34 Years, 34 Countries and Counting
Executive summary: My husband and I were bitten by the travel bug during my MBA, and are eagerly anticipating the day when we might resume globetrotting (assuming we can figure out some childcare plan for the kids … that’s the catch!)
If you’d asked me 10 years ago if I loved to travel, I would have given a lukewarm answer. Growing up, it wasn’t something I got much exposure to. Sure, it was fine if my parents packed us in the car for a weeklong road trip, but I wouldn’t say it was my thing. I really really wanted to go to Europe in high school (due to reading too many fantasy books set in western Medieval-esque lands), but that would have been a strain on our family’s finances. That dream waited until I paid my own way after college. Like, within days of college graduation, and with our wedding on the other side of our trip, eek! I’m not complaining (I know travel is a real privilege, one that my parents didn’t have when I was growing up); I’m just setting the stage for my turnaround, which mostly happened during my MBA in my mid-20s. I went from being unexcited about (and inexperienced in) travel to being a big fan who craves it now.
Our first trip together, after graduating from college and right before our wedding.
My husband got to take some international trips with his parents as a kid, so he had a head start on me. But neither of us were chomping at the bit to go anywhere, with the exception of that post-graduation Europe trip that also served as our “pre-wedding honeymoon.” We were honestly unaccustomed to the freedom of having money to pay for travel (now that we were working) and the ability to choose where we wanted to go, not where our parents decided to take us. For a few years, we did one international trip a year, to whichever destination my husband had a conference or workshop in (he was a PhD student at the time and had to present his research papers). Then I started my MBA, and that’s when the floodgates opened. First of all, it was eye-opening to have 50% of my classmates be international students, and to be exposed to their experiences. Second of all, it was crazy fun to travel with these classmates to the parts of the world where they were from, and be taken around by locals who know how to have a good time. That’s when my husband and I were bitten by the travel bug, and there is no antidote, only treatment … which is traveling more.
After MBA graduation, I didn’t want to stop seeing new places. I made a quarterly PTO plan aligned with my husband’s academic calendar (he was now a professor at Princeton). Three times a year, we’d go international, saving one trip to come see family and friends in California. Those were the years in our mid to late 20s when we worked really hard to establish our careers, but I got through the hardest and longest days at McKinsey by daydreaming about the next trip I had planned. That all came to an end when I got pregnant with my son, and I decided to take it easy for a while. We had big ambitions to bring him on our travels (we got him a passport before he could even hold up his own head for the photo), but then … COVID. So we put our plans on hold, and just as the world was opening up again … I got pregnant with my daughter. These kids are seriously cramping our style!
Our most recent trip together, the “babymoon” before our daughter’s arrival. Hawaii is extremely photogenic.
So while we wait for the kids to become sufficiently old enough to warrant bringing on a trip or leaving behind with grandparents (fingers crossed!!), I’ll take a much faster trip down memory lane to recount the 34 countries I’ve visited in my 34 years:
England (1), France (2), Denmark (3), Germany (4), Estonia (5), Russia (6), Finland (7), Sweden (8): The first international trip my husband and I took together, using money from our college internships/ jobs, returning three days before our wedding. We went on a Northern Europe cruise and I bet we were the youngest passengers on board paying their own fare, lol.
South Korea (9): My husband’s first paper was published at a conference held in Seoul.
Greece (10): Athens was the site of my husband’s second paper conference.
Mexico (11): We took a short cruise booked at the last minute. Ah, those days before kids when we could be spontaneous!
Germany (repeat): We went for a research workshop my husband was invited to.
Morocco (12): MBA spring break trip. We traversed up and down the country in a caravan of SUVs.
Switzerland (13): Celebrating my husband’s PhD graduation.
Brazil (14): MBA end of summer trip hosted by classmates from Brazil. Part of the time was spent on a boat sailing down the Amazon sleeping in hammocks on deck, squashed so close together we were practically in each other’s laps.
China (15), Japan (16): My husband had never visited China, despite us being together for nearly a decade at this point, so we were overdue. To make the trip more exciting for me (since I’d been before), we added on Japan, which was new for both of us.
Singapore (17), Myanmar (18), Thailand (19): MBA spring break “study tour” meant to be educational. I mean, I did learn things, they just weren’t all academic.
Canada (20): MBA long weekend trip with our Canadian classmates. I couldn’t believe my husband had never visited our northern neighbor before!
Italy (21), Vatican (22), France (repeat), Spain (23): Mediterranean cruise to celebrate my MBA graduation.
Netherlands (24), Belgium (25): Random summer trip before starting my new job in the fall.
Germany (repeat), Austria (26): To see the Christmas markets and drink mulled cider.
Iceland (27): Spring break soaking in the hot springs and seeing the northern lights.
Peru (28): Llamas, giant corn, and tomatoes, such good tomatoes.
Spain (repeat), Portugal (29): End of year trip with perfect weather and no crowds in December – we lucked out!
Czech Republic (30), Austria (repeat), Slovakia (31), Hungary (32): Spring break trip that was technically still winter, and it felt it!
Scotland (33): Last international trip before we were grounded by babies and COVID for several years.
US/ Hawaii (34): Ok, call this one a cheat if you want to, but I acquire magnets on our trips when they satisfy two criteria: 1. They are with my husband (solo trips don’t count); 2. They are international or non-contiguous US. I didn’t say the rules had to make sense.
So that’s how I reached 34 countries in 34 years, despite a slow start where I didn’t really go anywhere until I graduated college at 21. You know what they say, though: better late than never!