For those who like to count countries...

[GilliC]

I ran across this website today, and it reminded me of all the "How many countries have you been to?" posts.
mosttraveledpeople.com/

It lets you create an account and store a checklist of states/provinces/regions/islands for each country as well as maintaining a list of UNESCO heritage sites.

For the "countries" question, you can get a list of UN member nations you've visited.

And for questions like the "most exotic places you've been?" it calculates a ranking of how many members have visited each location, and your scorecard shows your 3 most uncommon places visited (as well as the three most common places you haven't been).

It takes a while to enter all the places, but then they're saved to your account, so you never have to count them up again.

[GilliC]

And since I think it's interesting...

My 3 Most Difficult Places Visited:

1. Heilongjiang (Harbin/northeastern China)
   
2. South Shetland Islands
3. British Antarctic Territory

My 3 Easiest Places Not Visited:

1. Austria
2. New Jersey
3. Arizona (yeah, I've never been to the Grand Canyon!)

[wanderlustfoodie]

I like the concept, if for no other reason than for me to memorialize all my UNESCO visits since I'm sure I already can't remember them all, but I hate how you have to give your full name. Is there any way to keep that private after you register, do you know?

[SJ]

This is right up my alley! I will be back with my results.

[GilliC]

Aug 26, 2013 11:32:09 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

I like the concept, if for no other reason than for me to memorialize all my UNESCO visits since I'm sure I already can't remember them all, but I hate how you have to give your full name. Is there any way to keep that private after you register, do you know?

You could always give an alias as long as it's not blatantly obvious.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Aug 26, 2013 11:37:52 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Aug 26, 2013 11:32:09 GMT -5 wanderlustfoodie said:

I like the concept, if for no other reason than for me to memorialize all my UNESCO visits since I'm sure I already can't remember them all, but I hate how you have to give your full name. Is there any way to keep that private after you register, do you know?

You could always give an alias as long as it's not blatantly obvious.

Ok I caved and joined. My name is so common it could be mistaken for an alias plus there's an option that other members can't contact you.

Will be back with my results, too!

[SJ]

This is cool. I am ranked #17 among females in the US ages 20-29.

[wanderlustfoodie]

101/873 - that count seems so low Lots of travel to do!

ETA:
3 most difficult places visited: Bonaire, Galapagos, Chihuahua
3 easiest places not visited: Netherlands, Denmark, Thailand

[Brit]

138/873

3 Most Difficult Places Visited*: Northwest Territories (Canada), Pondicherry (India), and Tianjin (China)
3 Easies Places not Visited: Denmark, Thailand**, Hungary

*I didn't really think these were all that difficult/odd. I know a lot of people who have been to Pondicherry and Tianjin. Maybe I just have a special social/work circle.

**Thailand is on our "to travel to very soon" list.

[sunshinedaydreams]

Wow. In our circle of friends we're extremely well traveled. On that site, not so much. Only a measly 71/873, but we'll be adding a few more next week.

3 Most Difficult Places Visited: Yukon Territory, Zanzibar, Antigua
3 Easiest Places Not Visited: Austria, Czech Republic, Catalonia

[frlcb]

Great site!

127/746

57/981

[sushi]

Where I lived in Japan is apparently so remote it's not even an option.
ETA I'm an idiot. It was there, just by a larger region name than where I lived. It's #2 on my most difficult places list which is weird b/c the #1 is a much more common tourist spot (it includes Okinawa).

Hardest visited
Ryukyu Islands
Tohoku Region
Islas de la Bahia

Easiest not visited
Austria
Denmark
Sweden

[Wanderista]

This is interesting although, yeah, there are definitely some gaps in the region system. Still interesting though.

Most difficult places: 1. Chihuahua 2. Istria (Croatia? Really? That place is a breeze to get around in) 3. Montenegro

Easiest not visited: 1. Vatican City 2. New Jersey 3. Nevada

[travelingturtle]

I think, not 100% sure, this site was specifically created by a guy who is claiming he's the worlds most travelled guy. There are several ways to count "places visited" so he uses this way because it means he's more travelled than another guy who uses a different system. I'm going to input my info when I get to a computer.

