Random Travel Game: My League of Nations

My League of Nations Game!

My League of Nations Game!

Since I’ve hit the unofficial 218 country mark on the Traveler’s Century Club it feels like a milestone and when I landed in Tunisia for country 100 in March 2015, I raised a smile. On the way to the century, we don’t only visit each country once of course and there are many repeats. Using a logic similar to the UFWC (Unofficial Football World Championships), who determine that the reigning world champions are the team that beats the previous world champions. So going back to the first football international back in 1872 when England beat Scotland, that makes England the first ever Unofficial Football World Champions, the trend continues in the same way as a “boxing match” – beat the current champion and you take the title of world champion. So how can you do that with countries?

Backpacking up Tajamulco in Guatemala - highest point in Central America

Backpacking up Tajamulco in Guatemala – highest point in Central America

Easy – you count each INDIVIDUAL visit to a country/prominent territory in your whole life and see which country you have visited on the most occasions. So for example you go from Brazil into Argentina, back into Brazil then head to Bolivia then to Peru, then to Ecuador then back to Brazil. As it’s one point per visit, this means you give three points to Brazil as you have had three separate visits, and 1 to all the other nations.

The Rules of this Random Travel Games: My League of Nations
– 1 point per single visit to each country (no matter how long or short the visit).
– In the case of a tie, the country listed higher is the one you spent longest in.
– When flight and train changes to another country mean you have left the country you were in, and progress to a new country, they are counted in this chart (I don’t count them in my normal travel journeys unless I’ve actually seen the country but for this, the airport stops have to count as you left a country and went to another).

So I’ve done the same with my travel lifestyle since the day I was born. I hope that kind of makes sense, so here are the results. These are the countries I have been to on the most visits since 1980, correct as of 5th May 2023:

1. Northern Ireland – 109
2. England – 95
3. Republic of Ireland – 47
4. Poland – 47
5. Hong Kong – 36
6. China – 20
7. Germany – 21
8. Scotland – 21
9. France – 13
10. Spain – 10
11. Malaysia – 8
12. Thailand – 8
13. Italy – 8
14. Singapore – 8
15. Turkey – 7
16. Sweden – 7
17.Wales – 6
18. Israel – 5
19. Denmark – 5
20. Slovakia – 5
21. Hungary – 5
22. South Africa – 5
23. The Netherlands – 5
24. United States of America – 5
25. Portugal – 5
26. Belgium – 5

27. Kyrgyzstan – 4
28. Russia – 4
29. Rwanda – 4
30. Georgia – 3
31. Belarus – 4
32. Brazil – 4
33. Croatia – 4
34. Argentina – 4
35. Australia – 4
36. Greece – 4

37. Switzerland – 3
38. Cyprus – 3
39. Palestine – 3
40. India – 3
41. United Arab Emirates – 3
42. Nauru – 3
43. Kiribati – 3
44. Namibia – 3
45. Angola – 3
46. Ukraine – 3
47. Qatar – 3
48. Indonesia – 3
49. Suriname – 3
50. Morocco – 3
51. Uganda – 3
52. Czechia – 3
53. Guatemala – 3

54. Uzbekistan – 2
55. Ukraine – 2
56. New Zealand – 2
58. Canada – 2
59. Bosnia – 2
60. Herzegovina – 2
61. Montenegro – 2
62. Jordan – 2
63. Armenia – 2
64. North Korea – 2
65. Latvia – 2
66. Austria – 8
67. Malta – 2
68. South Korea – 2
69. Chile – 2
70. Macau – 2
71. Senegal – 2
72. Kaliningrad – 2
73. Ethiopia – 5
74. Philippines – 2
76. Togo – 2
77. Honduras – 2
78. Panama – 2
79. Romania – 2
80. Moldova – 2
81. Lithuania – 4
82. Tajikistan – 2
83. Botswana – 2
84. Kiribati – 2
85. Malawi – 2
86. Reunion Island – 2

