Comments on: When is a Country Not a Country?

By: Terrence M.

Terrence M. — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:03:31 +0000

The country where I just can’t decide whether I’ve visited or not is Ireland. Flew Aer Lingus from Paris to JFK with an overnight stopover in Dublin. We took a taxi from the airport to a nearby hotel so we were technically off airport grounds, where I ate, slept, showered and yes, used the bathroom. But other than interacting with a couple of cab drivers and hotel personnel, we didn’t really see Ireland. By the letter of my technical definition of having visited a state or country (must be off airport and must have had a meal) yes, I’ve visited, but I struggle to put a pin in this country on my map as well.

By: David C Fox

David C Fox — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:56:36 +0000

I’ve stood on the runway in Morocco and Saudi Arabia-Very very hot in both places.

By: Doug Z

Doug Z — Tue, 26 Nov 2024 01:48:14 +0000

This is so true.

I’ve landed, and disembarked in many countries, but I’ve never left the airport. This saddens me, because there was so much that I wanted to go see. Unfortunately, I was enroute to somewhere else. And that was where I wanted to be more than where I was at.

By: Bob Koblish

Bob Koblish — Thu, 21 Nov 2024 02:03:18 +0000

“Passengers will please refrain
from flushing toilets while the train
is standing still or passing through the station”

So no, I haven’t been to Delaware on Amtrak.

By: Rose

Rose — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 18:10:34 +0000

Thank you for continuing to post here. Most people have stopped blogging. Love your posts.

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 02 Nov 2024 01:02:20 +0000

My criteria is basically the same as yours, I need to set foot on the ground outside of an airport. I’ve not yet had a situation where I had to make the same determination about a train station but in most cases I’d take a quick walk around the neighborhood and grab a bite just to make it official. My list of countries that I have been to but not been too is rather short, refueling at Shannon airport on a KLM Amsterdam to New York flight in 1969 certainly does not count nor does stopping at Aukland airport on a Sydney to Honolulu flight in 1986 though that time I at least got off the plane and visited the gift shop. I’ve also been to Keflavík airport in Iceland times and once even had stopover just long enough to eat lunch but not long enough to leave the terminal and non of those counts either. But we did stop in a small town in Slovakia and had enough time to grab lunch and see the local church on a bus from Poland to Hungary so that definitely does count as does staying one night in Helsinki after taking a train from St Petersburg to catch a plane the next day. I have a few US states and one Canadian province on that list as well for similar reasons.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 01 Nov 2024 01:31:42 +0000

I always try to get out of the airport if I can, especially if it’s a country I haven’t been to.

But I didn’t at Schipol. And I’ve been driven from Germany into Belgium via the bottom corner of the Netherlands, but I didn’t get off the bus. So I don’t think I have ever been to the Netherlands.

And, as for “sometimes the country itself is what muddles things up”, I’ve been to Taiwan many times. But it’s not officially a country. So I’m guessing it doesn’t count.

By: tbinpr

tbinpr — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 14:27:36 +0000

How about Puerto Rico? Is it a country? There is no Puerto Rican citizenship or passport.

The now defunct San Juan Star, the English language newspaper of record in PR, would add “(sic)” to a quote that referred to Puerto Rico as a “country.”

However, as a long term resident of Puerto Rico I can safely assert that it is not a “floating pile of garbage.”

By: MWnyc

MWnyc — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 09:37:12 +0000

I can’t say I’ve been to Dubai, where I changed planes on the way to Delhi. But I can say that I’ve been to Singapore, where I had layovers going to and from Melbourne. (This is from NYC.)

One of my layovers in Singapore was 18 hours, so I made a point of leaving the airport. (Changi Airport was excellent, though not a fabulous as it is now. The laksa was extraordinary, though.)

I didn’t get to see a lot of the city, but I did see some, and I definitely have more of a feel for the place than I do for Dubai or Tokyo (where I once changed planes as well).

You know what I saw in Singapore that astounded me? Litter.

Actual litter on the street. In Singapore. I saw it and wondered who got caned for leaving it there.

By: Vidiot

Vidiot — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 03:59:25 +0000

I muse about this stuff surprisingly frequently…have I been to Czechia and Slovakia, if I’ve been to both territories, but only when it was Czechoslovakia? I certainly haven’t been to Colombia, but I did have an excellent cup of coffee at a lounge at Bogota’s El Dorado airport. (And I pooped there. Still don’t count it as a country visited.) Likewise, two transfers at MSP didn’t mean I could count Minnesota as a state I’d visited, even if I did seek out the infamous Larry Craig bathroom my first time there. (I neither pooped nor got up to anything else there.)

French Polynesia feels different enough from Metropolitan France that I count it as a separate country from “L’Hexagone”; it’s a long way, physically and metaphorically, from Bordeaux to Bora Bora. I’d imagine I’d feel the same way if I’m ever lucky enough to visit St. Pierre et Miquelon.

I’m trying to get to every state before I turn fifty, and have three to go….but that’s only counting ones that I remember having visited. (I must have been to Iowa before visiting a month ago, when I reconstruct old road trip routes from childhood, but now I can say something about what I saw there.) And I’ve spent the night in forty-six of the forty-seven states I’ve visited…gotta get back to sleep with you, New Mexico.