[travelingturtle]

Ok, someone else created a more elaborate list to compete with this one.

www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/charles-veley-worlds-most-traveled-man/

[Waffles]

Neither of those links works for me: domain expired.

[travelingturtle]

Weird- it just worked a few hours ago.

[frlcb]

They both worked for me like 2 minutes ago

[GilliC]

I went back to see what my overall numbers are, and I'm getting the domain expiration message.

"This domain name expired on 08/26/2013 and is pending renewal or deletion."

What are the odds that he let it expire the day I signed up...
I wonder if they just use that as a generic message and it's actually over its usage limit.

[frlcb]

It isn't working for me now either. That is crazy, it was earlier this morning

[CloudBee]

Fun! I need to check this out.

[CloudBee]

The domain expired YESTERDAY, so I can't check it out.

Here's the notice when I click on the link: "NOTICE: This domain name expired on 08/26/2013 and is pending renewal or deletion."

[GilliC]

I checked this morning (to add a new entry to my list), and the website seems to be working again.

[Captain Serious]

Fun site! I spent way too much time playing around on it today.

110 places visited and 763 remaining
My World Heritage Count: 53 of 981

[roseflower]

And... what determines the 3 easiest place not visited?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using proboards

[Captain Serious]

I agree, in a sense. I don't count airports or places I haven't seen a decent amount of. Butt at some point, travel has become a bit of an obsession of mine, and I love to know that I've seen a good portion of the world, comparatively.

That being said, I know that there are parts of the world I have spent precious little time in and have very little understanding about. Still...I can't help taking a small bit of pleasure in knowing that I've seen/experienced as much as I have. Although, truth be told, I'm not in competition with anyone. I wish everyone had a well-rounded view of the world before spouting off about the way things are and ought to be.

[GilliC]

Sept 18, 2013 0:10:27 GMT -5 roseflower said:

And... what determines the 3 easiest place not visited?

It's not really "easy" so much as "most visited." The site keeps track of how many people have been to each place on the list, so the three "easiest places not visited" would be the three places that have been added to the most people's lists but not to yours. Similarly, the three "hardest" places you've been are the three places that fewest other people have been to.  The idea being that if fewer people visit a place, it's probably harder to get to. Obviously that's not entirely true until you're getting to the level of places like Tristan da Cunha* or Bouvet Island.

I first found this site when I was looking for information on visiting Socotra. It clearly caters to people who like more unusual travel destinations. I think that's where the "easiest" and "hardest" terminology comes from.


*I was slightly disappointed that Inaccessible Island wasn't listed separately from Tristan da Cunha. I was talking once about how when I first found Inaccessible Island on Google Maps, I really wanted to visit, and the guy I was talking to said, "I've been to Inaccessible Island!" No way! It turns out he had visited Tristan da Cunha three times before the weather was clear enough to land on Inaccessible!

[GilliC]

And I agree that the guy is a douche. Personally, I've never been into the competition aspect, but I do like to keep counts of countries I've visited. I definitely don't agree with some of the breakdowns for countries (or lack thereof) on this particular site, but it is nice to have a way to deal with those pesky questions that come up like, "Do you count the countries in the UK separately?" "Does Réunion Island count as France?" "Do Hong Kong and Macau count separately from mainland China? What about Taiwan, since that depends on your politics?"

Regarding the competition thing, one of the surprising things I loved about the trip to Antarctica was getting to talk openly to people about other trips. Everyone was so enthusiastic about traveling and had been lots of places, so you could talk about your coolest travel experiences without sounding like you were bragging or worrying about making other people feel bad. Everyone had their own stories to share, and no one was trying to one-up anyone else.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2013 3:06:12 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

I think, not 100% sure, this site was specifically created by a guy who is claiming he's the worlds most travelled guy. There are several ways to count "places visited" so he uses this way because it means he's more travelled than another guy who uses a different system. I'm going to input my info when I get to a computer.

You remember where the hell is Matt?  I swear that guy has been more places than this guy.