December 1st,
2016, I officially launch my “209 World Grand Slam" Project.
”What is it?
What is “World Grand Slam”?
World Grand
Slam, means that my goal is to reach
all world’s 209 countries/special territories.
But, why is it
“209”? And why not “193” or “325”?
Well, as many
people may know, there are 193 members in United Nation (UN). Sadly, the
country of my birth, Taiwan, is not one of those “193” - since People Republic
of China considers that “they own
Taiwan” even though they don’t have any control over Taiwan’s sovereignty.
Since China is one of the permanent member of the Security Counsel, they can do
whatever they want in UN. The similar situation happens to Kosovo and several
other less known countries. Thus, I will never consider use the UN “193” (or
“193+2”, or “193+5” as some famous travel bloggers use) as my yardstick of
reaching “World Grand Slam.”
What about the
number 325?
As many of my
friends know, I am the member of “Travelers' Century Club (TCC).” I
became a member since 2007 and just became a “Gold Member” in 2016. To become a
TCC member, you have to visit at least 100 “countries” (for a “Gold member” -
200 countries). However, many of their “countries” are not really sovereignty
countries - they are not even autonomous (or even semi-autonomous) territories.
They especially love to include “island groups” (Thus, Bismarck Islands of Papua New Guinea, St. Andreas of
Colombia, or Hainan of China, all become separate “countries” in their tally).
Here is their Master List (http://travelerscenturyclub.org/cou...).
Currently, they list 325 “countries” but more may be added. This is THE “List”
I have been using. That means, to reach their version of “Grand Slam,” I need
to reach all 325 countries/territories/breakaway republics/island groups,
including quite a few uninhabited destinations, like Bouvet Island and Midway
Island (neither is accessible for regular tourists).
After watching
2016’s Summer Olympic Game opening ceremony in Rio, I figured out: there is a
way to do things simpler, using a list that is credible and well-known, but
also avoid using the unfair “UN membership list” that practically denies my
personal existence (and the existence of my 23 million fellow citizens).
So, I decided
to use International Olympic Committee (IOC) membership list. and created my
own “207+2 =209” list.
Why 207+2?
Well, in 2016 Summer Olympic, there are 207 participating countries. However, Vatican,
a sovereignty country, is not in Olympics because, well, because their whole
demographics is not very athletic. They should be added as a part of “World
Grand Slam” list. This makes it 207+1.
Then, there is Antarctica. It is a separate continent into itself. However, it is practically uninhabited and no people can “represent” this place. So, they are also not in Olympics (unless there are separate competitions for penguins ^_^) However, I think as a “continent,” it should be added to the list too! (and indeed, I have been to Antarctica).
So, that is
how 209 (207+2) is from.
As of November
2016, I have been to 166 of them. However, looking it as “half-empty-glass,”
that means: I still have 43 to go - still quite a few of them.
And most of these 43 are NOT nice places to visit. At least half of them are war-torn or infested with terrorists. Those that are stabler mostly have bad infrastructure and commutable diseases are common.
Well, I know,
even using IOC membership, this list is still very flawed. Why are Puerto Rico,
US Virgin Islands, American Samoa all on the list when people from these places
actually all travel with US passports? Why Macao, a very autonomous Chinese
territory where people have their own passports, is not on the list (because
they do not participate in Olympics...) . Oh, well, Greenland, Curacao, New
Caledonia should all be counted separately but not (though I am not sure why they don't form their own Olympic teams).
At least, for
me, it is a much more acceptable list than UN, and it is not as complicated
(and inflated) as TCC Master List.
Okay, so,
after the “recount”, using a non-TCC List for the first time, the following is
the countries I have visited so far:
1. TAIWAN
(Country of Birth)
2. South Korea
(before 1990)
3. Japan
(before 1990)
4. United
States of America (before 1990)
5. Mexico
(before 1990 - but no overnight stay... until 2015!)
 |
| Chichen Itza, possibly Mexico's most recognized archaeological site. I first visited Mexico in 1980s. However, I didn't get to visit Chichen Itza until 2015. |
6. Hong Kong
(1991)
7. Australia
(1991)
8. New Zealand
(1991)
9. United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (1991)
10. France
(1991)
11. Belgium (1991)
12. Holland
(1991)
 |
| I first visited the Netherlands (Holland) in 1991. However, I did not get to visit their famous site Kinderdjik , with rows of many traditional windmills, until 2016. |
 |
| Always enjoying Christmas markets in Germany. And nowhere else than in Berlin, there are more interesting Christmas markets. |
14.
Switzerland (1991)
15.
