Under a thorn tree at Rooiputs in the Kgalagadi (the overflow campsite), I revisit the starting place of a wild train of thought. The one that set my nation count into motion…
Six years ago, just outside of Kampala, five of us sat and freely voiced an audacious range of journeys we would love to take on. Le Roux gave the dreaming some sense and settled himself on the target of visiting 30 nations by the age of 30. I was well influenced by this reachable target. He and the others were part of a group that would travel some 15 countries in total that year. I was only accompanying them for the East African leg of their journey. I was 24 then and so was Le Roux. All this to say, this title isn’t entirely my genius.
I did a similar journey two years prior, where a good dose of the moments listed below come from. What’s more, on the quick-to-achieve side of things, the 30th nation I visited was Nepal soon after I turned 25. Without further or due, happy to have visited 30 nations by 30, here are bites from 30 nations visited:
A cold one at the Millennial Cross in Skopje, Macedonia 🇲🇰
High-time with family in Mariental, Namibia 🇳🇦
Empty train ride to Chandigahr, India 🇮🇳
Crossing the Rivumu river by dhow, foot and motorboat around and in between hippos, Tanzania 🇹🇿
Supping in Beit Yanai (where I caught my first wave!), Israel 🇮🇱
Dealing with worms in a village near Tororo, Uganda 🇺🇬
Watching Cirque du Soleil in Vegas, USA 🇺🇸
Taking motorbike taxis through no-man’s-land, my parents in-law waiting to receive Jansie and I, at the Mwanza border, Malawi 🇲🇼
Harmonising to the melodies and songs of foreign chorusses at Anafora, Egypt 🇪🇬
Den-dairy milk challenges in rural areas outside Svishavane, Zimbabwe 🇿🇼
Taking a roof seat on top of a truck-bus to a village outside Pokhara, Nepal 🇳🇵
Playing jugular (dodgeball with polystyrene swords) at a summer camp with youth, two hours train outside of Moscow, Russia 🇷🇺
Tango show in Buenos Aires, Argentina 🇦🇷
Maize-land showers outside of Kitale, Kenya 🇰🇪
A Ciao-Mein dinner with Phillipinos in Maseru, Lesotho 🇱🇸
Purchasing locally-produced wine at a café in Famugasta, Northern Cyprus 🇨🇾
“Skit die gid” / Shaking off a guide to trek the High Atlas with just my wife in Imlil, Morocco 🇲🇦
River-rafting the Zambezi, Zambia 🇿🇲
Frans sticking me for a hot air balloon ride in Cappadocia, Türkiye 🇹🇷
Testing out my Lada Niva on our then front-yard dunes, Baleia Bay, Mozambique 🇲🇿
Shrimp Ojja with foreign friends in Ain Draham, Tunisia 🇹🇳
Ferrying over the Gibraltar to Tarifa, Spain 🇪🇸
Hiking the Tiger Leaping Gorge outside Lijiang, China 🇨🇳
Cable car jaunts with Pap in Tizi Ouzou, Algeria 🇩🇿
Hiding a fresh geo-cache in Trafalgar Square, London 🇬🇧
Soukh evenings with friends in Duhok, Kurdistan / North Iraq 🇮🇶
Victory plunge off the night bus in Kigali, Rwanda 🇷🇼
Finding a place to sleep under the stars, in a children’s play park in Yazd, Iran 🇮🇷
Avocado and papaya juice at a vendor on the outskirts of Dire Dawa, Ethiopia 🇪🇹
And finally… after the Kgalagadi Jansie and I just now stumbled upon a backpackers outside of Gaborone, Botswana 🇧🇼
Love nations!