There are 192 countries recognized by the UN, plus a couple more that could be included that are not yet recognize. If I could do anything or go anywhere in the world, I would choose to take a trip around the world stopping in every country on the planet. I love to travel and I have seen ads and heard stories of people who travel around the world to lots of different countries, so I figure if money was not an issue that would be the perfect thing for me. I know it is not using the full power of this “wish” we have been granted by not traveling to another planet or going back in time, but I think visiting every country would be amazing. I am fascinated by different cultures and countries so getting to visit each of them would provide so much variation and so many different experiences.
I think it would take years to see everything there is to see within each country. Even if I had the rest of my life to travel, I still think it would be tough to actually see everything there is to see. I would want to spend more time in certain countries as their size or the amount of cultural and historical locations require more time to experience everything. One potential issue with my plan is that currently some countries are not the most welcoming for tourists (I’m thinking Syria, Iran etc.), so maybe this is where the time traveling comes in. I could time travel back in time to a more peaceful moment in a country’s history making a country safer to visit. This would allow me to still visit every country in the world without putting my life at risk and allow for better sightseeing moments without having to deal with political turmoil and unrest in some countries today.
Living amongst the locals would also provide a better opportunity to fully understand the culture and customs of different countries. So perhaps instead of staying in hotels I would live with locals while I travelled. Locals also know where all the best deals and hidden treasures are located in their city. This would help me to visit places that aren’t in the typical guidebooks. But as much fun as traveling would be I think I would miss the stability of life in one place and spending time with my friends and family. Maybe there would be a way for me to travel the whole world in hyper speed without losing many years off of my life. Around the world in 80 days? For now one can only dream!
Business Government & Society III 
Sarah, could I come with you? This sounds like an awesome experience. My paternal grandparents have been fortunate enough to visit six continents (except Antarctica) during the last 25 years. My Grandma kept scrapbooks from every trip and loves to share her experiences with me whenever I come to visit her.
I must say, I am extremely jealous of her. I am grateful to even have had the opportunity to study abroad and travel during that time. I got to experience the “local” culture within six different European nations, but it made me realize that there are so many cool things in this world that I will never get to see. I mean, how often can you just drop everything and take a vacation? Usually never.
I am not sure if I would want to do this trip at hyper-speed because I feel that it would be rushed and I could miss out on several important details or moments.
However, if this trip ever existed, I would do it in a heart beat!
i feel the same way about traveling. “if i could i would”!
great post!
The idea of traveling non-stop and living with the locals sounds great to me! Travel should be much more than just checking destinations off a list like grocery shopping; it should be about the experiences beyond the sights. I have had opportunities to travel to only as many as 5 countries, but from what I’ve experienced, it is among the locals where we get a real sense of the country’s people and language. It is also the best way to save expenses; expensive hotels are nice, but definitely not the best option for lengthy travel. And I also like the idea of going back in time for safer visits to certain countries. Those countries in the Middle East area have particularly rich cultures; but I would not dare visiting them at this moment out of fear for my own safety. Traveling back in time would be fantastic, especially when we could learn more about the country’s history.
But 80 days might be too short for me though. Going through 192 countries would take me years!
I feel that I should clarify what I meant by hyper speed. I did not mean that I would want to zoom around the world as fast as possible to see everything and not miss out on the rest of my life. I was think more of the time-turner in Harry Potter, that allows Hermione to take more classes then would be possible in a day. The time-turner allowed her to go back in time to take an additional class and still live in the present. If I were to travel around the world and truly see all there is to see I would want to do it with a time-turner. That way I could actually see everything in 80 days or less, without really missing many years of my life.
I think everybody in America should travel to different countries if they can. I know when I first traveled to different countries, it made me truly grateful for all that I have here in the United States. People take things such as electricity and running water for granted so to see it first-hand would be an eye-opening experience.
I completely agree with Alex! Before sophomore year of high school, I had only left the country to go to Canada. Since then, I’ve been to France, Spain, Italy, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the British Virgin Islands, and Mexico. Let me tell you, it’s amazing what you learn about your own culture, as well as others! In Italy, it’s customary to have pasta as your appetizer, followed by another whole dish, usually with a large helping of some kind of meat. Whereas in Mexico, it isn’t even safe to drink the tap water. Like Sarah, I find it so humbling and interesting to learn about other cultures and customs, and the origins behind their ways of life. To be able to travel to all the countries, both recognized and unrecognized, would definitely put a lot of things into perspective about our own way of life. Definitely a trip I’d love to take!
It would be truly spectacular to be able to have the opportunity to get to visit every country. My wish is to be able to visit every continent before I do, but after reading this post, I feel that my wish is sub par. A great amount of our education comes from our classes. That being said, I believe that outside factors are not given enough credit. The experiences we have outside of the classroom are just as important to the lessons we have within the classroom. What is the point of classes if we don’t apply it to a real world setting? Imagine the vast amount of information and knowledge that we could gather by going to all of the countries. In a way I feel like that maybe we would have less problems in the world if everybody had this opportunity. Perhaps we would be able to understand and respect one another more. Maybe we wouldn’t agree on everything, but being immersed in other cultures gives you a sense of other lifestyles. It makes you identify with other types of people.
Sounds like an incredible experience! I feel like too often we forget the sheer size and diversity of the world and it would be amazing to be able to visit every country and experience life there. I was fortunate enough to live in London for 2 years when I was younger and did a fair bit of traveling across Europe, but I was so young that I couldn’t fully appreciate it. I’m still regretful that I missed the deadline for Semester At Sea last spring, which seems like a smaller-scale voyage than what you described, but everyone who has gone has said what a life-changing experience it was. I would love to be able to travel across the globe and visit every country just to get a better appreciation for the sheer size and beauty of the world.
Interesting post Sarah. It would definitely take a lot of guts to accomplish that. I’m confident that I’m one of the less worldly people, and I often think about correcting that. Aside from vacations to tropical countries, the only other country I have been to is Spain. And unfortunately I was too young to fully appreciate the culture. Personally, I would also add on visiting all 50 states. Go America.