collecting countries

October 4, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

Congrats on Malta.

Hang in there. As I am sure you have heard: "It's a marathon, not a sprint"

But the 'Cycles agree that it is worth the effort. Are you ABT (all but thesis) or still doing coursework?

2.1k · October 4, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

Congrats on Malta and thanks for not asking us for the final coords for Can You See Sicily on Gozo And if you did ask then sorry for not replying: we were traveling and are just catching up with email. But we get a request for final coords on that one so often it's not funny anymore. Anyway, Malta is really nice for caching

5.8k · October 5, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

Our pace has slowed considerably. I blame the job and the toddler. When neither interfere, my top priority is spending time with the wife; geocaching comes in 4th. But I will get the opportunity next weekend to take a solo road trip and get some more pages for my NM Delorme.

Glad you enjoyed Malta, it was one of our favorite places to visit when we lived in Europe. Just very different than most of the countries you can get to from Germany.

Where in NM will you be in December? (I will be spending half of the month in a tent somewhere in Dona Ana County, as my unit will be in the field for two weeks just before Christmas.)

14k · October 6, 2015

The other was to a University in Cuba but that probably wouldn't happen until Spring 2016.

After further discussions with my manager and my contact at the University in Cuba it looks like I'll almost definitely be going to Cuba for a week next April. I'll actually be in a smaller city (Santa Clara) where there is only one cache but will probably stay a day or two in Havana. I think I remember others here that have done some geocaching in Cuba. Has anyone traveled there on a business visa?

2.7k · October 6, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

I was just checking and I've been on 5 business related trips this year (and one more scheduled in November to China) but all to places where I've previously found a cache. This may be the first year since I started geocaching (in 2007) that I have not added a new country or state.

As is often the case when I travel for business I do a bit of "networking" with people that might lead to other travel. At the meetings last week in Paris I was specifically asked if I could travel to their institution to do some consulting. One was in Versaille, France which wouldn't add a new country. The other was to a University in Cuba but that probably wouldn't happen until Spring 2016. I also had some good conversations with the CEO of a company in Greece where there could be some potential collaboration. Meanwhile three of my colleagues are currently in Africa and have visited Zambia, Uganda, Kenya, and Botswana, all countries in which I have not found a cache.

Wow. You've been to some interesting places but what about Canada? Would it not be easy to add that one?

14k · October 6, 2015

Wow. You've been to some interesting places but what about Canada? Would it not be easy to add that one?

It should be, especially since I only live about 3 hours from the border. For some reason I just haven't managed to travel to Canada since I started geocaching though I've been 5 times in three different provinces pre-caching. I also haven't found a cache in Mexico. I had a layover in Mexico City a couple of years ago on the way to Costa Rica but didn't feel comfortable leaving the airport and getting back in time for my flight. I'm looking at some travel options for a Cuba trip in April and am considering an overnight layover in either Mexico City or Cancun. Panama City is another option.

1.7k · October 7, 2015

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

50% more than my age... so far

1.7k · October 7, 2015

The other was to a University in Cuba but that probably wouldn't happen until Spring 2016.

After further discussions with my manager and my contact at the University in Cuba it looks like I'll almost definitely be going to Cuba for a week next April. I'll actually be in a smaller city (Santa Clara) where there is only one cache but will probably stay a day or two in Havana. I think I remember others here that have done some geocaching in Cuba. Has anyone traveled there on a business visa?

I went there purely for leisure so can't help with that side of it. I cached from my phone, didn't take my GPS unit. They xray ed everything, I even had to take off my watch so they could scan it too!

October 9, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

Me 26 countries > 24 years old.

I started a new job last week and now I am working a lot of hours, thus leaving me few hours to go geocaching in the middle of the week, and looks like (as the colleague says above) on weekends I will be quite tired so my geocaching finds will not grow as fast as it used to. But this job will allow me to travel a lot, hopefully to new places

14k · October 9, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

Me 26 countries > 24 years old.

I started a new job last week and now I am working a lot of hours, thus leaving me few hours to go geocaching in the middle of the week, and looks like (as the colleague says above) on weekends I will be quite tired so my geocaching finds will not grow as fast as it used to. But this job will allow me to travel a lot, hopefully to new places

Sounds like a nice compromise and pretty much where I am at as well. I didn't start geocaching until I was well into my 50s.

14k · October 9, 2015

The other was to a University in Cuba but that probably wouldn't happen until Spring 2016.

