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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More folks are coming in from the field. ITASE is done for the year and those folks are back. ANDRILL is all wrapped up. The Meteorite hunters are done and they gave a presentation last night. We collected about 700 hundred meteorites this year. The Antartician meteorites are generally the most pristine on the planet. It is fun to catch up with these folks as they all come back into town after meeting them earlier in the season. Everyone learns something.

I am hearing a lot of "Where have you been Charlie?" I was out of town for a week on a business trip to Pole.

This is a hallway in the new South Pole Station.

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