100 Countries by 35
Indescribable emotions come with writing this post. Once a dream that didn’t seem entirely possible has somehow become reality. So how did we get here?
Before starting this, I went back and reread the post I wrote when I reached 50 countries. You can find that here: https://www.passportenvy.net/2017/01/at-50-i-learned.html At that time, I felt like I had already seen so much of the world. I was in awe of its vastness — the landscapes, the cultures, the people. I thought I understood what travel meant.
Since that post, so much has changed… yet so little has.
The Brief Journey to 100
Shortly after my father faced health battles that made the fragility of time feel very real. Then my mom — my travel partner, my built-in adventure buddy — was diagnosed with cancer and ultimately passed away.
Travel changed for me in those years.
I went from being a carefree, loosely planned backpacker to someone who overplanned every detail. I became anxious when things went wrong. I craved control in a world that had proven how little control we truly have.
But in the midst of all that heaviness, beautiful things unfolded during this journey as well.
I fell in love. I married a man who has steadied me through grief and uncertainty. A man who not only supported my dreams — but joined them. He fell in love with travel and the journey we took together.
And somewhere along the way, I found my way back to myself.
The Travel...
The next 50 involved taking in the sites and sounds of the vibrant life of Cuba will driving in old fashioned cars
In 2017 I spent the summer in Central Asia and the Middle East learning about how different life can be. I walked through the towering white marble buildings in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan and what seemed like a ghost town. Then driving through deserts along trucks of camels to camp next to a gas crater.
Kyrgyzstan showed me the wild lifestyle of a farmer. Here I road horseback when a man showed up outside my tent with a herd of sheep.
Next I walked the old streets of Jerusalem, climbed rocks in the Jordanian desert, and floated in the Dead Sea.
I finally reaching Egypt taking in the site of the pyramids and the sphinx. Then flying to Greece to take in the sun.
Ultimately ending the summer by trekking out to an old Soviet Union building in Bulgaria. Here I climbed through rubble to witness the inside of what looks like a UFO.
The following summer 2018 as I geared up for my wedding my mother and I took at trip to eastern Europe. We spent our time visiting old churches along Armenia and Georgia. And of course sneaking back to Turkey for some more shopping.
Hiked up volcanoes to see crater lakes and climbed across glaciers in Iceland. Celebrated my bachelorette in Mexico - yes it took me 65 countries to visit our neighboring country.
Then hiked glaciers, visited craters, and saw puffins in Iceland with my sister and mom.
Summer 2019 made my way overland through Central America seeing ruins in Guatamela and sand boarding down volcanoes in Nicaragua.
Taking a girls trip with my sister and mom to Costa Rica to chase waterfalls and wildlife. Backpacked on my honeymoon and showed the vibrant life of Colombia that I loved to my husband!
I found a different type of travel life during covid. Visiting places in my own country I never looked to before. Here I saw incredible wildlife in Alaska. I climbed up to stone arches in Utah and saw giant redwoods in California. Rainbow pools of water in Yellowstone and Petrified Forests in Arizona.
Next became the change in my travel. As international travel reopened I received a grant of a lifetime through Fund for Teachers in 2022 to create professional development in South America. Upon landing I was quarantined in Chile resulting in missing the first part of the trip (I luckily later got to finish this grant the following summer). Here is where I started to worry about travel plans.
This situation led me discovered more sites I would not have turned to otherwise as I went to Valparaiso and Mai Leppo outside of Santiago.
In Argentina I hike colorful mountains that looked like rainbows and saw Iguana Falls in Brazil. The sites that make you ooooh and ahh at how earth can look like this. Then traveling in the Amazon and seeing the joining of the waters.
That fall my father faced a tough medical journey and once again postponed travel. At this point my travel anxiety truly grew. We postponed trips until the following year. The next year brought a journey of success and 2023 became one of the best travel years. My mother and I visited Puerto Rico in the spring. Then went back to South America by completed my grant by driving through Peru to learn about sustainable living then to Patagonia to study in the far away landscapes.
We finished off the year by walking the cobblestone streets of Portugal, shopped the souks of Morocco, road camels across the desert, and hugged through the Disney Paris firework show.
The new year brought a new journey. A journey I do not wish on anyone. A journey that I wish I did not have to write about. A journey that changed everything. While in Colorado on a ski trip I got a call that would change my life forever on new years. My mother has stage 4 cancer. How could it be? How could we go from riding camels in Morocco to stage 4 crippling cancer?
That year I still pushed myself to travel that summer. My mother encouraged me to keep going and to keep exploring. And so I did. The summer of 2024 a travel dream came true getting to visit Japan with Tyler and our friends. Japan was everything I thought and more. The neon lights, strange cafes, and super cities. South Korea was incredible as well as we ate through seafood markets and peered into North Korea at the DMZ.
2024 also gave me a grant for an innovation circle through fund for teachers. This allowed me to travel through parts of Asia and study how to emotionally self regulate. Something at the time I wrote for my classroom but became a huge part of my own life.