After further discussions with my manager and my contact at the University in Cuba it looks like I'll almost definitely be going to Cuba for a week next April. I'll actually be in a smaller city (Santa Clara) where there is only one cache but will probably stay a day or two in Havana. I think I remember others here that have done some geocaching in Cuba. Has anyone traveled there on a business visa?

I went there purely for leisure so can't help with that side of it. I cached from my phone, didn't take my GPS unit. They xray ed everything, I even had to take off my watch so they could scan it too!

People from the U.S. are still not allowed to go to Cuba purely as a tourist. There is somewhat of a loophole that allows one to go on an organized "educational" tour.

1.2k · October 10, 2015

Returned from Finland and Norway last night making it 39 countries so far. Plus I learned that the most popular foods in Norwegian grocery stores are pizza and Mexican. There are full aisles of both, Who knew?

October 11, 2015

2015 was a fairly good year for me. I am now up to 60 Groundspeak defined countries.

New Groundspeak defined countries for me were Loas, Hong Kong, Macau, India, Portugal and Gibraltar.

I also got quite a few new State/Province/1st level Administration Units.

Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, Ratchaburi and Nong Khai in Thailand.

West-Vlaanderen in Belgium.

Andalucía and Extremadura in Spain.

Alaska in the US.

Misiones in Argentina.

Paraná in Brazil.

On tap so far for 2016 we will be going to The Philippines and United Arab Emirates.

2.7k · October 11, 2015

Its interesting that Groundspeak have defined Macao and Hong Kong as countries, are they not both part of China? And, Gibraltar is a British territory. Hmmm.

14k · October 11, 2015

Its interesting that Groundspeak have defined Macao and Hong Kong as countries, are they not both part of China? And, Gibraltar is a British territory. Hmmm.

Hong Kong, Macao, and Gibralter are allow listed as a distinct country/territoriy in the ISO-3166 standard for country names. The list of countries that GS used is based upon the UN geopolitical ontololgy and/or the ISO-3166 standard.

4.5k · October 11, 2015

Having been recently to Hong Kong, Macau, and nearby Shenzhen (China), it's clear to me they may as well be considered separate countries. China's made almost no changes since they took over sovereignty. All three still have different money, different laws, you still go through passport control between them, and they don't even agree on what side of the road to drive on.

It's also a great place to collect three "countries" in short order.

</on topic>

14k · October 11, 2015

Having been recently to Hong Kong, Macau, and nearby Shenzhen (China), it's clear to me they may as well be considered separate countries. China's made almost no changes since they took over sovereignty. All three still have different money, different laws, you still go through passport control between them, and they don't even agree on what side of the road to drive on.

<on topic>

It's also a great place to collect three "countries" in short order.

</on topic>

For a U.S. citizen one can enter Hong Kong and Macau with just a passport but China requires a (very expensive) visa. I'll be in China in three weeks but unfortunately no where near Hong Kong or Macau. I wanted to an travel their via Hong Kong or Seoul but the people that are paying for the trips insisted on booking my flights for me.

2.7k · October 12, 2015

I've been to all three too but pre GC days. Will have to organise another visit to grab some more countries. If we hard started caching less than a year sooner we could have added Russia & Mongolia (Trans Siberia Railway Tour).

October 13, 2015

If we hard started caching less than a year sooner we could have added Russia & Mongolia (Trans Siberia Railway Tour).

I would LOVE to do the trans siberian! It's a dream - one day maybe, but not possible at the moment.

The 'him' half of TwoNomadicBrits is heading to all three Baltic countries and Poland in a couple of weeks for work. We've been to all 4 of those already, and cached in two of them, but at least there will be another two countries added to the Geocaching list from that trip. I will be joining him for one of the weekends - and I'm hoping Poland in November will be warmer than it was in March when we last went a couple of years ago :lol:

2.1k · October 15, 2015

Ae've arrived well in our new home in North Wales. So far we only ligged an event and two ECs but relatively nearby we have the Isle of Man (coolest flag in the world next to Nepal) and Ireland, thus we'll be visiting those sooner or later. Not sure though whether they'll become countries 38 and 39. Last two added were Singapore and Indonesia.

14k · October 15, 2015

Ae've arrived well in our new home in North Wales. So far we only ligged an event and two ECs but relatively nearby we have the Isle of Man (coolest flag in the world next to Nepal) and Ireland, thus we'll be visiting those sooner or later. Not sure though whether they'll become countries 38 and 39. Last two added were Singapore and Indonesia.

