(Kingston, Ontario, Canada)

OK, I admit it.  I am a travel geek and have recorded every trip I have ever taken.  I know how many countries I have visited and how many times I’ve been to each of those countries.  In fact, because of the vastness (and proximity) of Canada and the United States, I have recorded the same information for all of the provinces, territories and states of those two countries.  Alas, if this becomes the basis of your travel planning, it becomes a “checklist” approach to travel…and I am trying to avoid falling into that trap.

Having said that, I’m not going to throw out my travel records.  Tallying up the number of countries visited is an interesting, though easily manipulated, way to measure how much one has traveled.   Although my travel decisions will (hopefully) not be guided by these statistics, I will continue updating my lifetime travel stats as the year progresses.  And yes, when the 12 months are over, I will probably calculate how many countries I visited during this special year.

I will also admit that one of the destinations under consideration for my travel year is Saskatchewan:  the only Canadian province/territory that I have never visited.  But I won’t go just to check it off the list…there must still be something special for me to see or do that justifies a visit.  Will it make the cut?  Stay tuned and see!