Travelers Century Club

[davidI]

Anyone else heard of or follow the TCC? http://travelerscenturyclub.org/

I'm not an official member of the TCC because I'm too cheap to pay the fees, but I finally made it to over 100 countries on the list (101 to be exact) so I can at least qualify (My list here: http://baldpacker.com/travelers-century-club-countries )

I'm hoping to see a few more of the more remote TCC countries before the end of the year (Tasmania, Christmas Island, Cocos Island, Palau, Guam, Saipan, Micronesia, and Hawaii) but there are still a lot of difficult places to reach on the TCC list.

I know there are a few solid travelers on here so if anyone has advice or suggestions for getting to some of the hard to reach places I'd definitely appreciate it!

[Gainsbarre]

Hadn't heard of it until reading your post. Can't say I find the membership benefits to outweigh the initiation and annual fees... http://travelerscenturyclub.org/about

I notice you haven't visited anywhere in South America except Peru yet? I had three weeks off of work this past June and was able to knock off Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, and then Panama (on the way back) off the list (up to 21 countries visited now). I was on a tour similar to this one http://www.gadventures.com/trips/in-...-rio/JBR/2014/ -- only this one was during the World Cup and it began in Buenos Aires, skipped all of Uruguay, and went by bus from Iguazu Falls to Curitiba, and then by bus again from Curitiba to Sao Paulo. I flew from Calgary to Toronto to Miami (12 hour stopover in MIA), and then from Miami to Montevideo. Spent 2 nights in Montevideo, travelled by bus west to Colonia Del Sacramento and spent the afternoon there, and then took an early evening ferry from Colonia to Buenos Aires. Spent two nights in Panama City, Panama on the way back to Calgary.

From what I've read so far, it seems like Antarctica, the South Pacific, and the Galapagos Islands are some of the priciest parts of the world to travel to. I can't even find multi country South Pacific tours (they all seem to be Australia and/ir New Zealand)? Do you have a credit card with concierge service? Maybe they can do some research here to help you?

[davidI]

Yea, I don't see a lot of benefit in actually joining the TCC at this time either. I think it's more aimed towards old people to get together and relive their old travel experiences. The one thing they have done that I would be interested in is put together trips to "impossible to reach" places like Diego Garcia. I'm just hoping I'll become aware of any such trips even as a non-member.

That South America trip looks great! I'm hoping to take a year or more off, maybe in 2016 or 2017 to travel South America and the Caribbean. Hopefully it works out. Any favourite "can't miss" places from your trip?

Antarctica (South Pole), South Pacific, Diego Garcia, Chagos Islands, Pitcairn Island, St. Helena, and Tristan de Cunha are probably the hardest and most expensive places to get to. I must say the biggest limitation to traveling the TCC are time and money and I'm still not sure I want to sacrifice so much of both to do complete the list. Would be pretty cool to do though as only around 20 people have managed so far...

[Gainsbarre]

Being in Brazil for the World Cup and having the opportunity to soak in the atmosphere, attend games and the FIFA Fan Fests were certainly a highlight.

Outside of the World Cup I'd certainly rate Iguazu Falls very highly. Both the Brazilian and Argentine sides of the falls are amazing, but if I could only choose one, it would be the Argentine side, as you have more opportunities to get up close (and very wet!) with the falls. You have a few opportunities to get close to the falls on the Brazilian side as well (there is a "devil's throat" on both sides that gets you very close). That being said, I would certainly try to visit both sides.

Rio de Janiero is a spetacular city, and Sugar Loaf mountain / Copacabana beach / Corcovado and the nightlife in general are not to be missed. Buenos Aires also left a favourable impression -- the city has a very European feel to it, and I was impressed that many locals there spoke very fluent English. Argentine beef was also the best meat I've ever had and was completely filled up by the bife de chorizo with red wine cost that only cost me about $10 USD (!!) ...this was at a restaurant called El Establo Parrilla. Alberta beef doesn't even come close to the quality of the Argentine beef that I had.

The tour also took us to a place called Ihla Grande (the big island) which has some amazing beaches. Lopes Mendes beach on the island was another highlight (of many!) on this trip.