Liechtenstein (1991)
16. Austria
(1991)
17. Italy
(1991)
18. Vatican
(1991)
19. People
Republic of China (1991)
20. Singapore
(1992)
21. United Arab Emirates (UAE) (1992)
22. Egypt
(1992)
23. Denmark
(1993)
24. Sweden
(1993)
25. Norway
(1993)
26. Finland
(1993)
27. Greece (1993)
 |
| Another day, another Greek island. This is Knossos Palace in Crete. |
28. Monaco
(1993)
29. The
Bahamas (1993)
30. Canada
(1994)
31. Czech Republic (1995)
32 Spain
(1995)
33. Puerto
Rico (1996)
34. U.S.
Virgin Islands (1996)
35. Dominica
(1996)
36. Barbados
(1996)
37. Thailand
(1996)
38. Russia
(1997)
39. Malaysia
(1998)
40. Portugal
(1998)
41. Peru (1999)
42. South
Africa (2000)
43. Bermuda
(2001)
44. Andorra
(2002)
45. Ecuador
(2003)
46. Laos
(2004)
47. Myanmar
(2004)
48. Cambodia
(2004)
49. Vietnam
(2004)
50. Guatemala
(2004)
51 Honduras (2004)
52. Turkey
(2005)
53. Slovakia
(2005)
54. Hungary
(2005)
55. Poland
(2005)
56. Chile
(2006)
57. Argentina
(2006)
58. Uruguay
(2006)
59. Brazil
(2006)
60. Paraguay
(2006)
61. Serbia (2006)
62. Bosnia
& Herzegovina (2006)
63. Montenegro
(2006)
64. Croatia
(2006)
65. Slovenia
(2006)
66. Albania
(2006)
67. Lithuania
(2006)
68. Latvia
(2006)
69. Estonia
(2006)
70. Ukraine
(2006)
71. Romania (2006)
72. Bulgaria
(2006)
73. Indonesia
(2006)
74. Ireland
(2006)
75. Luxembourg
(2006)
76. St. Kitts
& Nevis (2007)
77. Aruba
(2007)
78. Namibia
(2007)
79. Botswana
(2007)
80. Zambia
(2007)
81. Zimbabwe (2007)
82. Malawi
(2007)
83 Union of
Tanzania (Tanganyika and Zanzibar)
(2007)
84. Kenya
(2007)
85. Uganda
(2007)
86. San Marino
(2007)
87. Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2007)
88. Kosovo
(2007)
89. Ethiopia
(2007 in transit; first “real” visit in 2009)
90. Qatar
(2008)
91. Iceland (2009)
92. Cyprus
(2009)
93. Malta
(2009)
94.
Philippines (2009)
95. India
(201096. Jordan (2010)
97. Israel
(2010)
98. Palestine
(2010)
99. Sri Lanka
(2010)
100. Maldives
(2010)
101. Lebanon (2010)
102. Bahrain
(2010)
103. Moldova
and Trans-dniester (2011)
104. Bolivia
(2011)
105. Antarctica
(2011) => All Seven Continents Grand Slam Achieved!
106. Djibouti
(2012)
107. Armenia
(2012)
108. Georgia
(2012)
109.
Azerbaijan (2012)
110. Cuba
(2012)
111. Mongolia (2012)
112. Colombia
(2012)
113. Panama
(2012)
114. Costa
Rica (2012)
115. Brunei
(2013)
116. Angola
(2013)
117. Republic
of Congo - Brazzaville (2013)
118. Sao Tome
e Principe (April 16, 2013)
119. Benin
(2013)
120. Togo
(2013)
121. Ghana (2013)
122. Sierra
Leone (2013)
123. The
Gambia (2013)
124. Senegal
(2013)
125. Nepal
(2013)
126. Cayman
Islands (2014)
127. Jamaica
(2014)
128. Haiti
(2014)
129. St. Lucia
(2014)
130. Belarus
(2014)
131. Morocco (2014)
132. Belize
(2014)
133. Dominican
Republic (2014)
134. Trinidad
and Tobago (2014)
135. Guyana
(2014)
136. Suriname
(2014)
137. El
Salvador (2014)
138. Venezuela
(2014)
139. British
Virgin Islands (2014)
 |
By reaching Venezuela, I also achieved "South America Grand Slam" - visiting every single sovereignty country in South America. Of course, nowhere else than Angel Falls, deep in the Guyana Plateau, I really wanted to see.
|
140. Antigua
(2014)
141. Swaziland (2015)
142.
Mozambique (2015)
143. Lesotho
(2015)
144. Nicaragua
(2015)
 |
| On a ferry to one of the most enchanting isle in the world, the twin-volcanic island of Ometepe. |
145. Grenada
(2015)
146. St.
Vincent and the Grenadine (2015)
147. Iran
(2015)
148. Oman
(2015)
149. Cook
Islands (2016)
150. Tonga
(2016)
151. Fiji (2016)
153. Vanuatu
(2016)
154. Kuwait
(2016)
155. Kazakhstan
(2016)
156.
Kyrgyzstan (2016)
157.
Tajikistan (2016)
158.
Uzbekistan (2016)
 |
| Uzbekistan, the most interesting country in Central Asia. However, it is also full of bureaucracy and opacity. |
159. Papua New
Guinea (2016)
160. Solomon Islands (2016)
161. Nauru
(2016)
 |
| Where was I? A mural on a wall of a local elementary school tries to explain this. |
162. Kiribati
(2016)
163. Marshall
Islands (2016)
164. Federated
States of Micronesia (2016)
165. Guam
(2016)
166. Palau
(2016)
Yes, I have
been to 166 Olympic participating countries so far. That leaves 43 unvisited at
this point.
Maploco actually helps to better visualize where I have been and where I've not here...
Maploco actually helps to better visualize where I have been and where I've not here...
However, due to my super-harsh pledge on my future travel, I may never make it past 190.... >
[To be continued]
