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 home in Duluth. I spent the last week making my way to central Finland and back again. It is time to spend time on the house and catching up. I finally plugged in the TV. I haven't missed it since I moved.

We had some productive meetings in England and Finland. We had time for a few laughs as well. It is always enlightening when I travel and spend time with folks from other cultures.

One of my colleagues from England just got back from Kiev. He brought back an informative brochure about an exciting tour opportunity of the Chernobyl power plant. Let's call it "Atomic Disaster Tourism" for now. I had to admit that I would like to go on the tour.

I think "Cramo" is a good brand name for temporary offices. My domestic flight in Finland was on an ATR-72 combo-freighter. There were 5 other passengers. There were 4 in the air crew and 4 on the ground. Jyvaskyla Finland has DIY security. I like Finland. They seem so normal until you get to know them. Let's not forget that Linus Torvalds is Finnish.











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David said…
Since I don't know any Fin better: what happens once you get to know them better?? :)
8:05 AM
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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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