Right now my biggest limitation is time, as I intend to keep working full-time, which of course gives me a limited number of vacation days a year. Nonetheless this year I've been able to squeeze in a 5 day trip to Chicago, the aforementioned trip to South America, an 8 day road trip, and I have two more vacations -- one to Hong Kong/Macau at the end of this month and one to Japan (most likely Tokyo and Kyoto) in December. Whenever I have the chance to get outside Alberta I take it

[davidI]

^Sounds great man! You are really motivating me to visit South America soon. I've always heard the beef in Argentina was amazing and I'm really looking forward to trying it (New Zealand is my current favourite for lamb, beef, eggs, etc.)

[thrasher22]

Shit, congrats on hitting 101! I've only met two other people to rack that number up, and they were both in their 60's.

Originally posted by Gainsbarre
From what I've read so far, it seems like Antarctica, the South Pacific, and the Galapagos Islands are some of the priciest parts of the world to travel to. I can't even find multi country South Pacific tours (they all seem to be Australia and/ir New Zealand)? Do you have a credit card with concierge service? Maybe they can do some research here to help you?

While I can't comment on the rest, Galapagos isn't that hard/expensive to get to, I'll be there in about a month. 1000ish to fly to Quito, and another 500 to the islands (round trip for both), then you can find plenty of hotels/backpackers for a "reasonable" price. Its not Thailand cheap, but its not Europe by any means either.

The only people I've met that have covered many Pacific Islands worked on yachts out of NZ.

South America is surprisingly accessible from north america, you can fly to most cities for 1000(ish) RT any time of the year and no time zone change! Brazil is dope, and I'm heading to Ecuador/Peru for my honeymoon in about a week

[davidI]

Originally posted by thrasher22
Shit, congrats on hitting 101! I've only met two other people to rack that number up, and they were both in their 60's.

The only people I've met that have covered many Pacific Islands worked on yachts out of NZ.

Thanks man! I'd love to become the youngest person to visit everywhere if I can though I'm still only 1/3 of the way there so it's a pretty big dream. Current record is 37 3/4 years but http://www.leeabbamonte.com/ is trying to beat that. He and the guy with the current record seem incredibly wealthy whereas I am not so that makes it tough. I'm not really interested in competing, but it is good motivation to plan some pain in the arse trips!

The airfares to hop around the South Pacific seem ridiculous so I'm trying to find more affordable way to do it. It seems like cruise ships are a good option for smaller islands where a day on land would be enough, but I'll have to try and find a cheap ship that makes the right stops, Pitcairn being one of the hardest to get to.

I would love it if this turned into a travel planning thread for long-term / frequent travelers so I'll write out what I've been looking at for South Pacific countries for other ideas and advice. I think for me the South Pacific will be the most difficult and costly area in general and planning to visit a bunch of islands in groups will be the cheapest way to see it.

(X) means visited or already booked to visit.

X Australia
Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands) - Fly from Port Moresby
Chatham Islands - Fly from New Zealand
Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn) - Cruise Ship?
Easter Island - Cruise ship? Fly from Santiago.
Fiji Islands - Cruise ship?
French Polynesia (Tahiti,Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier) - Cruise Ship?
Galapagos Islands - Fly from Quito
X Guam
X Hawaiian Islands
Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Island) - Fly from Santiago
Kiribati (Gilberts,Tarawa, Ocean Island) - Flight connections with Nadi, Nauru, Majuro
Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland) - Cruise or flight from Nadi / Honolulu. MV Contraband from Apia goes to Canton and Tokelau.
Lord Howe Island - Fly from Oz.
Marquesas Islands - Fly from Tahiti
Marshall Islands, Republic of (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok) - United Airlines Island Hopper
X Micronesia, Fed.States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap,Caroline Islands)
Midway Island - Pain in the ass. Military tour. Wildlife tour. Sometimes Cruises. Need to research as lots of travel restrictions. Access from Honolulu.
Nauru - Flights from Brisbane, Tarawa (Kiribati), and Majuro. Need visa!
New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands) - Lots of flight connections.
X New Zealand
Niue - Fly from Auckland.
Norfolk Island - Fly from Auckland, Sydney, or Brisbane
X Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima) - 26 hour ferry from Tokyo.
X Palau, Republic of
Papua New Guinea - Easy
Pitcairn Island - Cruise Ship
X Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
Samoa, American (Pago Pago) - Flight or Cruise
Samoa (Apia) - Flight or cruise. Flights between American Samoa and Samoa. MV Contraband Cruise to Line / Tokelau $5900.
Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia,Tulagi) - Cruise or flights from Bris, Vanuatu, Fiji, PNG.
X Tasmania
Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union) - No flights, no ports, no harbours. Some boats from Apia. Research. MV Contraband from Apia via Phoenix Islands $5900.
Tonga (Nukualofa) - Flights from Auckland, Samoa, Sydney, and Fiji
Tuvalu (Ellice Island, Funafuti, Vaitapu) - Flight from Fiji $$$
Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands) - Cruise or flight from BNE, MEL, SYD, AKL, Fiji, New Caledonia, and Solomon Islands.
Wake Island - Not open to visitors. Hope for Military Historical Tour.
Wallis & Futuna Islands - Flight from Nadi usually cheapest. Also from Noumea.