You couldn't manage to get to Malaysia while in Singapore and Indonesia?

The flag for Isle of Man is cool. I always liked the flags for Kenya and Swaziland.

4.5k · October 15, 2015

Ae've arrived well in our new home in North Wales. So far we only ligged an event and two ECs ...

Workin' on the accent, are ye?

2.1k · October 16, 2015

NY: No, we had enough to do in Singapore, plus just rushing over the border to grab a country without actually visiting that country is strange.

5.8k · October 16, 2015

NY: No, we had enough to do in Singapore, plus just rushing over the border to grab a country without actually visiting that country is strange.

Are you saying that my afternoon train ride from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden, and back wasn't a deep and meaningful experience? :anibad:

Edited October 16, 2015 by hzoi

14k · October 16, 2015

NY: No, we had enough to do in Singapore, plus just rushing over the border to grab a country without actually visiting that country is strange.

Are you saying that my afternoon train ride from Copenhagen to Malmo, Sweden, and back wasn't a deep and meaningful experience?

I had that option a couple of years ago when I had a 6 hour layover in Copenhagen. I chose to take the train into the center of Copenhagen instead and spend a couple of hours caching there instead.

The shortest amount of time I spent crossing over an international border, finding a cache, and crossing back over the border was going from Zambia into Zimbabwe and took about two hours. Of course, it also included a visit to Victoria Falls and even though I was there for about a week I never did get a cache in Zambia.

2.1k · October 17, 2015

hzoi: It's a nice train ride, and completely up to you! We'd not have done it probably unless we wanted to do the ride for the ride's sake I guess. Or if we had a few hours specifically to visit Malmoe. But there just wasn't anything if interest over the border in Malaysia.

Hmmm... I'll be travelling quite a but to the Middle East for my work, mainly Abu Dhabi. I wonder if I can combine those trips with vacations in SE Asia.

October 19, 2015

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

Congrats on Malta.

Hang in there. As I am sure you have heard: "It's a marathon, not a sprint"

But the 'Cycles agree that it is worth the effort. Are you ABT (all but thesis) or still doing coursework?

In the Netherlands, we don't do coursework at all as part of the PhD program- that is what you do during your MSc. Which I prefer!

But basically my project has suffered technical delays that are not my fault, and my advisor is definitely the inattentive/busy sort, which is rather frustrating when you've less than a year of funding left. (Another reason travel has to ratchet down, at this rate I may need that money to finish...)

Went to Malta last weekend for country number 39! Yay! And it was my 26th country in Europe to boot...

I've gotta say though, my geocaching pace has definitely slowed down this year because of the increase of PhD work and it shows- the two geocaches in Malta were the only two I got for all of September. I guess that's what happens when you're working late almost every night, no time to get out to grab some geocaches and then when the weekend comes you're too tired to get out of the apartment. But obviously, trying to not force anything, I can always get more back into it when I have the PhD in hand. But I still miss it.

And on a similar new note, nothing new planned unless we count the state of New Mexico in early December.

Our pace has slowed considerably. I blame the job and the toddler. When neither interfere, my top priority is spending time with the wife; geocaching comes in 4th. But I will get the opportunity next weekend to take a solo road trip and get some more pages for my NM Delorme.

Glad you enjoyed Malta, it was one of our favorite places to visit when we lived in Europe. Just very different than most of the countries you can get to from Germany.

Where in NM will you be in December? (I will be spending half of the month in a tent somewhere in Dona Ana County, as my unit will be in the field for two weeks just before Christmas.)

Opposite side of the state I'm afraid- a few days in Albuquerque for a conference, then heading up towards Los Alamos for a weekend to hang out with a college buddy and sightsee until flying back to the Netherlands. I am looking forward to it! (Side bonus is I am visiting the folks first for my first American Thanksgiving in over half a decade, which will be great.)

5.8k · October 19, 2015

Where in NM will you be in December?

Opposite side of the state I'm afraid- a few days in Albuquerque for a conference, then heading up towards Los Alamos for a weekend to hang out with a college buddy and sightsee until flying back to the Netherlands. I am looking forward to it! (Side bonus is I am visiting the folks first for my first American Thanksgiving in over half a decade, which will be great.)

