Hello! And welcome to the namesake for my little travel blog!

Why '200 stories'? There are roughly 200 countries on Earth depending on how you count 'em. The UN recognizes 193 countries, while this Wikipedia article of "Sovereign States" includes 206 territories with a number of caveats. Ultimately what is considered a 'country' depends on who you ask. The defacto independent area of Somaliland is not recognized by anyone but will present a very different travel experience than if one heads to other areas of Somalia. Armenia is a UN recognized country, but officially the government of Pakistan disagrees. We can even expand the number a little bit with places like Greenland which are highly autonomous and culturally distinct from their Danish colonial administrators. I've chosen 200 as an aspirational approximation; one story for each country.

Aah, but why only one? Tourism despite the best efforts of a global pandemic is booming! I fundamentally believe in the positive impacts travel can have but I'd be lying if I said I thought this was universal or guaranteed. Much of the travel industry is based around consumption (these days? Always?). Some experiences exist primarily for the sake of documentation and algorithm loving content can make everything feel very manufactured. Now I don't think this is a inherently negative. I have benefited from the accessibility of travel and travel information immensely. The balance just seems a little out of wack. I've made this blog to hopefully focus on the other side of travel: connection. Limiting it to one per country is my way of quality control.

Each story uses my experience in a place as a jumping off point. Sometimes it won't get much farther than that, focusing on a particularly entertaining series of events. Other times I'll get more personal, exploring how moments there affected me months and years down the line. Finally, sometimes I will venture to answer a question that these memories have sparked always ensuring my conclusions are well sourced. The goal is to share a bit about that country but also serve as inspiration. I won't tell you where to go but hope that my stories can help create connection to a place before you even set off. I think that's when travel is at it's best.

The map on the right show's where I've currently been. 62 countries down, 138 to go.