I had an INTERESTING CONVERSATION with a colleague a few weeks ago on our respective travel opportunities and how such opportunities aided in the LIFE DIRECTIONS we're currently living.  First off, my DECISION TO TRAVEL TO ALL SEVEN OF THE WORLD's CONTINENTS probably occurred AFTER MY FOREIGN EXCHANGE program back in College over 24 years ago.

There was SOMETHING THAT CAME ALIVE WITHIN ME when I first traveled over seas.  Yeah, I say "over seas" as I had traveled a few times from the USA to Canada, but it never REALLY FELT as if I had traveled to a different country~Silly, I know, but there it is!  In any case, I flew off to the UK to do an Exchange Program through my College and I'm SO GLAD I DID...So glad my Father found the spare "ducats"...So glad my Mother did not put her foot down....Just completely happy that ALL THINGS FELL INTO PLACE for this journey to happen.  Within days of being in England, I realized that TRAVEL AND TRAVELING just had to be a part of my life some how...Like the oxygen we breathe, I KNEW TRAVEL WOULD BE MY SOUL'S SOLACE.  So, what was it exactly, you ask, that was so LIFE CHANGING?  The people, the foods, the way they lived, the activities they typically participated in, the morning routines and their evening routines, their versions of WHAT WAS FUNNY and their perceptions of me as an American~I found IT ALL FASCINATING!

So, shortly after that experience, I CHALKED OUT SOME ROUGH GOALS for myself~I wanted to visit all Seven of the World's Continents AND, as an American, I wanted to visit All 50 States by Age 50.  Yup, I put a TIMEFRAME on myself.  This kept me moving forward and delving into States I would most likely not have opportunities to visit.  So, just from this VERY BRIEF INTERACTION WITH A COLLEAGUE, and while I'm NO LONGER a Passport Stamp Collector, I was quite interested in gathering my thoughts of the ACTUAL COUNTRIES I've had the pleasure of either visiting, working with and/or living in as an Expat:

AFRICA

Lesotho

Morocco

South Africa

ANTARCTICA

ASIA

• Afghanistan
• China
• Hong Kong
• Israel
• Macau
• Singapore
• South Korea
• The Philippines

AUSTRALIA

EUROPE 

• Amsterdam
• Austria
• Brussels
• Croatia
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Holland
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Liechtenstein
• Norway
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom 
• Vatican City
• Yemen
• Yugoslavia

NORTH and CENTRAL AMERICA

• Bahamas 
• Canada
• Jamaica
• Mexico
• Puerto Rico
• United States of America

1. Alabama
2.   Alaska
3.   Arizona
4.   Arkansas
5.   California (Lived and Worked for 6-Years)
6.   Colorado
7.   Connecticut (Lived and Worked for 15-Years)
8.   Delaware
9.   Florida
10.   Georgia
11.   Hawaii
12.   Idaho
13.   Illinois
14.   Indiana
15.   Iowa
16.   Kentucky
17.   Louisiana
18.   Maine
19.   Maryland
20.   Massachusetts
21.   Michigan
22.   Minnesota
23.   Mississippi
24.   Montana
25.   Nebraska
26.   Nevada
27.   New Hampshire
28.   New Jersey
29.   New Mexico
30.   New York (Worked in for 15-Years)
31.   North Carolina
32.   North Dakota
33.   Ohio
34.   Oklahoma
35.   Oregon
36.   Pennsylvania (Born, Raised, and Lived)
37.  Rhode Island
38.  South Carolina
39.  South Dakota
40.  Tennessee
41.  Texas
42.  Utah
43.  Vermont
44.  Virginia
45.  Washington
46.  West Virginia
47.  Wisconsin
48.  Wyoming

SOUTH AMERICA

•    Argentina

 

Landing in Macau!

Well, it's been ROUGHLY THREE MONTHS since the wheels of the 737 Flight I was on landed at Macau International Airport from Taipei, Taiwan via San Francisco, California!

The weather was HOT, HAZY AND HUMID.  I had on WAY TOO MANY LAYERS as I began sweating profusely while standing in line at Customs.  Sweating and hot, I looked around the airport with the bold DEFINITIVE WORD OF INTERNATIONAL included in its name and thought it was mildly ambitious of them, but, then again, I did just land from Taiwan, so THAT IS IN FACT " INTERNATIONAL", and I corrected myself.  I didn't have any problems at customers; I collected my toys (otherwise known as MY BAGS) and moved onward to meet the Human Resources personnel that were scheduled to meet me.  They were waiting for me AND ANOTHER FAMILY just as planned.  Once we negotiated how we were going to travel back to the Hotel, we were on the move~So, a TAXI was the selected mode of transportation BUT the taxi and it's driver did not seem prepared to work an airport~You know, like picking up travelers landing with bags!