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 am back in Duluth, but in reality it might as well be a foreign country. It is all still so new and different. Some things are becoming more familiar, but I need the GPS to find my way around to all, but the simplest of destinations. After living in Berkshire, NY for 10 years, the city life really has shown the deprivation that exists in rural NY state. This week no travel. I am headed to South Dakota and rural Minnesota the week after. I am anxious to get back to Europe (England, France and Germany), but with the Europeans largely on holiday it really isn't practical for a few more weeks. I will be traveling a lot to get ahead of my objectives.

I bought a car, finally. The pic shows what the Mercedes (I was planning on buying) looks like after I have had a long chat with myself. I can certainly afford a new BMW or Mercedes. I just know spending money on a fancy car won't make me better. There are lots of opportunities to make myself better (I am looking at a Skip Barber driving class at Road Atlanta for example). So the 2004 Kia Optima LX is the ride of choice. I am planning on getting the car painted and having ALL of the emblems removed and generally de-branding it (except for the Georgia Tag on the back). Perhaps I am doing something similar to a "black bumper Amish" treatment.

I am looking forward to buying a really nice tractor and implements some day. I have seen many in the last few weeks.

I let the counter-offer on the lake front property go. I am still looking. I am not a distressed buyer. I plan on keeping it that way.

DJ is flying down to visit this coming weekend. It has been quite a while since we have seen each other; it has been at least a month. That will be good. The bakery is going strong. Significant business changes are the most important stuff in planning. I am flexible.

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

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Image
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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