I saw the distinct culture of Taiwan, searched for the spaceship looking casino in Macau, and stood among the towering building in Hong Kong.
Then I met an incredible family in Indonesia who walked me through their life and how they live. We visited caves, meditated, walked the rice fields, and shared stories about what life is.
Finally ending the trip by realizing I wasn't where I needed to be. I was needed at home and my place was to be home. I kept having this restless feeling. The prior carefree explorer feeling of backpacking was gone and a gnawing feeling replaced it day and night. Maybe I was just not cut out to travel like this anymore?
I made my way home through Singapore so I could walk amongst the super trees grove and view the jewel waterfall at the airport.
It turns out my decision was right. My place in travel had changed and my mother was more ill. I spend the following months by her side and reminiscing over just what we had accomplished together. After she passed I grappled with grief. I made a travel video to attribute to her life. It really showed me just how much we had done together. That I should be grateful for those experiences because many never get to do anything close to the connection we had. But saying and doing are two different things.
Summer 2025 was fast approaching and my grief was all consuming. While we originally had planned to stay home and save, Tyler encouraged us to take a big trip. Even more, he encouraged me to go off the beaten path and get back to a wild adventure by overloading through west Africa during rainy season. And once again, this would change everything, but in a much better way.
Traveling through Europe with Tyler brought a spark back into life. I found myself laughing again and enjoying what it was like to see new things. We ate at incredible restaurants and visited breathtaking mosques in Turkey.
We had a very teary goodbye before I took off by myself. To try reappreciate solo travel without the stress and consuming anxiety. To try to see find myself. I flew to Nigeria and Canoed through a floating village that faces possible government demolition in the near future. Hearing one of the chiefs story and the challenges they faced.
Next I made my way overland through voodoo villages in Togo and Benin. Seeing a different perspective on life and belief systems. Hearing stories of the slave ports and how the towns were shaped.
I made friends and joined a truck where I would camp the rest of my way through. The first night camping I did not sleep. I was uncomfortable. I was getting eaten by a mosquito. I was miserable but yet it was the exact feeling I wanted. I know that sounds crazy but I knew I had to be tough on myself to come out on the other side with a new perspective. Through Ghana we faces some hardships but made friends with monkey.
Travel though Cote D'Ivoire led to meeting some inspirational people. Visiting off the beaten path mountain villages and seeing the largest church in the world. I walked the unbathed streets and let the rain consume me as it started. Continuing on to Liberia I got to have dinner at the British Embassy and see more life that was such stark contrast to mine at home.
I sat at listened to tales in Sierra Leone of loss and war during previous years. Tales that involved best friends being shot in from of one other, joined war groups, and corruption. All while police sirens blared around us as an escort thorugh the country for safety.
We stuck in the mud and had to dig out truck out. Camped in places then got kicked out and told to move. Visited the very interesting city in Conakry where some people were scammed by a police officer holding a monkey in children's clothes. I had a motorbike taxi that got stopped mid ride and had his bike confiscated.
And finally travelled in the highlands slowly. Through the mud and the winding roads we made slow progress. Electricity became scare and population even more scarce. A place where electricity is supplied by an offshore ship. Then ending the whole thing with a wild taxi driver through the streets of Bissau.
The trip had changed it all - and I once again fell in love with travel and grateful for my place in this world. I know it sounds cliche. The girl who traveled the world to heal. We have all heard the story before. But maybe that is why, because travel is that important in shaping and defining us. It successfully changes our perspective and makes us see the world and ourselves in new light
Then to celebrated and officially hit the milestone with the most supportive person in the world, Tyler. Who made it possible to hit that number 100 and basked in the beautiful sunlight and water in the Dominican Rupublic and ride buggies through the mud. Laughing in the sun and looking forward to what the future brings and not what the past holds.
At 100 Countries, I’ve Learned…
For me: Fifty was about discovery. One hundred was about rediscovery.
I’ve learned that grief travels with you. You can stand on the edge of the Sahara, in the mountains of Nepal, or on a quiet street in a tiny European village — and still miss someone deeply. But I’ve also learned that the world has a way of holding that grief gently.
I’ve learned that plans will fail. Flights will cancel. Borders will close. Bags will get lost. And somehow, those can make the best stories that you remember most.
I’ve learned that people are kinder than headlines suggest.
I’ve learned that the world is both impossibly big and beautifully small.
I’ve learned that the goal was never really 100 countries. The goal was to feel alive. To stay curious. To keep saying yes.
At 50 countries, I was amazed at how much there was to see.
At 100 countries, I am amazed at how much there still is.
I travel to understand it. I notice more. I sit longer. I listen better.
I have learned that I should not be defined by my grief. To let it hold me down and stop living life. But to use it to propel me forward and to make the most of what unknown time we have.
This number carries memories of my mom. It carries resilience. It carries love. It carries growth.
The world didn’t just change me. It healed me.
And maybe the biggest lesson?
I have learned that time is the greatest gift. And the greatest risk is waiting.
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