52 Countries in 52 Weeks, Chapter 25: 3rd Quarter Stats + Mailbag!

In Which I Break Down 43 countries, 110,000 Kilometres, Too Many Museums, And Answer Some Questions

A weird thing about travelling for nine months is that three months seems like a relatively short amount of time.

I grant that when you have 90 days of vacation ahead of you, with nine more countries and tons of interesting places still to see and explore, it’s a silly thought.

On the other hand, there are no more difficult visa applications left to complete. All the flights are booked. At some point in the next few weeks I need to start emailing my bosses and publishers and begin the process of unfreezing the life I put on hold for a year.

All that feels strange, and a little bit terrifying.

The good news? I feel great about where things are at.

I haven’t had any real hiccups (save a cancelled flight here or getting off at the wrong train station there), still have lots of energy, have seen THE FLIPPING WORLD, and feel like a deeper, fuller person than I once was.

Because my life is weird, before this trip began the top story on Vancouver’s Reddit one day was about me leaving, and the top comment was “It sounds so exhausting!”

To which I replied, “Ranking 243 parks or making the same chart for 500+ days in a row also probably sounds exhausting to most people, but to me it’s the sort of highly organized and slightly insane project that gives me lots of energy.”

And in some ways, the same process has played out over the last nine months as a lot of things I’ve done: if I have a plan, create good routines, measure data, and be enthusiastic and curious, things work out.

Though it’s fair to say the impact of this on my life will be a bit deeper than the time I ranked all the doughnuts.

Anyhow, speaking of routines,

Who is ready for some charts?

Nine months into this trip, I have visited 43 countries and traveled approximately 110,032 kilometres, which hahahahaha wow oh boy.

While it wasn’t planned, the quarters of this trip have broken into pretty clear themes: the first three months from Vancouver to Morocco were sort of a whirlwind of four continents and crazy wish fulfillment of seeing specific places separated by great distances. The second quarter was essentially a Fun European Adventure, gallivanting around the continents on trains and whimsy before ending with a family trip through Italy. And the third section was a sort of civilizational journey, from the Mediterranean to the Pacific Ocean, focused less on cute cafes and museums and more on important sites and wanderings.

(I won’t spoil the 4th quarter, but I think it’s the most predictable of the four and you could probably guess the general itinerary, give or take a couple countries)

So I’ll break down the following charts two ways: first for overall totals on this trip, and then for each quarter. Let’s first look at type of transportation.

Trains! They continue to be good, and fun, and convenient, and I should do something silly once I hit 100 trains, right?

A lot of the disparity in types of travel is due to almost exclusively taking trains all across Europe. That’s not the only reason though. Here’s the quarterly breakdown.

Sometimes people like to dismiss train travel as a cute European thing, but riding the rails in South Korea, Japan and China was incredibly easy and efficient. India has been a challenge due to the system’s age and difficult booking system, but its overall breadth is massive.

Really, it’s only the Americas and the Middle East where relatively developed countries lack basic passenger train infrastructure.

And there are all sorts of reasons for that. For the moment though, I’m going to enjoy my last quarter of this trip before I head back to a corner of the earth that, despite my love of trains, is somehow 4,000 kilometres from any fast and reliable service.

What about accommodations?

I thought this might look a bit more balanced, but hotels have taken a fairly big lead (though I enjoy how eclectic the list is).

And the main reason is that I’m out of Europe, and since then (with the exception of Japan) it’s been pretty easy to find good accommodation to fit my soft budget of $100 a night.

To wit, the 3rd quarter stats.

I also want to mention that the hostels in this quarter have been really good: lots of privacy and cleanliness, nobody loudly stumbling in at 2am, and ample storage room.

I’m still going to take advantage of solid $70/night hotels when they exist, mind you. But because I don’t have unlimited money to do this trip, and one of my second-tier worries about this trip was whether I could still hack hostel culture.

I’m glad that I can, yet I’m also glad it’s improved and diversified from when I was in my 20s.

And finally, what activities have I been doing?

I’ve done some recategorizing on this, because I realized there’s an important combination of things that can be described as “see an old structure.”

And sometimes that structure is a religious building, sometimes it’s a monument, sometimes it’s an old fort or military settlement, but the common denominator is that tourists can visit it (usually for a small fee), there’s usually plaques or tour guides that can provide additional context, and unlike a museum there’s no or few additional artifacts at the sight.

