Where in the World is Bob Jack?

"If you haven’t been to a country, everything you think about it is almost definitely wrong"

"This is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time – Fight Club"

As an Englishman, I love travelling. I now have 171 countries, dominions, islands and autonomous republics under my belt. I have kept extensive summaries of many of the countries visited and some of the stupid things I've done. Some of the information may be current and useful. Some of the stories may be entertaining. It may all be twaddle. Who knows?

I have discovered the Traveller's Century Club who have a listing of 325 places to visit, "Although some are not actually countries in their own right, they have been included because they are removed from the parent country, either geographically, politically or ethnologically. After consideration as to how long one must have stayed in a country or territory to qualify, it was decided that even the shortest visit would suffice — even if only a port-of-call, or a plane fuel stop. This greatly widens the field and will give the traveller a better chance to qualify for one of the most unusual clubs in the world. Anyone who has visited 100 or more of the places listed below is eligible to join." I have reclassified my list to their criteria. However, I do not agree with a fuel stop/port of call counting as a visit and my list does not include, for example, fuel stops in Bahrain and Bogota, Columbia. I didn't exactly see the country from an airport! I have also decided that 306 of these places are possible so that is my target (this includes countries currently off-limits). 171 ticked off.

Latest Movement:We just toured Arizona (report coming). 2025 sees some major travelling, Bermuda in March, a one month road trip to Yukon in Canada in May/June. Bahamas and Saudi Arabia in September and India in November. In January 2026, we are doing a cruise from Buenos Aires to the Falkland Islands, then Antarctica and up the Chilean coast to Santiago. Followed by another Caribbean cruise in March 2026 to pick off some more countries and islands

Welcome to the Covid 20s...

Farewell to the 2010s...

That Was the Noughties...

• South Africa - What is understood, need not be discussed - October 2009
• The 10th Kalahari Augrabies Extreme Marathon (South Africa) - What If Today Was Your Last Day? - October 2009
• Ducking Into Dubai, United Arab Emirates - September 2009
• Paris Marathon - "Allez La Boeuf!" - April 2009
• France - Lapping up the Loire Valley - August 2008
• The Mongolian Rally - London to Mongolia in an old Land Rover - Duff Nuts vs Donkeys, Deportation and Dust - July/August 2008
• Rolling around Switzerland - The land of dodgy cheese and cuckoo clocks - May 2008
• Pain Is Just Weakness Leaving Your Bottom - Cycling Lands End to John O' Groats in the UK - Easter 2008
• Where is your 'Get Out of Hell Free' card? - Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage Trail, Northern Spain - December 2006
• Posso mostratri il mio obelisco? (May I show you my obelisk?)- Rome, Italy - December 2006
• The hunt for Mozart's balls in Salzburg, Austria - November 2006
• The Rise and Fall of Iceland's Phallogical Museum - October 2006
• Weekend Boyz trip to see Golden Earring in Eindhoven, Holland - October 2006
• Scandinavia - Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden - August 2006
• The Caucases - Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh - July 2006
• Academic Conference in Bologna, Italy - June 2006
• Weekend road trip to Heidelberg, Germany and Luxembourg - April 2006
• The 21st Marathon Des Sables 2006 (Sahara Desert) - Pain Is Just Weakness Leaving Your Body - Easter 2006
• Lanzarote (Canary Islands) - Pleasantly Underwhelming - Xmas 2005
• Eastern Europe And Then Some July - August 2005
• France - Weekend Gypsy in Normandy and Brittany - May 2005
• Oman - Land of the Numpty - Easter & Oct 2005/ May 2006/ May & Dec 2007, April & Sept 2009, Mar & Nov 2010
• Our Man In La Mancha, Spain - Xmas 2004
• Sardinia, Italy....Closed due to lack of interest - October 2004
• East Africa; (Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zanzibar) July - August 2004
• Cuba....Shit happens - May/June 2004
• Diving in the Red Sea, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt - April 2004
• Thailand; How To Become A Scuba Diver Instructor - June/July 2003
• Finishing Off The Far East; (South Korea, Eastern China, Mongolia) March - June 2003
• A Year in Japan: - March 2002 - March 2003
• Diving in the Red Sea, Hurghada, Egypt - Sea Life At 69 - February 2002
• Tough Guy 2002 - The Return of Sumo - January 2002
• 700 Days Overland to Australia and up to China: Nov 1999 - Oct 2001
• Useful Internet Sites

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Going back in time to the 1990s..

• Pottering Around the Peloponnese, Greece - Easter 1999
• A Piece of the Action - Albania/Macedonia - Easter 1999
• Bad Cards - Motorcycling Around the Pyrenees - July 1998
• Delving into Denmark - June 1998
• Slipping past Slovenia, Crawling through Croatia, Busting through Bosnia - Easter 1998
• Hungry for Hungary? - Easter 1998
• Sussing out Syria, the Lebanon and Vienna - Dec 97/Jan 98
• Attacking the Atlas Mountains, Morocco - June 1997
• Bouncing around Bulgaria - Easter 1997
• Meddling in the Middle East - Egypt/Jordan/Cyprus/Israel/West Bank - Dec 96/Jan 97
• Checking out China/Uzbekistan - July 1996
• Downtime in the Dominican Republic/Haiti - Easter 1996
• Messing with the Mayan Ruins of Mexico/Belize/Guatemala/Honduras - Dec 95/Jan 96
• Revelling on the River Nile, Egypt - June 1995
• Retracing Schindler's List - Krakow, Poland - Easter 1995
• Checking out the Czech Republic/Slovakia/Poland/Berlin, Germany - Easter 1995
• Twisted Times In Tunisia - Oct 1994
• Enduring the Jura Mountains, France - July 1994
• Vanquishing Venezuela, Trinidad & Tobago - Dec 93/Jan 94
• Madness in Morocco, Melilla & Gibraltar - Oct 1993
• Greeting the Greek Mainland - June 1993
• Cruising around Catalunya, Spain - Dec 92/Jan 93
• Rushing around Russia - Moscow/Lithuania/Latvia/Estonia/Helsinki, Finland/St Petersburg - Sept 1992
• Peddling around Portugal - Dec 91/Jan 92
• Soothing Southern France - May 1991

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Whatever Happened to the 1980s and 1970s?

• Turkish Delights - July 1988
• Bright Lights, Big Cities - New York/Washington DC - February 1988
• Double Decking around Western Europe - Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Italy, Vatican, San Marino, Monaco, France - Spring 1987
• Fiji, Hawaii, Canada, USA - Summer 1986
• New Zealand - Nov 85-May 86
• Amusement in Australia - Nov 84-Nov 85
• Canada, Hawaii, Fiji - Autumn 1984
• 450 Courier Flights around Europe - Dec 82-May 83
• University semester in New York - Autumn 1981
• San Francisco, Canadian Rockies, Florida - Summer 1981
• Greyhounding Around the USA - Summer 1980
• Rotary Exchange Student to Buffalo, New York, USA - Oct 78-Aug 79
• Exchange Student to Germany - Spring of 74,75,76,77
• Exchange Student to France - Spring 73
• Majorca, Ibiza, Spain - Summers 71/72

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Who is Bob Jack anyway?



© Bob Jack 2024