Writer: Helena Bergström
We've never really bothered to keep track of how many countries we've visited. But people do ask. So, how many countries have we actually visited? And should we bother to count ...?
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To count countries - or not
”How many countries have you been to?” We get asked this question from time to time, and we usually give a vague answer, partly because we don't usually keep track. Recently, the question has come up again.
A while ago we travelled together with the Finnish travel blogger @adalminasadventures who visited all countries of the world, and talked about websites where people record their visits to countries and regions. Recently, the blogger Resfredag also wrote about this very thing subject.
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Why we didn't used to count countries...
We love travelling and discovering new places, but we still haven't bothered to count new countries. One of the reasons is that we don't really think that travelling experiences can be quantified and counted in that way.
We travel for a very long time in each country, and like to discover small, interesting places along the way. When you spend several months in France and Italy, as we did this summer, the counting countries thing feels pretty pointless.
But if you have to count anyway ...?
Given that we are, after all, asked this question quite often, I decided to count anyway. That's a total of 55 countries, which is certainly a lot, but maybe not so many if we compare with some other travel bloggers and travel writers.
However, it should be said that I not have counted autonomous territories (such as the Faroe Islands and Åland) and I have also not counting countries where we only stopped over or passed by train, without getting off. In addition: We have often travelled for a long time, often one or more months, in each country. This is how many countries we have visited:
- Europe: 37 countries
- Asia: 9 countries
- Africa: 7 countries
- Rest of the world: 2 countries
- Total: 55 countries
Maybe count areas ... or record on a map?
When we travel around in our motorhome, we often pass through many regions of each country - counties, provinces, cantons or whatever it happens to be called - and in a way, we think it would be more fun to count (or no... mark on a map rather!!) these regions.
How can you register?
There are certainly many different ways to count and record countries and/or regions visited. We have been tipped off about two apps: ”Most Travelled People” and ”Nomadmania”. We have not tested them... yet. But who knows, maybe one day we will!
READ MORE: 15 travel destinations we dream of
How many countries have you visited?
How many countries have you visited? Are you keeping count?
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Anna i Portugal says:
Have no need at all to count countries, so understand you. As you say, it is the experience that is the interesting thing and it can be absolutely magical in one and the same country for a month. If your goal is to visit all the countries on earth, then of course you should count. So thinking it depends. As always 🙂
14 January 2026 - 8:33
Helena says:
Yes, ”depends” is often a good answer, in very many contexts... and also in this one!
16 January 2026 - 20:59
Eva Udd says:
Oh, I find great pleasure in counting countries. I have set my own criteria for overnight stays, but made exceptions for three countries with full-day visits: Monaco, Vatican City and Botswana.
But - I have visited New York, for example, and therefore the USA, but I would never claim to have experienced the USA. That's where another dimension comes in.
Some people count centimetres or seconds when they jump or run, others ”sport” by counting countries! My result: 61 🙂
14 January 2026 - 10:15
Helena says:
Not a bad figure! Can understand your exception rule! And now I realise that we probably missed a country ... We have also been to Vatican City (for the day), but I forgot to count it ... 😉
16 January 2026 - 21:01
Ditte says:
We lived in China for four years and China itself is like a continent and many trips were made within the country.
Without counting stopovers and self-governing territories, the number of countries I have visited is just over 60. But it's the experiences that count. Absolutely.
USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, South America 4 countries,
Asia 12 countries, Oceania 3 countries, Africa 6 countries and Europe 32 countries.
Nowadays there are few long journeys but the body is no longer in condition as new so I am happy and grateful for everything I have seen and experienced.
14 January 2026 - 12:39
Helena says:
Well, if you are in a big country like China and travelling around, ”counting countries” doesn't really make sense... Then maybe it would be more interesting to count (or dot!) provinces or cities...! Interesting to hear your distribution of visited countries over the world!
16 January 2026 - 21:04
BP says:
If you have the goal of visiting the approximately 200 countries in the world, it is good to count and tick off country by country. I had a colleague who ticked off the countries one by one. He stopped when he had reached 129 countries.
Then you/we have 145 countries left to visit;-)
14 January 2026 - 17:49
Helena says:
Yes, we have a bunch left... 😉
16 January 2026 - 21:05
Annika på Resfredag says:
Great to read your thoughts! I have a sort of idea of having visited 100 countries by the time I turn 100, so expect a bunch of years left to fulfil my goal. Thinking that IF you had aimed to win the number of countries visited, you would probably have won long ago, as often as you travel. Love that you don't rush, but really experience each country for a long time.
Thanks for the link. See you soon!
15 January 2026 - 14:57
Helena says:
Thanks for your comment Annika! See you later! 🙂
16 January 2026 - 21:06
Hanneles boktips says:
no idea, maybe a dozen, happy with that, once in the US, such contrasts there.
England, Ireland, Scotland favourites
15 January 2026 - 18:06
Helena says:
Interesting to hear about your favourites!
16 January 2026 - 21:07
Marika Sjönell says:
A bit of fun to count countries though. For us, the goal was the 100 club and now we have visited 103. Nowadays we prefer travelling with our caravan, both in Sweden and down in Europe.
Never book anything in advance and mostly free camp, A wonderful way to travel we think, Marika and Bosse.
18 January 2026 - 13:12