Last year I counted up all the countries I’ve visited and I realised I was very close to reaching 30 before my 30th birthday in September! It seemed too good an opportunity to miss, and Montenegro became my 29th country in the Spring. I’d highly recommend a visit to the Bay of Kotor, with its pretty waterfront villages amongst a backdrop of striking mountains, plus it’s visited by considerably fewer tourists than its better-known neighbour Croatia.

Bay of Kotor, Montenegro

I’d been thinking of visiting Belgium in August but in the end I decided to make the most of lots of summery Bristol weekends. So while I didn’t make to another new country before my birthday, I can now say that at the age of 30 I’ve visited my 30^th country! Drum roll please for Sri Lanka!

I spent three and a half weeks exploring Sri Lanka in February this year and had a wonderful time. For the first two weeks I joined a small group tour with G Adventures (a company I’d highly recommend) hitting all the main sights, and the final week I spent beach hopping along the south coast – dreamy! Sri Lanka has a great mix of nature, culture and food, from the central highlands dotted with tea plantations to the white sand beaches along the coastline. You can read more about my trip here.

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka

I’ve written the full list of 30 countries at the end of this post, but first I thought I’d pick out a few countries to go into in a little more detail:

• Greece – I really love Greece. The food, climate and landscape are all delightful. I’ve visited lots of different islands through several years of sailing trips with my family when I was school-age, which was a wonderful way to experience places that most tourists can’t easily reach. I returned to Kefalonia in October 2020 with my sister (shortly before the covid travel restrictions became really full-on!) and thoroughly enjoyed soaking up the sunshine, swimming in the crystal-clear water and eating the delicious food.

Kefalonia, Greece

• Thailand is a country with so much variety to offer, from bustling cities to the peaceful lands in the north, to the myriad of islands and beachside locations in the south. I spent two weeks exploring with my boyfriend, with the catalyst for our trip being the wedding of some of our friends in Bangkok. It was an amazing opportunity to soak up the vibrant culture, and I’d love to return in the future.

• Cape Town, South Africa – I visited with my family back in 2016, and there’s so much I enjoyed exploring: the iconic Table Mountain, Boulder’s Penguin Colony, Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope, Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden, the colourful Bo Kaap neighbourhood, the scenic winelands, and Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was jailed for 18 years. We also visited several museums exploring the history of the area.

Bangkok, Thailand

I’ve been very fortunate to visit a lot of amazing places, and this is largely due to my father working as an airline pilot for many years. This meant that as a family we were often able to get heavily discounted flights, enabling us to visit places we wouldn’t have otherwise. I have fond memories of joining him on work trips too – it was pretty special to hear your dad’s voice speaking on the overhead speakers!

So where’s next on my travel list? I’ve not been to anywhere in South America so I’d love to visit. Egypt, Iceland and Japan are also up there. In the UK I’ve yet to visit Snowdonia or the Lake District, and my mum recently visited the Scilly Isles which I swiftly added to my list! I’d love to explore more of Scotland too. And I’d like to travel around more of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia – it’s safe to say I shan’t be running out of ideas anytime soon!

Isle of Skye, Scotland

Lastly, here’s the full list below. In terms of qualifying for the list, I haven’t included countries where I’ve only done airport layovers such as Dubai. I counted the UK as one country, along with the USA. If there are any places you’d like to me to write a blog post about in more detail feel free to let me know!

Europe (14) UK (including Scotland and Wales) Ireland France Italy Spain Portugal Germany Austria Greece Switzerland Denmark Netherlands Sweden Montenegro Africa (4) South Africa Morocco Seychelles Mauritius

Australia (1) Australia North America (5) USA (Arizona, California, Colorado and New York) Canada Barbados Grenada St Lucia Asia (6) Hong Kong Singapore Thailand Philippines Maldives Sri Lanka

There you have it – 30 countries in 30 years. Perhaps this has inspired your next trip! I’d love to know any stand-out destinations that you’ve been to?

Alexa

P.S. I’ve written a number of blog posts on the following cities and countries: Amsterdam | Bath | Bristol | Edinburgh | Isle of Skye | Italy | Lisbon | Paris | Porto | Sri Lanka | St Lucia | Western Balkans

Header photo: Ahangama, Sri Lanka