Plunged into a Civil war since 2015, Yemen has been a difficult destination to visit on my quest to reach every one of the 196 countries of the world. I have been waiting for years to be able to go to Sana’a, the cultural capital of Yemen. But as I was planning to come in 2014, it became more and more dangerous for foreigners. It became too risky to make it to the country and soon after, the country fell into a never-ending war which is still raging strong at the time of writing this article. But even during wartime, there are always workarounds to enter a country. So how was it possible for me to spend a whole week in Yemen in 2019? The Secret was to go to Socotra, an island which is part of an archipelago of 4 islands located in the Arabian […]
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What to do in a Few Days around Porec in Croatia?
After Rovinj, this is the other favorite for tourists looking for Beach and Sun in Croatia. Although Porec is a nice little medieval town, when speaking of Porec it is usually referred to as an area that stretches 37 km along it’s coast from north to south where several beach resorts are entirely devoted to mass tourism. Although Porec is still not as internationally famous as Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian coast, it isn’t a secret for Italians which flood the area every season and count for the vast majority of tourists seen, followed by a smaller proportion of Germans. A Coast designed for Mass Tourism The town of Porec is actually pretty small, measuring only 200m by 400m. It is the Romans who designed the current outlines of the streets in the old town, making it an important administrative center around the 2nd century BC. […]
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Saudi Arabia (Country 193/195) – 1 Week Traveling between Jeddah and Riyadh
I had been waiting for years to figure out a way to reach Saudi Arabia on my quest to travel to every country of the world. Being one of the closest countries in the world, Saudi Arabia recently made a 180-degree shift of policy to open its doors in a bid to kick-start tourism in the country. Not only did they start issuing tourist visas for special events starting late 2018, but it also has plans to build a touristic city a little bit in the style of Qatar and Dubai in the middle of the desert, and is already starting to invite several countries to come since 2018. I took advantage of a recent event called Jeddah Seasons to finally being able to explore the Kingdom after years investigating all the possible ways to come. This marked my 193rd country visited out of the […]
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Saudi Arabia Quietly Welcome Canadian Tourists to Visit the Kingdom for the First Time in History
With the recent political clashes between Canada and Saudi Arabia back in November 2018 over humans rights, with Saudi Arabia striking back by shutting down relations between the two countries, coming to the Kingdom was pretty much out of range for most Canadians. There has been no official warm up in the relations, but suddenly the government of Saudi Arabia quietly added Canada to its list of countries who can visit the country under its new “Sharek Tourist Visa”! This is great news for Canadian travelers and even for the relations between the two countries! At the time of writting, this has not yet been reported by news outlet or officially by neither govemenents. Actually I don’t even think the officials actually know about this prior to this article… and I pretty much found it by luck! So a new country is now available for […]
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Exploring Niamey in Niger – An Example for African Development – (My 192nd of 195 Country Visited)
Back to French-speaking Africa this time in a west-African nation. It was the peak summer season in Niamey, known to be one of the hottest cities in the world, situated in the middle of the Sahara desert! We landed at night and as soon as the airplane doors opened, we felt a wave of dry hot air invade the interior… Just a preview to what I could expect the next few days, with a thermometer over 47 degrees during the day! In General, my expectations for Niger were totally off target from what I had heard and read through my pre-travel research. It was much better than I had imagined. And here’s why… One of the Poorest Nation in the world… Really? I was on my guard when arriving in Niger since I had read a report of the United Nations ranking Niger 189th out […]
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Exploring Bangui in Central African Republic – My 190th of 195 Country
“Welcome to the Country of Wars” was I told, by my taxi driver taking me from the International Airport to my Hotel downtown Bangui, Capital of Central African Republic. There was definitely something deep about what he said, as from my personal knowledge, this is all I knew about the country prior to coming! Probably this was a reason why I had taken so long to travel here, making it my 51st country visited in Africa, out of the 54 that make the African continent. He then gladly replied: “But finally peace is coming to us”! Among all the United Nations armoured Vehicles and soldiers I could see on the way to the hotel, this positive note was exactly what I needed to hear, as I was ready to begin exploring Bangui. At the time of writing, the government of Central African Republic had just […]
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Exploring N’Djamena in Chad – My 189th Country Visited, 50th in Africa
It was a night I will always remember… I arrived in a heavily guarded airport, where the plane was escorted to the front of the airport by military guards armed with Kalashnikovs. It was an evening of the hottest month of the year in N’Djamena, Capital of Chad, a landlocked country in the very heart of Africa. 41 degrees at nighttime, with pretty much 0% of humidity, and absolutely no breeze… I’ve travelled extensively in Africa but rarely have I been hit in the face with such heat! Simply hard to breath… But still, I was extremely excited to arrive once more in a new country on this beautiful continent that I hadn’t been before. And to make it even more special, I was celebrating my 50th country in Africa which counts a total of 54! So here I am in N’Djamena to learn more […]
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Canadian Newspaper LaPresse Publishes my Travel Recommendations for 2019
Back in January, I was contacted by a Journalist from Canadian Newspaper LaPresse named Mrs Ballivy, concerning an article about experts recommendations for Canadian tourists to travel in 2019. Flattered by the trust and confidence giving by such a reputable newspaper, I accepted with pride! My recommendations appeared in two articles published by the newspaper, where out of my 9 recommendations, 3 were selected. You can find the link to these two articles, but I also thought I could share the remainder of my other recommendations with my loyal readers right here in this article. Two articles published by La Presse The two articles published by LaPresse were quite interesting and can be found in French at the following links. The first was published on the 12th February 2019 under the title Les destinations voyage de l’année where the authors kept Tallinn as my recommended […]
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Visiting Zadar in Croatia – The New Dalmatian Coast Hot Spot
The third biggest city in Croatia and quickly developing as an alternative for Split as a holiday base, Zadar really surprised me and exceeded my expectations. Enjoying the same quality of the Dalmatian coast as its southern brothers, Zadar has plenty to offer for the seasonal tourist looking for sun, beach and culture. Trying to cash in on Tourism With Tourism in mind, Zadar is aiming big nowadays with its cruise port which can receive the biggest fleet of cruise ships in the Mediterranean. Many of the biggest cruise companies have chosen Zadar as a regular stop to explore the Adriatic sea route, along with Venice, Split and Dubrovnik, as it is strategically located as an easy stop to explore other beautiful cities in the region, such as Sibenik. With the advent of Cheap airlines now connecting Zadar directly to major European cities, its popularity […]
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World Map of the Friendliest Countries to Travel to… in the Eyes of a Man Who Visited Them All
This Article is part of my series about comparing every country in the world between each other, from the perspective of a man who has traveled all of them, 188/196 to be precise. After creating the most beautiful countries map, the best food in the world map or even the best quality price countries, this article focuses on the most friendly countries to travel to. It must be understood that the context here when I say “friendly to the traveler” is how welcoming a country is to visitors at first sight, and not necessarily about the population in general. I also tried to be objective in my way to rate them, even though it also reflects a little bit my personal experiences. As a traveler with an open mind, I do not care about religion or race, I am an observer of humans in general […]
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