Here’s a quick but really big update on my travel goal – I just visited my 50th country!  It’s been quite the adventure! As a quick reminder, I started this site based on my crazy travel goal, to inspire people to visit 50 countries by age 50 (click to learn more about the goal).

Over the past few years I’ve gone swimming in shark infested waters, ziplining in a cloud forest, been just steps away from orangutans in the wild, hiked up a volcano, gone snorkeling with massive whale sharks, hiked to the top of Machu Picchu, had a monkey literally jump on my back, climbed The Great Wall of China, gone volcano boarding, visited the real Tomb Raider locations in Cambodia, eaten brains in a hotpot Chengdu, explored the pyramids in Teotihuacan, and photographed animals in the wild that I had never even heard of (tarsiers?) .

I’m long overdue to post the stories and photos from my last few trips on here – Portugal, Spain, Tulum, and now Iceland. I loved all of them! I’ve been posting on Instagram regularly and will include more extensive posts here.

Below is from the Instagram announcement that I reached my 50th – if you haven’t already, do follow me on IG as well.

I’l be putting together a larger full post on Iceland, because it was really amazing, but in the meantime here’s a quick photo from our very first day. We loved it so much!

Visiting 50 countries – reflection

When I made the goal, I really didn’t know if I’d ever make it to 50. That number just sounded crazy! I was already 22 years old when I finally got my passport, and at 25 my visit number was still at about 4. It all changed during my Costa Rica trip. That’s when I truly caught the travel bug. I’ll be writing about why that experience had such an impact on me in a future upcoming post.

Now that I’ve visited my 50th, I’ll look back at some of my top experiences, Some of the requests I’ve received to reflect on include my craziest adventures, most beautiful views, best beaches, most delicious foods, scariest moments, travel failures, photography tips, and more!

What would you like me to weigh in on?

I count countries visited, but it’s not about the number. It’s about the experiences!