Feel like everyone has been abroad more than me

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In my life, out of the 195 countries in the world, I have only been to 9 of them (Australia, France, Spain (Menorca), Turkey, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Italy and Germany). I also went to Vatican City which is actually a country in itself so that counts as a 10th country I've been to. Four of which I went to as a child and six as an adult so far but I can't help sometimes feel when I'm scrolling through my phone on social media that I see a lot of photos of people at places I have never been to yet (some of which I wouldn't really want to go to) and I see people who are probably younger than me seemingly doing more of that, going abroad a lot and leaves me asking myself why I didn't do that then during university years rather than five years later when I started gaining the confidence to travel by plane again after about 15 years since I last flew on a plane.

The thing is though also I find travelling fun and interesting but there is a part of me that won't on my own initiative to travel on my own and have only been abroad with members of my family. I don't know if its because I find it intimidating to go abroad when I had spent years travelling with family and I don't know how I would cope in places where not everybody speaks the same language as you and worry about language barriers with people or reading signs of where to go or how to use the currency of a particular country. I seem to think the simple answer is to say ''Well, just get a language book and learn the language and so on.'', but is it really that simple ?

I have heard from people who have travelled alone and have said its made them feel enriched about going like they do with their friends or family and that just sometimes leaves me feeling like I'm not using my free leisure time wisely and that life is being ''wasted'' because I'm not doing what they've done on their own. I even feel like the pandemic has made me feel like I'm ''missing out'' or that life has been ''wasted'' even though I know it effected everybody and not just me but the last time I went abroad to a different place was Berlin in February 2019 although I went to France in May 2023 to see my grandparents who live there.

Feel like everyone has been abroad more than me

FWIW you have been to more countries than me, I've been to the USA and Greece (Crete) on family holidays and Holland (Amsterdam), Ireland and France (day trip to get booze & fags) when I was an adult.

There are men your age on this forum who have never left their home state in USA, and I knew a man here who had never been on a boat, a train, or a plane at all. He lived an hour from the sea and had never seen it.

I have been to 9 different countries, if you include the one I live in, or 8 excluding the one I live in. And also one channel island.

I don't feel as though I haven't travelled enough. And many of those countries, like you, I visited when I was a kid on holiday with my parents.

I have relatives and friends who have been to 30+ countries, but they tend to be wealthier than I and have more drive to do things, including exploring other countries.

I've been to France. That's it.

Am I bothered? No, I like being in the UK.

I've never had the means to travel to a different country, unfortunately, except for going on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls once which doesn't count.

I have been abroad to England.

TIL that Niagara Falls separates Canada & USA

Ah. There are says to sneak across the boarded undetected.

3x as many as me. Technically I've been to three countries in my life - Canada (home) USA (10 miles away - but I've travelled around the Western 1/3-1/2 of it on road trips mostly.) and technically I've been to Mexico in 1991 when I was 9 years old and we walked across the border through turnstiles into Tijuana and spent the day shopping in the street markets.

9 or 10 countries is quite a few to visit. At least you live somewhere where countries are very small and close together so you can visit many of them with ease. I may have covered more ground than you travelling around the Western 1/3-1/2 of Canada and the USA, though.. but they're only 2 countries and Most other countries in the world are expensive to travel to and from due to long overseas flights to get there + accommodations + lost income from time off work etc = international travel is cost prohibitive save for some Mexican/Domican Republic flight sale deals some of my friends take advantage of. Oh, and Las Vegas - it can be very cheap to fly there and I did once 15 years ago.

Your problem is two fold:

1. You're comparing yourself to others.
2. You're doing it with a negative mindset & perspective with assumptions others have travelled more than you and 9 or 10 countries is a low figure.


Instead, you could think thoughts like "Wow! I've travelled to 9 or 10 countries so far in my life!! ! How blessed & grateful I am to have those experiences and memories.. and who knows, I might even get an opportunity to see more countries yet!"

Same number of countries, different perspective. With the way you're thinking you'll make yourself miserable for having been a world traveller of 9 or 10 countries so far instead of happy you've had all those vacations - which is nuts. Who in their right mind is going to make themselves miserable over having travelled abroad to 9 or 10 different countries??! Give your head a shake and start with fresh thoughts on this one..

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You have been more abroad than I have

If it's any consolation, I've only made it to 6 other countries. France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, India and Sri Lanka. I was only in Italy and Switzerland for a couple of hours each, during childhood holidays to France. I'm an awful traveller - I've not actually left the town where I live since 2019.

I never left my birth country.

I barely able to leave my hometown.
Like, barely more 20 times. And never alone.

Never went further than worth 1-2 hour long flight to go to another island... For only 4 times.

Never, ever been abroad. Not once.
The rest of my immediate family did. They we're all OFWs at one point or another (my mom was, my dad is, my sister already is).

I didn't.
Likely couldn't.

I want to travel.
Preferably alone.

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You've done more traveling that I have, that's for sure. But in all fairness, I live in the states, and it's a huge country here. The only other country I've been to is Canada. I live in Michigan though and most of us here have been there as it's not so far. In my case it's just a drive through a tunnel not far from my oldest daughter's place. In my reality, the only people who travel are rich people..most people I know could never afford such adventures.

I'd like to go to Europe, you're fortunate to see so many cultures.

I've been to Thailand and Japan, the latter in 2002, so quite some time ago.

I'm lucky enough to have been interstate, in Australia that's like going to another country because it's so far.