Why the focus on “country count”?

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From the media coverage (and Instagram!) it seems that many travelers are focused on achieving a high “country count”:

How do you define “country”?

The UN recognizes about 200 countries. But there are additional autonomous regions that are sort of like countries, and some island and other areas that are geographically separate. By that measure, you can count up to 300 or more!

Not sure why so many focus on a “country count” other than its intuitive and easy, but may be misleading: does visiting a country for a few hours really count in terms of experiencing much about the country?

Would a 3 hour visit to Los Angeles be representative of visiting the United States?

A young woman who claimed to be the first woman to visit all countries was criticized online (partially because she was not the first) because she visited many countries for just hours before moving on, rapidly, to the next country.

How I Count Country Visits

Some count stepping foot in a country – even for an airline flight transfer or a few hours stop enroute to someplace else – as a counted country. I do not count those as country visits.

  • I count a country visit if it includes at least a 24-hour stay – typically an overnight stay.
  • I do not count an airport layover to change planes, as a country visit. My return flight from Oslo flew to Stockholm, transferred to another plane, to fly onwards. We were in the the airport for a few hours.
  • I do not count visiting the U.S. or Canada in my country count because I live in the U.S., and have visited Canada numerous times, its mostly English speaking, and my wife’s Dad grew up in Canada. It doesn’t have the “another country” feel to us. We used to live near the border and it was literally a day trip.

My Country Count

  • Netherlands (2 weeks)
  • UK (10 days)
  • Iceland (7 days)
  • Norway (14 days)

I spent 3 hours on the ground in Greenland but I do not consider that a “country visit”, so I included it on my own list with an asterisk to note that its sort of an “other” category.

My Goals

I do not have a specific country count goal and would not be surprised if I did not even make it to 10 countries.

My goal is to spend at least 5 to 10 months outside the U.S., which could mean spending 2 months in one country, 2 months in another, etc, versus spending a day or less and adding it to a country count. I am looking for what to me is a meaningful experience in a country and its culture.