# Secondary, “How many countries?”, thread! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 23, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118 "2018-08-23T16:48:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/21 "2018-08-24T11:40:14Z")
France Italy Spain Germany Greece Thailand Mexico USA Cuba (and home, UK) My holiday history writ large! ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/22 "2018-08-24T11:56:40Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > England and Scotland are not separate countries, despite the protestations and machinations of the SNP. We are one country, the UK. It really depends on what definition you want to use. Yes, it’s all part of the UK. Most sources I see call it a constituent country of the UK. No, it is not an independent sovereign state. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/23 "2018-08-24T12:22:56Z")
For consecutively: USA\* Japan Taiwan Philippines For accumulated, add: Singapore Hong Kong, maybe. \*Note: Although I was born and lived in America until I was 20, I also visited it after I moved permanently overseas. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/24 "2018-08-24T13:08:06Z")
**Quartz** writes: “England and Scotland are not separate countries, despite the protestations and machinations of the SNP. We are one country, the UK.” > [@pulykamell](#): > > It really depends on what definition you want to use. Yes, it’s all part of the UK. Most sources I see call it a constituent country of the UK. No, it is not an independent sovereign state. A means of risking further complicating matters, under this general heading: the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands, are areas in or relatively close to the British Isles – however, they are not part of the UK, but self-governing British Crown Dependencies. Using these polities, I could – if hell-bent on so doing – advance a claim for two more putative countries which I’ve visited (more than fleetingly, though in the case of Man, less than a total of a fortnight); but I rather feel, “that way madness lies”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/25 "2018-08-24T13:16:21Z")
Two weeks is unfortunate because it means I can’t include the DR Congo which I visited a few months ago and a few others, but as for the rest: UK (home) France Spain Italy The Netherlands Belgium Andorra Ireland Canada USA Mexico Cuba Panama Israel India Nepal Thailand Vietnam Cambodia Laos Indonesia Australia Rwanda ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/26 "2018-08-24T14:22:23Z")
Two weeks consecutively: [ul] [li]USA[/li][li]New Zealand[/li][li]Nepal[/li][li]Japan[/li][/ul] Two weeks cumulatively: [ul] [li]England[/li][li]France[/li][li]Italy[/li][li]India[/li][li]Canada[/li][li]Thailand[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/27 "2018-08-24T14:43:13Z")
USA, which is a bit of a cheat since I live here. Ireland, spent a semester there. England is close, I’ve been a few times, each for at least a week, but I think I went once for right around two weeks. I spent two weeks in Latvia, but with a couple of days break in Lithuania. I know I was in Russia for 10+ days, not sure if I made the two weeks though. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/28 "2018-08-24T16:19:36Z")
All 39 of the ones I listed in the other thread. I was either working there or living/working there, or on vacation there. If you asked how many countries where I stayed at least six months, it would shorten quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/29 "2018-08-24T17:20:29Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Consecutively definitely none. You must move around a lot. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/30 "2018-08-24T17:25:16Z")
cuts my list down to 0 then. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/31 "2018-08-24T17:32:04Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > cuts my list down to 0 then. I’m another zero, presuming that “visiting” excludes your main country of residence. If it doesn’t exclude your main country of residence then **jz78817** and **Ludovic** must lead a hell of a life. (Hell of a lives? Hells of a life? How do you pluralize that?) ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/32 "2018-08-24T19:24:58Z")
US (born and live here, so I don’t know whether it counts for the purposes of this thread) Canada Chile Australia New Zealand UK Ireland Spain And I think I’ve spent a total of over two weeks each in Italy and Greece, but not consecutively. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/33 "2018-08-24T19:25:55Z")
Two weeks seems a long time as a criterion, but not my thread: USA Ghana Mexico (almost, short a few days) ---
**Author:** ![Scougs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scougs/32/3158_2.png) [@Scougs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scougs)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/34 "2018-08-25T10:53:55Z")
Two weeks does seem a bit harsh. I’ve done some vacations shorter than two weeks where I’ve still seen a lot of a country. For example, twelve days in Vietnam that included Hanoi, Halong Bay, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta. But it was only twelve days, so it doesn’t count? So, two weeks in a block: Home is UK USA Mexico Cuba Costa Rica France Spain Greece Malawi Peru Two weeks in total: Sweden, due to a number of business trips Denmark, vacation and business Less than two weeks (which is why I think it’s a harsh cut off): Guatemala (three night side trip from Mexico) Bolivia (side trip from Peru) Barbados (twelve days vacation) Jamaica (one week vacation) Argentina, Chile and Brazil (one two week vacation) Iceland (two night trip for football, plus a five night vacation) Ireland (two business trips) Portugal (two one week vacations) Belgium (overnight on business) Netherlands (three business trips, one football trip, one Roger Waters trip) Finland (overnight en route to Estonia) Germany (four night football trip) Poland (two night business trip) Austria and Hungary (twin centre week long holiday) Italy (four times on vacation, varying between five and twelve nights) Vatican City (in and out while in Italy) Turkey (two weeks vacation with two nights in Greece in the middle, so doesn’t count) Estonia (one night for a football match) Croatia (day trip for a football match) Russia (five night city break) Kenya (ten nights on safari) Tanzania (three nights on Zanzibar after being on safari in Kenya) Zambia (three nights on safari as side trip from Malawi) Egypt (eight night tour) Jordan (eight night tour) Vietnam and Cambodia (total fifteen, but split twelve and three) India (ten night tour) So, from the above, things like one night in Belgium for a meeting and one day in Croatia for a football match I accept as not really having visited the country. But I would definitely consider myself to have visited many, many of the above without having been there for two weeks. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/35 "2018-08-25T11:32:55Z")
Whether it’s cumulative or not, the two-weeks rule knocks my 23 down to the US, Germany and Turkey. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/36 "2018-08-25T15:08:36Z")
You can spend 2 weeks on a beach in an all-inclusive resort, seeing nothing of a country but its waiters and cleaners. Or you could spend a day in a rattly old van with some guys with machetes, visiting schools, ponds, sewage treatment areas, mountaintop hummingbird gardens, rural dumps, waterfalls, river snags, jungle zones, and agricultural areas and see 75+ bird species, many endemic, plus other wildlife while eating mangoes and tasting local treats, buying bread and juice from old women on the side of the road, getting your boots filthy with red mud and your arms covered in scratches and insect bites, and hearing about the local schools, economy, politics, ecology, gender relations, opinions of one’s own politicians and their effects on the country, and what’s wrong with kids today. I consider the latter a more desirable tourist experience despite its brevity. ---
**Author:** ![Scribble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scribble/32/3317_2.png) [@Scribble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scribble)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2018, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/37 "2018-08-25T17:40:47Z")
I won’t count the USA, because I’m from there and live there now. Canada Mexico Germany India The Philippines The Netherlands Brazil Ecuador Peru Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/38 "2018-08-27T15:20:53Z")
USA China Although if you opened it up to “less than a day”, I’d still only be able to add Mexico. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118/39 "2018-08-27T15:31:17Z")
Consecutively: USA Israel China Cumulatively: Canada France Costa Rica Peru The Netherlands (maybe just a skosh short of two weeks for this one) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/secondary-how-many-countries-thread/820118.md?page=1)