Travel

I have a huge advantage over most people in the travel logging department, for two reasons. First, my family twice spent a sabbatical year in London, when I was two and when I was twelve. And also because in my thirties I was childless and worked for United Airlines. My job required me to travel, especially internationally at the end- if I had earned frequent flyer miles I would have been top tier my last two years. Plus, I was able to fly for fun for free (actually really cheap but not exactly free) and my work friends could fly free too, so I had companions.

For domestic travel, before I went to work for the airline I had never been west of the Mississippi. Now, the only two states I haven’t been to are North Dakota and Idaho. A flip side to the great flying benefits was that vacation time for junior employees really sucked, so most of my personal travel during that time was in the U.S., where I literally went to San Francisco to have dinner with a friend one Saturday night and home on the red-eye.  Another day trip was to the San Diego zoo, again returning on the redeye. (I lived in the central staging spot of Chicago, also the biggest hub so the most non-stops.) I’m glad to say I did not squander my opportunities. So to wrap up domestic, I’ve been to the US Virgin Islands, but never Puerto Rico. And not Guam or American Samoa.

As I noted at the top, I got a head start on the international thing, starting when I was two years old. So by continent, here are the places I've been, with notes.

In this hemisphere, in order of visits, I've been to:

Canada
Bahamas
Cuba
Mexico
British Virgin Islands

So South America is totally missing. 

In Europe, where there are so many small countries jammed together, in no particular order I've been to:

England
Scotland

Wales
France
Belgium
Netherlands
Germany
Switzerland
Spain
Italy
Monaco
Iceland*
Norway
Sweden
Denmark
Estonia
Russia **
*In Iceland, I was on a ferry flight taking delivery of a new airplane from Paris to Chicago. The Airbus 320 couldn't make it across the Atlantic, so we made a fuel stop in Iceland. I never left the airport, but I did spend a few hours there. And I had the most spectacular views ever, as we were below normal cruising level, and I was in the cockpit for the landing and takeoff.
**I spent 10 hours in St. Petersburg, off a cruise ship, on a guided tour. It seems hardly fair to color in the whole huge country based on that experience!

In Africa, I've been to:

    Zaire/Democratic Republic of the Congo
    Kenya
    Tanzania
    Egypt
    Tunisia

In Asia and the Pacific Rim, I've been to (all for work):

Japan
Singapore
Malaysia
Hong Kong

Australia
New Zealand
Fiji

So where haven't I been that I really really want to go? Almost anywhere I haven't been. And, for that matter, there is no place I've been that I wouldn't mind going to again. The only trip on the books right now is one from Norway to Iceland via the Shetlands in a small cruise ship at the end of June. This is much less adventurous than the sailing trip I had planned to Iceland last year, but it's with friends and will cover much more territory. We're all buying trip insurance and the consensus just before Christmas was about a 40% probability we would go. Way too soon to tell!