"How many countries have you travelled to?"

I am often asked this question, more so since I launched Unique Travels. Why the obsession? I understand the curiosity, but it is just a number, and to me it doesn't mean anything.

I passed through Luxembourg once on my way to The Netherlands, does that mean I visited it? Absolutely not. I couldn't tell you anything about that country. I could probably guess the architecture, the food and the mood, but that would be a wild (and rude) guess.

What does it mean to visit a country?

Passing through the airport, spending a few hours doing a tour in a taxi and overnighting in a luxury international hotel chain doesn't qualify for me.

I feel I know a place when I spent time staring at locals whist drinking wine on a terrace. I need to try the food, and not just a burger in The States (also the meals that real people cook and eat at home).

I want to talk to families in the neighbourhood, understand what it means to live there, see their kids play and listen to them communicate (hell, even invite myself for dinner!)

I want to hang out with locals drinking late at night, just chatting, learning about their lives, knowing we will never see each other again.

Blurry picture from a night with completely random people we met in a bar in Lima. Their names? no clue. But we had fun and got to see a slice of their lives over there.

If we are travelling with the little ones, I always encourage them to play with local kids. It can be really awkward at the beginning, but it takes minutes (and sometimes a shared snack) to break all barriers and make a new friend.

It just takes a cheesy curl to make a friend

Now, if you really need to know... my passport has seen 56 countries 😉

Thankfully, I still have a lot of the world to discover.

On to the next adventure!