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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I had my meetings in Berkshire England. Not only was I in Berkshire, I was in East Berkshire. It was a bit different than East Berkshire, NY (which I am very familiar). There are mostly paved roads and fewer mobile homes. They also seem to have a Government (albeit historical). I had an absolutely delightful breakfast this morning. The first thing on the menu was poached egg on haddock. It's true. I was very pleased, they seemed to know I was coming.

In Finland I had fish at every meal that I was in country. Just to make sure I didn't just have fish in my diet (for nutritional needs), I managed to buy a can of Bear Meat in Helsinki.

I left part of me in Finland. It is a great place.

I have a lot of stuff to do in Europe. I will be back in a few weeks. I see Munich on my schedule now, but I have a lot more things to do in other places in England, France, Finland, Germany and elsewhere. Building a global team really turns me on.

I am doing a good job of managing the long days and time zone changes/differences. There are all sorts of techniques, but nothing surpasses the ability to sleep well on the plane to be refreshed for work. I don't have to do any Asia trips at this point, knock-on-wood.

I will be home in Atlanta tomorrow, long enough to get packed and unpacked, catch up on work and personal business (like buying a house and a car), and head out to Brazil.

Here are some more pics of Finland.

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