100 and Done! (Countries that is...)

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We are back! This last trip brought the total countries visited to 100! It is a crazy milestone. It is difficult, time-consuming and can be (IS) expensive. After I got back from Antarctica in 2007, I started thinking about it. After 2010 I was thinking about it more (as I moved from NY to Georgia) and in 2014 it had become a real goal. Between Angie and I we have been to 109 Countries. We are tied at 100 countries each. We have 9 countries different in our lists. For example, I have been to San Marino. She has not. She has been to Israel. I have not, yet. There has been some fun competition in this area. That's why we had to establish rules. 1.) Must be listed (as a country) with the US State Department 2.) Being in an airport doesn't count. You have to get through immigration somehow and not in a DMZ or a no-mans-land 3.) A passport stamp is not required. I have been to Canada, Paraguay, and Uruguay without getting my passport stamped. There are friendly borders in many places...
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Interestingly, I am not very nervous about my trip to the bottom of the world. I had tinge of it when I got PQd. Now I am fine. Bring it on. I am looking forward to being on aircraft and being out in a remote camp.

I did get a fur hat yesterday. I heard that I might need a hat in Antarctica. I have a bunch o' packing to do.. two duffle bags. In goes all my jeans and most of my work cloths as well as 1 set of nice clothes for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Saturday night I will be in Denver. I am going to try and blog and paper log everyday as I am deployed. They are going to do a virus scan on my machine in Denver.

The big question is, "Why are you doing this?" The answer is that, "I am not sure." I can tell for certain that it feels as though it is something I must do. I don't really feel I have a choice. It is important and compelling. I hope to have a better answer after I am on the ice.

I will be back.

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