I’m also obsessed with travelling.  I don’t like doing the numbers thing, but I’ve been asked enough times — so to answer your question, I’ve been to about 65 countries so far.  (Some grey lines: does the UK count as four or one country?  Is Hong Kong its own country?  Is St. Martin/ St. Maarten one or two?)

65 is not a particularly high number, to me.  I know people who have been to a lot more.  But it’s a decent number, as an independent, often budget-restricted traveler.   Highlights have included: Bali and Mali (in particular, trekking in Dogon Country in the southeast), Scotland, Myanmar, Slovenia and Croatia, Oman.

I started writing for Let’s Go (“the world’s best-selling budget guidebook series”) when I was nineteen, which was good training for travelling on a non-existent budget.  When I hit twenty-six, I realized I no longer preferred to stay in hostels. More recently, I’ve had the pleasure of traveling to literary festivals, bookstores, and universities on my book tour.

In the future, I plan to increase the 65 number with more countries.  In particular: Iceland, Peru, Tanzania, Bolivia, Afghanistan. But pretty much any place has a fascinating history to it, there’s always more out there to discover.