I’ve only included places where I spent enough time to feel comfortable giving it a score of 1 to 10 (yes there will be rankings to come). That being said, here’s how this category breaks down.

And overall, these types of attractions have been growing in importance on this trip!

I think this is mostly cultural: in general, Christian countries emphasize museums and art galleries for civilizational heritage and celebration (while de-emphasizing the role of religion and kingdom), while in the rest of the world the focus is a lot more split.

But I’m curious to see by the end of the trip what wins out: museums, or very old things? And when I rank them all, what will come out on top?

(this is all very important and not at all the deeply weird navel gazing of a silly privileged man who loves lists and trains)

Anyways, let’s go to the mailbag!

“Have you had any moments where you have cried (for whatever type of reason)? Explain”

There’s been a few cries, absolutely.

It’s a trip where I’m feeling an overwhelming amount of thoughts, and doing so in the context of my brain regularly saying “this is a once in a lifetime opportunity you’re having”, so sometimes the tear ducts are overwhelmed.

A couple times it’s been while thinking about my mom, or what she would think about this trip — on Mother’s Day, or a place she wanted to visit, things like that. Sometimes it’s prompted by music and memories: Bruce Springsteen is my favourite artist, when I saw him in San Francisco I was aware it could be the last time I get the opportunity, and boy howdy there were emotions there.

And then sometimes it can happen out of nowhere: a couple of weeks ago I had an amazing day in China’s Zhangjiajie Forest Park, where giant sandstone pillars pierce through the sky like nothing I had ever seen.

When thinking of music for the day after it was over, the Into The Woods song “Giants In The Sky” came to mind, but it had been a while since I actually listened to it.

So I looked at the lyrics — a song about Jack going up the beanstalk and telling everyone what he saw, while also showing that his mind was blown by the experience — and reached the ending:

“And you think of all the things you’ve seen/And you wish that you could live in between/And you’re back again/Only different than before/After the sky.”

And suddenly, on a small street in a small tourist village in the middle of China, there are tears.

“I ask every month! :-) How are you planning/selecting music for your reels?”“How do you pick the music?”

For folks not following on Instagram, I post a fair amount of video each day, often with music (and always on the first shot of the day)…and really, there’s no planning ahead of time, it’s just inspiration from my vast reservoir of dad rock and Broadway showtunes.

I love pub trivia, and in a lot of ways, picking music is sort of a reverse trivia question — instead of hearing a song and having to recall what it is, I’m filming something where there’s a specific setting and energy level, and have to pick a song that thematically matches that.

It’s a fun daily exercise that activates a different part of my brain than most of this trip, and allows people to enjoy my very basic tastes, so it’s win win!

“How do you keep your belongings safe (trains, hostels, etc.)?”

“With all the different languages and cultures, have you ever felt unsafe? Or do you avoid potential ‘areas’?”

On the first question, I have lost three pairs of sunglasses and two hats on this trip, so it hasn’t been perfect.

I have a spare lock for any hostels that don’t provide separate space, put my bags on the overhead compartment next to me on trains, have a routine of really diligently checking for everything when I pack up, and I have high awareness of people around me to begin with.

This isn’t a perfect combination of course, but it’s worked so far.

As for feeling unsafe on the street, I’ve gone into all sorts of neighbourhoods and haven’t felt worried. However, I’m also a man, not going into these places at night, and not going in under the influence of anything. A couple times people have told me to leave, and I’ve raised my hands and turned around, and that’s pretty much the extent of it.

And bluntly, when you live two blocks away from the Downtown Eastside for seven years, it tends to increase your risk tolerance and awareness of your surroundings.

The one caveat is that are places where you have to be more aware than others, and that takes up more energy — I’m in India right now, and I feel more tired at the end of the day despite walking less than usual (I’m still having a lovely time!)

Ultimately, so much of travel anxiety is risk management — you have to consider the odds of a bad thing happening, what things you can do to mitigate that, your own acceptable risk levels, come up with a plan…and accept that every plan can fail for reasons that have nothing to do with your own abilities.

can’t think of any conversations i had with people every day for 18 months that remind me of that

“What favourite sources do you use to research/plan your trip?”

In no particular order: GPSmyCity, Lonely Planet, Timeout, GetYourGuide, Victor, Eater, Planetware, Reddit.