86. Kugel Mugel – 1
87. Brunei – 1
88. French Guyana – 1
89. Mexico – 1
90. Belize – 1
91. Iran – 1
92.Mauritius – 1
93.Mozambique – 1
94.Madagascar – 1
90. Uruguay – 1
91. Taiwan – 1
92. El Salvador – 1
93. Iraq – 1
94. Nicaragua – 1
95. Costa Rica – 1
96. Azerbaijan – 2
97. Kosovo – 1
99. FYR Macedonia – 1
100. Bulgaria – 1
101. Transnistria – 1
102. Vietnam – 1
103. Algeria – 1
104. Tunisia – 1
105. Vatican City – 1
106. Kuwait – 1
107. Austenasia – 1
108. Gibraltar – 1
109. Lagoan Isles – 1
110. Uzupis – 1
111. Frestonia – 1
112. Christiania – 2
113. Bangladesh – 1
114. Bahrain – 1
115. Faroe Islands – 1
116. Ladonia – 1
117. Lovely – 1
118. Don’t Stop Living – 1
119. Podjistan – 1
120. Afghanistan – 1
121. Tajikistan – 2
122. Gorno Badakhshan – 1
123. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone – 1
124. Antarctica – 1
125. Slovenia – 1
126. Serbia – 1
127. Swaziland – 1
128. Lesotho – 1
130. Zambia – 1
131. Karakalpakstan – 1
132. The Gambia – 1
133. Monaco – 1
134. Mauritania – 2
135. Tanzania – 1
136. East Timor – 1
137. Venezuela – 1
138. Mongolia -1
139. Krolestwo Dreamlandu – 1
140. Colombia – 1
141. Guyana – 1
142. Ecuador – 1
143. Ivory Coast – 1
144. The Sovereign Military Order of Malta – 1
145. The Kingdom of Romkerhall – 1
146. Western Sahara – 1
147. Northern Cyprus – 1
148. Paraguay – 1
149. Myanmar – 1
150. Nagorno Karabakh – 1
151. San Marino – 1
152. Liechtenstein – 1
153. Luxembourg – 1
154. Andorra – 1
155. Trinidad and Tobago – 1
156. Sri Lanka – 1
157. Benin – 1
158. Lebanon – 1
159. Bolivia – 1
160. Laos – 1
161. Cambodia – 1
162. Peru – 1
163. Iceland – 1
164. Burundi – 1
165. DR Congo – 1
166. Zimbabwe – 1
167. Japan – 1
168. Wallachia – 1
169. Fiji – 1
170. Papua New Guinea – 1
171. Solomon Islands – 1
172. Marshall Islands – 1
173.

** If I counted ferry dockings while working on the ferries France would be around 70.

*** I chose not to include the Channel Islands but I have been to 4 of them. If I had included the Channel Islands, or even crazier included them separately, the results would bring Guernsey and Jersey into the top 10 and England to number 1, with Sark and Herm remaining as just 1 visit each. Crazy.

**** Extra countries/territories included in the Traveler’s Century Club list are Tasmania, two Antarctic territories and Channel Islands. I haven’t included them on this.

Conclusion
This is a crap system to work out how well travelled you are, as my home country of Northern Ireland comes first, meaning I haven’t really travelled at all! If it’s any consolation, more than half of these visits to Northern Ireland were in the first 20 years of my life. In the last 6 years, I have registered just 5 visits.

Australia being far down on the list as well is a red herring, as although I have only been there on four separate visits, I actually lived there for about 18-20 months in total.

By the same token, Iran features in the bottom countries on the list as I have only been once, however I was there for 30 days on my only visit to the country.

It’s only a random travel game for fun, but I like it!

The Countries I Have Spent Most Time in During my Life are (in order):
1. Northern Ireland (24 years)
2. England (6 years)
3. Poland (4 years)
4. Hong Kong (3 years)
5. Australia (18 months)
6. China (1 year)
7. Kyrgyzstan (3 months)
8. Republic of Ireland (3 months – mostly in transit)
9. France (2 months)
10. Brazil (7 weeks)

11 thoughts on “Random Travel Game: My League of Nations

  • This is such a great game to play!

    Here is my list:
    (1.) Canada = 45 (International Holidays + Business Trips Only)
    (2.) United States = 31 (Holidays + Business Trips Only)
    (3.) France = 4
    (4.) Mexico = 3
    (5.) Dominican Republic = 2
    (6.) Cuba = 2
    (7.) Panama = 2
    (8.) England =2
    (9.) Greece = 2
    (10.) Haiti = 1
    (11.) Guatemala = 1
    (12.) US Virgin Islands = 1
    (13.) Puerto Rico = 1
    (14.) St. Maarten = 1
    (15.) Brazil = 1
    (16.) Peru = 1
    (17.) Belize = 1
    (18.) Germany = 1
    (19.) Switzerland = 1
    (20.) Monaco = 1
    (21.) Lichtenstein = 1
    (22.) Austria = 1
    (23.) Italy = 1
    (24.) Argentina = 1
    (25.) Paraguay = 1

    A couple of stipulations to point out here in my list: (1.) I grew up near Niagara Falls, Canada, so my U.S. tally either had to be a weekend getaway trip, Bachelor party weekend, personal vacation or a business trip to count (i.e. no trips to Buffalo, New York to visit friends, go to sporting events or to do cross-border shopping were counted in that total), and (2.) Panama and England only made the list as I had indirect flights here on past trips to South America and Europe. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have actually said I have “visited” these places having never stepped out fo the airport for at least a day.

