopping – what else?!

16. JORDAN – An amazing trip to visit Amman, Petra and Wadi Rum.

15. CYPRUS – Where I spent my 30th birthday with the man who is the other half of me. Some years earlier, I had a holiday in NORTHERN CYPRUS which I suppose is actually Turkey, but this is where travel gets complicated.  Some years later, I go back to Northern Cyprus on a walking holiday with a lovely friend.

14. EGYPT – A journey up the Nile from Luxor and time with the Pyramids.  I return in 2015 on a holiday to Sharm el Sheikh and get hospitalised after falling from a camel.

13. SWITZERLAND – A jaunt to Geneva.

12. MONACO – My first Grand Prix!

11. NETHERLANDS – My Mum and I had a weeks holiday in Amsterdam when I was 19. Not the best travel companion in such a place at such an age, but we had a great week. When I moved to Germany in 2007, we were 20 mins from the Dutch border and I used to get my hair cut in the Netherlands. Most of us drove there to shop on a Sunday (prohibited in Germany).

10. SAUDI ARABIA – My Dad was posted here in the late 80’s/early 90’s and I flew unaccompanied to spend the summer and winter holidays with them in Riyadh. This started my love of the Middle East – and I keep getting drawn back. I was in Saudi when Iraq invaded Kuwait and was quickly evacuated.

9. FRANCE – In the 1980s my first taste of France was a school day trip to Boulogne. I don’t look upon this day with particular fondness! Since then, we’ve travelled in the south around the coast from Nice, and driven/cycled through Reims and Epernay. I’ve been to Paris a couple of times, and have to admit I don’t get it. Of course, living on the continent I regularly drive the motorway to the tunnel, but this doesn’t count.

8. ITALY – The first time in Italy was also for skiing. Since then, we’ve lived in Rome and travelled south to Naples and the Amalfi Coast. Italy is one of my most favourite countries in Europe, and in December 2019 we moved to Naples!

7. AUSTRIA – Ski ski ski! I returned to Austria later for a summer holiday walking in the Alps. Totally delicious.

6. SPAIN – When not in Denmark, I remember other family holidays in Majorca, Mallorca and Ibiza. Since then, we’ve visited Barcelona and Seville together. In summer 2013 we catch our first Canary with a week hunting volcanoes on Tenerife.

5. SWEDEN – Visited during one of our Denmark holidays.

4. DENMARK – Every holiday I can remember as a child was spent in Denmark. I’m not sure why this was.  In May 2017 we go back.

3. CANADA – The USA trip as a child included some time in Canada. I’d love to go back – I don’t remember much other than the Horseshoe Falls and the Toronto tower. Barely enough to count it.  In 2022 we go back together, holidaying in Vancouver.

2. USA – The first time I visited I was aged 8. It was my first big adventure; going on holiday with my Aunt and Uncle. Since then I’ve been back several times, including to get married in 2004, to the ill-fated Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2005 and a whole host of times when my Dad was posted to St Louis Missouri in my early teens.

1. UNITED KINGDOM – WALES – I was born in Wales, so this is the obvious number one! As my father was in the Military, this is more by accident than anything else. N and I returned to Wales for a holiday (touring in a Smart car!) in the summer of 2006. ENGLAND – The country I was brought up in, and lived in for the first 36 years of my life before moving overseas and becoming a Nomadic Brit. NORTHERN IRELAND – my mother’s side of the family come from the Northern Ireland, and indeed she is the only one not living there (she escaped by marrying an RAF officer in Zambia in the 1960s; way to go Mum!). Northern Ireland brings memories of family visits (never enough) and walks in the Mournes. SCOTLAND – I spent a holiday touring Scotland when newly married. I remember beautiful scenery, getting rained on a lot, and being forced to climb ‘mountains’.