During the last 9 years of traveling around the world, I’ve been to over 110 countries, and many more territories and subnational units.
However, those 110 countries represent some of the smallest countries in the world. I began traveling 2007 by island hopping across the Pacific, visiting places like Samoa, Tonga, Micronesia and the Solomon Islands. I went through most of the Caribbean visiting places like Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda. In Europe, I visited all the microstates: San Marino, Andorra, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.
However, I haven’t been to many of the largest countries in the world. I haven’t been to Russia, China, Brazil, or India.
There is no particular reason I’ve avoided any of these places. It is just that there are 200-some countries in the world and someone has to be first and someone has to be last.
India, in particular, has been an issue for me because I have so many readers from India. Probably a week doesn’t go by where someone doesn’t ask me I have been to India, or when I would be going.
Several times I’ve intended to visit India, but other things came up and I never got around to it.
This year, however, G Adventures launched their new partnership with National Geographic: National Geographic Journeys With G Adventures. I’ll be going on one of the first trips as I travel through Kerala in Southern India.
After Kerala, I’ll be up in Delhi meeting people and exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Delhi and Agra.
Prior to my trip, I contacted the folks at Allianz Travel Insurance to ask them about travel in India and what sort of things I, as a traveler, should be on the lookout for.
Despite the recent news about attacks on foreigners (mostly women) and tales of the famous Delhi Belly, the thing which resulted in the most insurance claims was traffic accidents.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise because the US State Department has long said that traffic accidents are the #1 cause of deaths and injuries for travelers. India is certainly no exception. So, wear your seat belt and pay attention when crossing the street.
I’ll be experiencing quite a bit over the next few weeks and will be posting updates here on my blog, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.