Counting Countries | Travel The Entire World

  To learn more about the Extraordinary Travel Festival in October 2022 in Yerevan, Armenia, please take a look at our website.  www.Extraordinarytravelfestival.com To buy a ticket, use code ETF to save $50.  https://extraordinarytravelfestival.com/tickets/ And please take a look at our friends and sponsor in Sudan, ITC Sudan.  https://extraordinarytravelfestival.com/tickets/

Jorge caught my attention when I came across his blog.  He is a true global citizen with an early move with his his family to Mozambique from Portugal followed by Venezuela and then attaining his higher education in the US.  Between his career and his marriage to a US diplomat, Jorge has lived all around the world.  Jorge has a passion for the road and the sea.  He loves a great road trip whether it is overland on a big bike or a 4x4 or on his sailboat while on the open seas.  We discuss balancing travel, family, and work.  And of course, we touch on future goals.           I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons:  Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of this podcast.  You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries.  You can also support Counting Countries be writing a review or sharing this podcast with a travel lov

I am your host Ric Gazarian.  This is another special episode from counting countries.  Expect to hear a traditional deep dive episode next week. But this episode is timely.  It coincides with the publication of a Washington post article on April 15 in regard to Cassie De Pecol.  She is well known in the extreme travel community for claiming to be the first woman to travel to every country in the world.  Unfortunately, that claim is untrue, and now Cassie De Pecol is being sued by Travelers United, an advocacy group that works on behalf of consumers.  The 100 plus page document lays out in great detail the numerous times De Pecol makes these false claims amongst many other questionable actions. I speak with Lauren Wolfe, an attorney at Travelers United, who is an avid traveler herself.  We overview the legal complaint made against De Pecol in detail. I was in Bangkok for the recording, Doha airport to edit, and Lauren joined me from Washington DC.  Please listen in and enjoy. 

Drew made his first appearance on Counting Countries in 2017 when we both were Wanderers for G Adventures, the global travel company.  We also crossed paths in Bangkok when Thor Pedersen passed through Thailand.  Drew and I continued a correspondence over the years with some recent communications when Drew was visiting Saudi Arabia, his last country, while I was also in the KSA.  This episode is Counting Countries’s 100th episode, and several months ago I pondered who would be a good choice for this milestone.  I decided Drew was a great fit for this episode, timing with his completion of every country in the world.  And also, Drew is arguably one of the most successful travel content creators, especially in the Chasing 193 universe.       I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons:  Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Thor Pedersen, and Adam Hickman for supporting this podcast. They help pay for the production of this pod

On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania. We spoke with Harry Mitsidis on the last episode when he shared that the 2nd Annual NomadMania Travel Awards. Harry will also be hosting a trip to Armenia before the festival.  So this is a great opportunity to travel w a legend and visit all 3 nomad mania regions of this historic country. You can check out the Extraordinary Travel Festival website to overview the trip. Please listen in and enjoy.

A Conversation With Harry Mitsidis And Julian Carnall Of Large Minority On this episode I am speaking with Harry Mitsidis, the founder of NomadMania and Julian Carnall, the founder of Large Minority. Harry has big news to share ... The Second Annual NomadMania Travel Awards will take place in person at the Extraordinary Travel Festival on October 16, 2022 in Yerevan Armenia. Large Minority is one of our sponsors and partners of the festival.  The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be creating a Curated Trips of 2023.  Large Minority will be contributing a trip to this list, which we will discuss during our conversation.  This will be an awesome adventure, a tuktuk rally up the KKR in Pakistan.   Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 At the Armenia Hotel Yerevan For the: Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun and unwind This is a great opportunity to meet avid & accomplish

