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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It is fairly easy to notice we have a lot less people on station now. The lower population causes less congestion during my daily walking commutes (mostly around the galley). The station population will grow a little bit, then ramp down quickly to 120 people slated to winter over. Feb 24 is the last flight and the offical start of winter at McMurdo. The offical start to winter for South Pole is February 14th.

The photos some ANITA one of the long distance balloons that was launched a while back http://amanda.uci.edu/~anita/

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