I’ve mentioned this before: while the itinerary for the trip was heavily planned, the individual days are not. So I’ve used those tools to give myself inspiration on things to do, though generally only a few days before arriving in any city, and more to give myself a base for which to do my own exploring and wandering.

“Are you developing your charts for your book while on the road or when you return?”

Aside from the charts on these quarterly updates, I’ll be doing them when I return, and here’s why.

The book is going to be two sort of separate though similar things, bouncing back and forth between each. The first part will be a travel memoir, with a lot of the stuff that I’ve been writing about the last nine months, only with rankings and other fun bits that can only come from writing about this trip as a whole.

But the second part of the book is going to be more journalistic, focusing on the concept of “world-class cities”, and whether Vancouver is one.

It’ll use my observations and experiences on this trip as a jumping off point, and include the type of analysis, deep dives — and, of course, charts — that folks know me for in my serious reporting.

I think most people who follow me enjoy the mix of Justin the journalist and Justin the person, and I’m hopeful the book exemplifies that.

Which is to say a) I really hope folks purchase it when it comes out, b) I still need to make those other charts

“Trains in China vs. Japan. Which system was better?”

Ooooh this is a great question.

Both systems have trains that go up to 300 kilometres an hour with ease (though China has many more). Both systems extend to pretty much every big and medium sized city you would ever want to visit (though Japan’s rail system is slower for the medium cities, yet it integrates better into the local transit systems). Both systems have great seats, dependable power outlets, and are hyper efficient when it comes to running on time.

But I would give Japan the slight edge, for three reasons.

First, Japan’s train stations tend to be in the centre of a city, while China’s tend to be on the edge, operating like airports. That extra hour of commuting to the hotel + stress of connecting to a different bus or train or taxi matters.

Second, in Japan there is the very fun culture of getting food in the station, often from a custom bento box, whereas China has fairly rudimentary offerings.

Finally, Japan’s high-speed train has pretty good wifi. China has no wifi, plus Ye Olde Firewall that slows down your phone regardless of the workaround you’re using.

And when you’re on a train for multiple hours, there’s only so long you’re going to want to stare out the window.

“If you could go back to one place, which would it be?”

I’m actually going to choose three places, because it’s my mailbag. More importantly, the three have an overarching theme.

My first city in Latin America was Mexico City. My first city in Europe was Lisbon. My first city in east Asia was Seoul.

I loved all of them, felt electrified by all the new experiences, felt sad that I only gave myself three nights in each (though that’s sort of the standard on this trip).

Because they were first in each leg, I spent a little more time getting my bearings in each place. And I also don’t know whether I really really loved them because they were objectively great, or if I was high on brand new culture endorphins that weren’t there by the time I got to Rio or Rome or Shanghai (to use three somewhat random examples from later on in each leg).

I sure would like to find out though.

(From left to right: Seoul! Lisbon! Mexico City!)

“Do you worry about the mundane as when coming back to bc?”

“Do you look forward to returning home?”

“First food you’ll eat back in Vancouver?”

“What’s the *second* thing you’ll do when you get back to Vancouver?”

“Biggest fear about going home to ‘normal life’?”

If everyone could get out of my brain that would be great, thanks.

I have a couple of general ideas, a couple of stupid bits, and one particular place I’d like to go in the first day or two after I return, and I’m really looking forward to it.

At the same time, I don’t know how it will be different, and it’s inherently unknowable until I return and go back to some of my old routines (while also trying to hike more, because now I will be one of those insufferable Vancouverites, I am sorry).

So I’m giving myself space by not having any significant plans between March and September next year, and using that time to be purposeful in how I unfreeze my life and figure out what the next act looks like.

“How do you feel about celebrating the holidays on vacation?”

“Will you be celebrating Christmas this year?”

“Do you have special plans to celebrate Christmas while on your trip?”

People have often asked “are you lonely?” during the year, and the answer continues to be “not really” — but the Christmas season is different.

Part of it is I’m a big sentimentalist, and it’s the time to be with people we care about and reflect on the year that has passed.

One can’t help but think of that, especially when you’re checking into endless hotel rooms and eating and living in relative isolation.

So before this trip began, I preemptively booked something for Christmas Day that would be unique, distracting, while also allowing me to send out messages or take video calls from friends and family.

I think I’ve got something pretty neat sorted out.

Every day on this trip is interesting. The feeling on Christmas will be more interesting than most.