Los Alamos is an interesting spot. I could immediately tell that it started out as an Army base, and some aspects of that remain. For example, not only do they have a sportsmen's club, but there are signs to it everywhere, as well as signs to everything else. Just like on post!

I only found this one cache in Los Alamos County, but I really enjoyed it -- starting from the end of a cul-de-sac, it was a 0.4 mile hike/scramble along a narrow mesa top. Best part was being the first to find it since January 2012.

1.7k · October 21, 2015

People from the U.S. are still not allowed to go to Cuba purely as a tourist. There is somewhat of a loophole that allows one to go on an organized "educational" tour.

Indeed. Although it's very easy to go to Cuba. Fly to, for example, Nassau, and then buy a ticket to Havana, for about $100. They won't stamp your passport unless you ask them to (and insist enthusiastically).

14k · October 21, 2015

People from the U.S. are still not allowed to go to Cuba purely as a tourist. There is somewhat of a loophole that allows one to go on an organized "educational" tour.

Indeed. Although it's very easy to go to Cuba. Fly to, for example, Nassau, and then buy a ticket to Havana, for about $100. They won't stamp your passport unless you ask them to (and insist enthusiastically).

From what I've read the stamp in a passport isn't much of an issue anymore. Since I would be representing my employer when I go to Cuba I will do it "by the book". Obtaining the license from OFAC (U.S. Treasury Dept.) is now quite easy and makes travel to Cuba for a US citizen completely legal so I will certainly ask for the stamp.

I've looked at several flight options but haven't looked at going through Nassau. I could rive 4.5 hours to Toronto and fly from there. Going through Panama City, Panama or Mexico City is pretty common but I kind of liked a NY to Cancun with an over night layover then a short flight from Cancun to Havana. Although I wouldn't be paying for the flights myself, when I travel on someone elses dime I always try to find an inexpensive option and a NYC - Cancun - Havana - Cancun - NYC itinerary was comparitively inexpensive. The way I see it, if I keep down the costs for those paying for my trip, the more likely it will be that I'll be invited again.

October 26, 2015

I have only been Geocaching in the USA (Louisiana and Mississippi). I am hoping that I can go Geocaching in other states and other countries.

The next cruise I go on, I am planning on going Geocaching while in port.

October 30, 2015

I had a milestone coming up last weekend, and travelled from the UK into Europe to get GC40 (a year 2000 geocache as my 2000th cache find), and stayed overnight in Luxembourg. On the way back we were able to find caches in five countries in one day:

Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, and the United Kingdom.

1.4k · October 30, 2015

I'm planning a very similar thing next year. We are doing a European river cruise finishing in Amsterdam and then driving to Switzerland. I'm hoping to get that same cache and my 5 countries will be Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg.

November 23, 2015

Best year ever for collecting countries, seven in all. Bike trip in Denmark and Sweden then another bike trip in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with a couple of days in Finland at the end) added the first six and they were all countries we had not been to pre-geocaching. Just back from a more leisurely vacation on Curacao to celebrate our 37th anniversary (we had been there many years ago ) but we still managed one day of mountain biking and caching. Susancycle on Curacao:

I just got the word that the big family Christmas will be at our house this year so I guess that's it for this year.

Thanks to the COs in those foreign lands that showed us some interesting sights in their countries!

Edited November 23, 2015 by Michaelcycle

14k · November 23, 2015

Best year ever for collecting countries, seven in all. Bike trip in Denmark and Sweden then another bike trip in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with a couple of days in Finland at the end) added the first six and they were all countries we had not been to pre-geocaching. Just back from a more leisurely vacation on Curacao to celebrate our 37th anniversary (we had been there many years ago ) but we still managed one day of mountain biking and caching. Susancycle on Curacao:

I just got the word that the big family Christmas will be at our house this year so I guess that's it for this year.

Thanks to the COs in those foreign lands that showed us some interesting sights in their countries!

Nice picture. I think this is the first year since I started that I didn't add a new country. Over half of my finds were in other countries (Italy, France, and China) but I'd found caches previously in all three. I should get 2 new countries in April but I'm not sure which they will be (one will, hopefully, be Cuba).

November 24, 2015

Although I've been to 19 countries (including North Korea! (well, the first ten feet of it, via the DMZ)) I have never been to Canada. I have three countries caching (US, South Korea and Costa Rica) I may finally have the opportunities to go to Canada on business pretty soon and trust I'll be able to sneak out to grab something in Toronto along the way.