This is the Counting Countries Extraordinary Travel Festival Update #2 On this episode I am speaking with Charles Veley, the founder of the Most Traveled People, and Gianluca Pardelli, the founder of Soviet Tours. Charles will play two roles at the festival.  He will be a speaker, sharing stories of some of his travel adventures.  And Charles will be hosting an optional trip to Georgia and Armenia that takes place before the festival.  You can view the agenda here. Soviet Tours is one of our sponsors and partners of the festival.  The Extraordinary Travel Festival will be creating a Curated Trips of 2023.  Soviet Tours will be contributing a trip to this list, which we will discuss during our conversation.  This will be an amazing trip to the North Caucasus.   Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 At the Armenia Hotel Yerevan For the: Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun a

Extraordinary Travel Festival How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store Mette and I had been connected on Facebook via Every Passport Stamp, but we recently crossed paths in Jeddah for an evening of dinner and shisha with a group of extreme travelers.    We were connected by former guest Henrik Jeppesen who was aware that both of us were traveling in KSA.  While I was aware that Mette was a seasoned traveler, over dinner I heard more of her stories and thought she would be a great fit for Counting Countries.   After my conversation with Mette, I will be checking in with Thor Pedersen again, of Once Upon A Saga.  I have been documenting Thor’s journey to every country in the world and all of the challenges he has been facing with this pandemic.  You will hear a snippet of this conversation but my patrons will hear the entire conversation.   The next episode will be the 100th episode.  Our first episode was in 2016.  I would li

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store Thank you to my Patrons…Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Thor Pedersen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon. And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.   I am friends with Tommy on Facebook and also met him on the somewhat famous Adam Hickman Covid Zoom travel trivia game, but he was many of my social media friends who I really did not know.  On Tommy’s FB page I noted some interesting posts with a lot of flight maps. 

Join us in Yerevan, Armenia from October 14 -16, 2022 at the Armenia Hotel Yerevan for the Extraordinary Travel Festival This will be a multi-day event with great and inspiring speakers And at night we will be hosting parties and dinners to have fun and unwind This is a great opportunity to meet travelers from all over the world   Our goal is to bring people together from around the world, who are: Traveling to every country in the world Passionate to explore extreme and challenging destinations And love to have fun and network with likeminded people   Learn more and buy your ticket at www.extraordinarytravelfestival.com Do you want to save $50 off your ticket?  Use code - eps.    

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store Thank you to my Patrons…Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Thor Pedersen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon. And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.   I met Ted at a small travel meetup in Boston a couple of years ago, but knew him prior to that as one of my patrons for Counting Countries.  We both have homes in Chicago and we also connected a couple times in the Windy City.  We met up in late June for lunch and then

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store Thank you to my Patrons…Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Thor Pedersen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon. And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.   Ben made a brief appearance as the guest announcer for the January episode of Gina Morello.  After a bit of research, I pieced together who Ben was, pulling on a long thread and realizing that he was connected to many previous guests on this podcast.  Ben has a very, v

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store IG: Nick Butter Donate!: Running The World Website: Nick Butter   Thank you to my Patrons…Phillip Jones, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Thor Pedersen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon. And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa! Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.   Nick appeared on my radar screen when I read a post on FB about his quest to run a marathon in every country in the world.  My first thoughts were a mixture of disbelief and skepticism.  I started commu

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store   Thank you to my Patrons…Phillip Jones, William Schelling, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Thor Pedersen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon.     And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa!   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.   Gina and I met at the Principality of Sealand in the summer of 2019 during the Extreme Travelers International Congress.  And I have been following her travels since that time on social media.  She is one of the few women who have completed th

Key Links How Many Countries Are There In The World video Support Counting Countries at Patreon The new Counting Countries Merch Store   Thank you to my Patrons…William Schelling, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon.      And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa!   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines, and the Amazon.  And watch my full-length documentary in Cambodia when I traveled with Large Minority.    More About Indy: Born in: USA Passports: USA   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today!! About Counting Countries Counting Countries is the only podcast to bring you the stories from the dedicated few who’ve spent their lives on the singular quest of traveling to every count

