Despite the fact that I have visited so many countries, I haven’t really taken that many trips. It’s just that most of them have been really, really long ones! They are:
In 1995 I spent a semester in Spain and before I went home I spent winter break with my sister, Caroline, taking the train around Europe. Before meeting her in Germany I went to Portugal, Italy, Hungary and Austria. I had a great time in Italy with my friend, Kathy. We were supposed to take the train to France but due to a train strike there, our only option was to fly out of the country. A one way ticket to Rome for $100 was the cheapest option, so off we went. It was a fabulous choice. I left Kathy in Italy and made my way to Germany by myself. Along the way I met a Swiss au-pair who taught me how to say room in German (zimmer) and I ended up going to Hungary and Austria with her. We sang Christmas carols for our hours on end on those train rides.
Once I met up with Caroline we stayed in Munich at Claudia’s house, my friend from high school. After Christmas we made full use of our Eurorail pass and went to The Netherlands for New Year’s, the former East Germany to visit someone Caroline met on a plane once, and the Czech Republic where we stayed with a babushka. From there we took the train to France and along the way had a layover in Zurich where I bumped into a girl who lived in my dorm at UMASS. We hobnobbed in Luxembourg and said hello to the Mannekin Piss in Belgium. It was love at first sip when we tried our first Hoegaarten! January was an absolutely freezing time of year to take this trip and most of the time we wore all the clothes in our backpacks. On the plus side, the hostels and trains were virtually empty so we could easily make plans on a whim. It was such a long time ago that it was before the Euro was in place. I have a kept a coin from every country I have ever been to and now many of them are out of circulation. I suppose you could say they are worthless, but are souvenirs I never planned to spend.
Over the years I have been to: Egypt, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, French Polynesia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, The Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, Bahamas, Mexico, Canada, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, and of course the United States!