More interestingly, I may have the need to go to Nigeria in the coming year and there is at least one cache in Abuja I should be able to get without trouble. Hopefully the political situation will allow it (although my wife's not too thrilled with the idea. "Honey, the country is poised for a civil war and you have two school age children and the rebels tend to execute their prisoners." "But, honey, I can get a geocache there! In Africa! My caching buddies will be so jealous!"). I'm not sure my arguments are winning her over.

14k · November 24, 2015

Although I've been to 19 countries (including North Korea! (well, the first ten feet of it, via the DMZ)) I have never been to Canada. I have three countries caching (US, South Korea and Costa Rica) I may finally have the opportunities to go to Canada on business pretty soon and trust I'll be able to sneak out to grab something in Toronto along the way.

I've cached in 21 countries and ironically have not found caches in either Canada or Mexico. Both countries are possibilities for my flights to/from Cuba.

More interestingly, I may have the need to go to Nigeria in the coming year and there is at least one cache in Abuja I should be able to get without trouble. Hopefully the political situation will allow it (although my wife's not too thrilled with the idea. "Honey, the country is poised for a civil war and you have two school age children and the rebels tend to execute their prisoners." "But, honey, I can get a geocache there! In Africa! My caching buddies will be so jealous!"). I'm not sure my arguments are winning her over.

I've been to Africa six times and there are a few countries in Africa that I would rather not visit and Nigeria is one of them. I have a colleague from Zimbabwe (he now lives in South Africa) that would rather not go to Nigeria either. Still, if the opportunity came up I'd probably go and Abuja looks better than Lagos.

7.3k · November 25, 2015

Unlike NYPaddleCacher, I've been to Canada more times than I can count, and I've been to Mexico six times. We live less than three hours from the Canadian border, so we pop up there every so often. My first visit there was when I was 12 for the '86 World Expo.

This December is my 20th wedding anniversary. We have a weird schedule this year because of my husband's coaching, so we're going to break up the anniversary into two sections. We honeymooned in Whistler, so we always said we wanted to go back for our 20th. So we're going to run up there for a couple days. Then, in the first part of January, we hope to head down to Mexico for a week, maybe Mazatlan or Puerto Vallarta. Two extremes! :laughing:

14k · November 25, 2015

Unlike NYPaddleCacher, I've been to Canada more times than I can count, and I've been to Mexico six times. We live less than three hours from the Canadian border, so we pop up there every so often. My first visit there was when I was 12 for the '86 World Expo.

I've actually been to Canada five times, twice to British Columbia (as far north as Port Alberni), twice to Ontario, and once to Newfoundland but all before I started geocaching. I've been to Mexico three times, once to Cancun and twice to Mexico City. The last time was after I started geocaching but it was a short enough layover that I didn't feel comfortable leaving the airport and getting back in time for my flight to Costa Rica.

7.3k · November 25, 2015

Unlike NYPaddleCacher, I've been to Canada more times than I can count, and I've been to Mexico six times. We live less than three hours from the Canadian border, so we pop up there every so often. My first visit there was when I was 12 for the '86 World Expo.

I've actually been to Canada five times, twice to British Columbia (as far north as Port Alberni), twice to Ontario, and once to Newfoundland but all before I started geocaching. I've been to Mexico three times, once to Cancun and twice to Mexico City. The last time was after I started geocaching but it was a short enough layover that I didn't feel comfortable leaving the airport and getting back in time for my flight to Costa Rica.

Sorry, I meant to say since you started caching.

Half my trips to Mexico have been since I started caching, and almost all of my trips to Canada have been been since I started caching. The last two times into Mexico were just over the border and there were no caches around, so I've only cached in Mexico once. Canada is the my second most cached country, for obvious reasons.

November 26, 2015

So, my 25th country is a fact. It took quite some planning and a loooot of sweat, but got 6 caches in Dubai (UAE), 5 tradis and THE Eartcache in Burj Khalifa.

If everything goes according to the plan, next one should be Brazil or Ecuador, both quite complicated, specially getting a cache in a country as huge as Brazil .. doesn't seem quite that easy.To be continued ...

December 1, 2015

I've been to Africa six times and there are a few countries in Africa that I would rather not visit and Nigeria is one of them. I have a colleague from Zimbabwe (he now lives in South Africa) that would rather not go to Nigeria either. Still, if the opportunity came up I'd probably go and Abuja looks better than Lagos.