Natasha was born in the Caribbean and was able to explore the region growing up.  But Natasha’s serious travels began when she relocated to the Pacific Islands.  She shares with us how she balances her travel when her spouse can not always join her and talks about relying on her 193 travel crew.   I encourage you to subscribe wherever you listen, Apple Podcast, Google Play, or Spotify and even better if you write a review. Natasha was in Dublin while I was recording in Bangkok.  Please listen in and enjoy.      Thank you to my Patrons…William Schelling, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Steph Rowe, Adam Hickman, Bisa Myles & Ted Nims. Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  You can purchase them today on Amazon.      And now, you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa!   Subscribe on Apple Podcasts today! And write a review! Check out our friend: Large Minority.  They organize international rallies around the world, including Sri Lanka, Cambodia, the Philippines,

Key Links Support Counting Countries at Patreon Counting Countries Apparel    Natasha and I follow each other on Instagram.  And two things stood out on her profile bio.  First, she travels on a Trinidad and Tobago passport, not one of the most powerful passports in the world.  The second is she has lived in ten different countries.  That piqued my interest to invite her on the podcast.   Thanks to my patrons Simen Flotvik Mathisen, William Schelling, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, and Adam Hickman for supporting Counting Countries. They help pay for the production of this podcast.  You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries.  My patrons will hear the final part of my conversation with Natasha.   Natasha was born in the Carribean and was able to explore the region growing up.  But Natasha’s serious travels began when she relocated to the Pacific Islands.  She shares with us how she balances her travel when her spouse can not always join her and talks about relying on her 193

Key Links Untamed Borders Support Counting Countries, and check out these trips from G Adventures  Support Counting Countries at Patreon Counting Countries Apparel    A fleeting tweet recently connected me to Graham Hughes and paved the way for this podcast.  I had reached out to him years ago, but my email ended up in a spam folder.  So for those who say nothing good comes from Twitter, you now stand corrected.   Thanks to my patrons William Schelling, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, and Adam Hickman for supporting Counting Countries. And a warm welcome to our new patron, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, from Norway.  They help pay for the production of this podcast.  You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com.  My patrons will hear 30 more minutes of my conversation with Graham.    Untamed Borders is the sponsor of this podcast, and we will be hearing a few words from James Willcox, the co-founder, on how to manage safety and security when traveling.  Graham is no stranger to the extreme traveler comm

Key Links Untamed Borders Support Counting Countries, and check out these trips from G Adventures  Support Counting Countries at Patreon Counting Countries Apparel    I had the opportunity to speak with world travelers Martina Sebova and Rachel Davey, who comprise the Very Hungry Nomads.  This was my first outing of attempting to interview two people at the same time.  Marty and Rach did an excellent job of moderating the answers.         It has been a frustrating time for most extreme travelers as we shelter in place around the globe.  There does not seem to be an end in sight when travel will go back to normal.  I hope everyone is well and keeping in safely.    Thanks to my patrons William Schelling, Steph Rowe, Ted Nims, Bisa Myles, Stephen Rothwell, and Adam Hickman for supporting Counting Countries. And William, if you are listening, please reach out to me.  They help pay for the production of this podcast.  You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com.  My patrons will hear an extra interview

Key Links Untamed Borders Support Counting Countries, and check out these trips from G Adventures  Support Counting Countries at Patreon Counting Countries Apparel  It was back in February and I was preparing for several months of non-stop travel.  That meant I had to record and prepare five podcasts prior to my trip so I could publish them once my travels began.  And randomly I got an email from Chris Sutherland sharing that he was swinging through Bangkok for a couple of days.  I know Chris from FB and being fellow moderators in Every Passport Stamp.  This was a great opportunity to sit down with him and hear his story in person.  In a perfect world, I would like to do all of my interviews in person.  Technically it is much better and it is also easier to get to know my guest.        It has been a frustrating time for most extreme travelers as we shelter in place around the globe.  There does not seem to be an end in sight when travel will go back to normal. I hope everyone is well and keeping safe.    T