    I’m also aware that my list includes some terrorities and not “countries” (as per United Nations rules), such as Puerto Rico, U.S Virgin Islands, and St. Maarten (Dutch Overseas Territory), but just included it in my list as your rules seem to be very lenient with this.

    Regardless if you are a long term backpacker or a regular “9-5 worker” like me, this is a cool game to play just to see how many times you’ve set foot outside your own country over your lifetime!
    Ray recently posted…The Great Toronto Sports ChallengeMy Profile

  • Hi Ray, I love it! Yes airports etc. have to be included on this list (though not on my real country list) as otherwise you haven’t left that country (i.e. England – Germany – Turkey in this scenario, as soon as you have flown out of England, you are no longer in that country) Yes I find myself completely and utterly “untravelled” now with England and Northern Ireland topping my list. This means the only real non-English speaking country I’ve travelled in is China! Horrendous. Still it’s all in good fun! You’ve been to some cool places, though how did you get to Liechtenstein? If you came from Switzerland, surely you’d have been to Switzerland twice then? Or did you go straight into Austria next? Safe travels. Jonny

  • It was part of a European road trip I did in Grade 12 during Spring Break in March 1998 (Germany – Switzerland – Liechtenstein – Switzerland – France). There was about 12 of us from my high school plus another 10 – 12 from this school in North Dakota, USA that we shared a coach bus with on one of those EF Tours.

    We started off in Munich for 2 – 3 days before driving South through the Bavarian Alps. We then crossed over into Austria and spent one night in Innsbruck. Then we drove west through Liechtenstein (spent a couple of hours in Vaduz for lunch and to walk around town a bit) before making our way to Lucerne, Switzerland for another 2 – 3 days. We finished our trip driving up the South of France to visit Paris for a couple of days before flying home back to Canada. Definitely the best trip I have ever done in my childhood, and also the inspiration for me to do more international travel as an adult when the opportunity arises!
    Ray recently posted…The Great Toronto Sports ChallengeMy Profile

  • Hmmmm, lets see:

    1. England – 22
    2. Spain – 7
    3. France – 5
    4. USA – 3
    5. Belgium – 2
    6. Italy – 2
    7. Argentina – 2
    7. Hungary – 1
    8. Iceland – 1
    9. Scotland – 1
    10. Wales – 1
    11. Mexico – 1
    12. Bahamas – 1
    13. Jamaica – 1
    14. St Maarten – 1
    15. Haiti – 1
    16. Egypt – 1

    There are a couple of other places but I don’t know what category they fall under – Monaco, The Vatican and Antarctica would all be 1. Not an expansive list I know, but I am working on it and have some more to add early this year!

  • Hi Paul – I’d add all three of those into the list if I were you – I included Antarctica of course, as when I left Argentina for Antarctica, you cannot tell anyone that Port Lockroy is in Argentina – it’s not – it’s in Antarctica so it has to be included. Same goes for the other 2, make sure you then bring the countries on either side up a point too – i.e. you need to go to Italy twice on one trip to see the Vatican, as it has no airport, so you’re in Italy twice. Safe travels. Jonny

  • Australia (11)
    New Zealand (7)
    UK (6)
    France (7)
    Malaysia (7)
    Belgium (5)
    Singapore (4)
    Spain (4)
    Indonesia (2)
    Gibraltar (2)
    USA (2)
    Italy (2)
    Germany (2)
    Turkey (2)
    UAE (2)
    Nepal (2)
    China (1)
    Canada (1)
    Luxembourg (1)
    Monaco (1)
    San Marino (1)
    Morocco (1)
    Andorra (1)
    India (1)
    Iran (1)
    Czech Republic (1)
    Slovakia (1)
    Hungary(1)
    Romania (1)
    Bulgaria (1)
    Timor Leste (1)
    Papua New Guinea (1)

  • I have only visited Malaysia like 3 times plus one time in transit. But the thing is in Borneo i entered and left malaysia like 3 times in 24 hours on the road from Miri to Kota Kinabalu. That trip takes up 2 pages of your passport thanks to all Sarawak/Brunei/Sabah immigration controls.

    I kinda wish i just entered and left Brunei via the same Border crossing on the road from Miri. Kota Kinbalu was a shitty city than ended up making me sick and i only went there to get a flight to Manila that i didnt end up using because of my illness that sent me back to Australia

    Although i do wish i took the Brunei to Labaun ferry but i still would have had to get various stamps between Brunei/ Sarawak and Sabah.

  • Hi Martin, nice update there mate. In this crazy game, we count ALL stopovers as officially you’ve left that country, on route to the next so you can add all your separate Malaysia visits up. The experience you had in Borneo is a crazy one – I took the Labuan ferry as it was the easier and more sensible option, but I’d like to try that overland route sometime with all the border crossings! Safe travels. Jonny

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