Don't get me wrong: if I can avoid this, I will! If it were to happen, it would be in Abuja, not Lagos, and it would be under pretty good security conditions, but it's not really on my "bucket list"...

14k · December 18, 2015

Best year ever for collecting countries, seven in all. Bike trip in Denmark and Sweden then another bike trip in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with a couple of days in Finland at the end) added the first six and they were all countries we had not been to pre-geocaching. Just back from a more leisurely vacation on Curacao to celebrate our 37th anniversary (we had been there many years ago ) but we still managed one day of mountain biking and caching. Susancycle on Curacao:

I just got the word that the big family Christmas will be at our house this year so I guess that's it for this year.

Thanks to the COs in those foreign lands that showed us some interesting sights in their countries!

Nice picture. I think this is the first year since I started that I didn't add a new country. Over half of my finds were in other countries (Italy, France, and China) but I'd found caches previously in all three. I should get 2 new countries in April but I'm not sure which they will be (one will, hopefully, be Cuba).

I booked my flights a few days ago for a trip to Cuba. I'll be staying overnight in Cancun (and can add Mexico to my list) on the way there and back. There's only one cache in the town in Cuba where I'll be staying (Santa Clara) but I'll probably stay in Havana the night I arrive and the night before I head back to the U.S. The university I'll be visiting will be making all my local travel and accommodation arrangements so I'm hoping that I'll be staying somewhere close to the few caches in Havana.

December 21, 2015

We have just booked a cruise to the Caribbean in March visiting three new countries and three overseas territories/dependencies.

This will be actual country 72, 73 and 74 visited for me, but I guess the additional three overseas territories/dependencies included on the itinerary will count as countries as far as Geocaching.com is concerned which will take us from 24 to 30 (although a big assumption there that we find a cache in every port!). Topping and tailing the cruise in Miami will also add another US state souvenir too.

Then in May I'm off to Brazil. That's a great start to 2016! So excited!

December 21, 2015

A finder of two of my caches at the weekend is on 45 countries -all of Europe bar 2; also all the US states bar Alaska - all since 2012 - I'm envious!

I'm only on 11 or 12, might add Finland in 2016. More likely to add some UK counties instead.

Happy travelling everyone - much gazing at maps of different scales over the Christmas holidays I bet! (Actually, do we ever stop doing that?)

December 21, 2015

We have just booked a cruise to the Caribbean in March visiting three new countries and three overseas territories/dependencies.

This will be actual country 72, 73 and 74 visited for me, but I guess the additional three overseas territories/dependencies included on the itinerary will count as countries as far as Geocaching.com is concerned which will take us from 24 to 30 (although a big assumption there that we find a cache in every port!). Topping and tailing the cruise in Miami will also add another US state souvenir too.

Then in May I'm off to Brazil. That's a great start to 2016! So excited!

What are your ports of call? We've visited many of the Caribbean islands (although never on a cruise, we like to spend time in the places we visit)

December 22, 2015

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

50% more than my age... so far

We've found almost 50% of our (average) age. But then we were just the right side of 60 when we started caching, so finding a number of countries greater than either of our ages is a real challenge.... That said, we have found 31 countries in the last five years. While we really did well in 2013 (five week campervan road trip round Europe) and 2014 (cruise round the Black Sea), this year has not been as successful, although we did bag China and Hong Kong. Our Christmas market trip to Poland had to be cancelled due to illness but it's on the bucket list for next year and the campervan is calling.......

Here's to a Happy Caching New Year!

December 22, 2015

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

Raises hand. ME

Edited December 22, 2015 by FunnyNose

4.5k · December 22, 2015

Not me alas, and likely never to be - unless I take that upon myself as a challenge. And if I do, I'm seriously behind!

When I get to a new country, I like to stay a while, maybe find a dozen caches (Taiwan) or a hundred (Hong Kong), depends on what the country has to offer. My ideal holiday is 3 weeks in a tiny country (or small part of a bigger country), time to get to know the place (great restaurants etc.), plus find some of the hiking caches nearby.

Gotta figure out the next destination...

5.8k · December 23, 2015

Congrats. I wonder if there is anyone else here that has found caches in more countries than their age.

I tied up with my age in 2009 (35) when we cached in Ukraine. I re-tied the next two years with Canada and then Japan. Since then, I have fallen back behind. If I somehow get to visit 5 countries next year, I'll be ahead!

collecting countries

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