The Coolest Remote Islands I Haven’t Yet Visited

** Edit since I wrote this, I have now backpacked some of these islands!

On my quest to visit every country in the world from my ridiculous ultimate list, I often work in clusters to tick them off. For example, in 2014 I visited every country in Central America. Then in 2015, I completed the Baltic states. In 2016, I made a huge conquest in the Stans region. It might have slowed down recently in the wake of depression but backpacking is always on my mind again and to the weirdest, coolest and most remote places.

I have written before about some crazy islands I visited as well as my favourite islands from my journey so far. Back in 2008, I worked on the Isle of Wight on the ferries. Then in 2009 I visited Jersey, Sark, Guernsey and Herm. In 2010, I spent almost 6 months living in Tasmania, where I also visited Bruny Island. In 2011, I made it to Antarctica, where I stepped on countless islands including King George Island, Barrientos, Cuverville Island and Deception Island – truly one of the most beautiful places on earth. Since then, I have visited some more cool islands, including Cyprus, Malta and Comino. I even slept on an island in the Polish city of Starogard Gdański as recently as 2016. ANd how could I forget my crazy St. Patrick’s Day trip to Port Blair on the Andaman Islands!

So without further ado, here are some of the coolest and most remote islands that I have yet to visit.

With such clear blue waters, sandy beach bars, hot sun and delicious cocktails, this is a paradise surely!

Unless you’re a hardcore backpacker or traveller, you might not even known where Nauru is. I had to check it a few times. It’s one of the most remote countries in the world. It is an island in the Pacific Ocean which only has about 4 flights to it per week. You also need a visa to visit, as well as at least a few flight connections. It is truly one of the most difficult islands in the world to visit.

It is also another country that you can tour completely on foot! You can walk all the way around it. The population is a mere 13,000 making it one of the smallest countries in the world! I would love a night on the rip there!

I love the name of the Isle of Man and indeed, I have seen this island around 50 times in my life, either flying over it or sailing past it on the Belfast to Birkenhead ferry, a route I have taken manys a time. However, despite growing up a few hundred kilometres away, I have never stepped foot on the Isle of Man! True story, so for me it is still a place to conquer. If I manage to get inspiration back to go backpacking and complete my 200 countries by the age of 40 (I have two years, 6 months to complete that). It has a population of 80,000 ish and looks amazing in photos.

4.St. Kitts and Nevis
This is definitely a travel regret of mine. Back in 2004, Northern Ireland football team played in a tour of the Caribbean, drawing 1-1 with Barbados, before beating St. Kitts and Nevis 2-0 and Trinidad and Tobago 3-0. On that tour, David Healy hit the famous 14th international goal of his career to overtake Colin Clarke’s record. Unfortunately, I was working on Bournemouth beach at the time having just broken my arm and being a poor student. The flights and hotel prices of over £1000 were just beyond my budget at the time, and it is a regret. However, it is still on my radar and I hope to visit one day.

5.Equatorial Guinea’s Capital – Malabo on Bioko Island
Equatorial Guinea remains one of the most difficult countries in the world to visit. It’s a closed off country notorious for its right wing government and has been dubbed the North Korea or Turkmenistan of Africa. However, the real gem for me would be not to visit the mainland part of Equatorial Guinea, but to backpack the capital city, Malabo which is on a separate island! It is located on Bioko Island and is bound to be a crazy experience. I have rarely ever seen another travel blogger backpack Bioko Island, so I’d love to do that and write about it.

So those are just five of the thousands of islands I have yet to visit. I could have listed about 30 more. I also forgot to mention the Faroe Islands at the top of the article. I toured there in 2015 and loved it – a truly remarkable set of islands.