So much research to be done...

[Gainsbarre]

Originally posted by thrasher22


While I can't comment on the rest, Galapagos isn't that hard/expensive to get to, I'll be there in about a month. 1000ish to fly to Quito, and another 500 to the islands (round trip for both), then you can find plenty of hotels/backpackers for a "reasonable" price. Its not Thailand cheap, but its not Europe by any means either.

The only people I've met that have covered many Pacific Islands worked on yachts out of NZ.

South America is surprisingly accessible from north america, you can fly to most cities for 1000(ish) RT any time of the year and no time zone change! Brazil is dope, and I'm heading to Ecuador/Peru for my honeymoon in about a week

You're probably right about the Galapagos Islands. I was thinking more from the perspective of tour packages I've seen on various websites, and couldn't help but notice premiums attached to tours that include the Galapagos. If you travel without a guide it'll probably be much cheaper. However, there are no tours of the south pacific to make the comparison to. I've heard about people going yachting in the south pacific, but they were all retirees and very experienced on the water. Having never been on a yacht before, I don't think the ideal first exposure to it would be out in the south seas, lol.

Agreed about the cheap fares to South America. I don't think Brazil or Argentina are quite that cheap, but Bogota, Quito and Lima almost always seem to be in the sub $1,000 CAD range for round trip flights from Calgary.

[sputnik]

Originally posted by davidI
I'm hoping to see a few more of the more remote TCC countries before the end of the year (Tasmania, Christmas Island, Cocos Island, Palau, Guam, Saipan, Micronesia, and Hawaii) but there are still a lot of difficult places to reach on the TCC list.

Pardon my ignorance but.... Hawaii?

[davidI]

Originally posted by sputnik


Pardon my ignorance but.... Hawaii?

The TCC list is based on these "rules":

1. Government/Administration: Any geographic area with a sovereign government or separately administered as a colony, protectorate, trusteeship territory, territory or mandate shall be considered as a separate country or territory.

2. Enclaves/Continental Separation: Continental land areas having a common government or administration but which are geographically discontinuous either by reason of being separated by foreign land not under their control, by being located on separate continents, or by being separated by a natural body of water shall be considered as separate territories provided their population exceeds 100,000. Multiple fragments separated by the same foreign country shall only count for one territory.

3. Federations: A geographic entity which is a federation of separate geographically definable entitles, each of which is a separate republic/emirate/kingdom in its own right, shall be counted as separate territories.

4. Islands/island Groups:

An island/island group not separately defined under section I shall be considered a separate territory if:
It is situated at least 200 miles from the closest continental portion of its administrating country; or
Being located within 200 miles, it has a population exceeding 100,000 and is administered as distinctively separate state(s), province(s), or department(s).
Island groups that are parts of an island country within the definition of section I shall be considered separate territories if:
They are situated at least 200 miles from the closest portion of the same island country; or
Being located within 200 miles, they have a population exceeding 100,000 and are administered as distinctively separate states, provinces, or departments.
5. Disputed Status: Geographically defined areas which have historically had an independent identity and whose current political status is the subject of dispute shall be counted as separate territories.

6. Unpopulated/Unadministered Areas: Any area which is unadministered or has no resident population will not be considered as a separate territory, except for the political divisions of Antarctica.

7. Grandfather Clause. An area which is recognized as a country or territory in the past may be retained as a territory even if it does not fit any of the above criteria, and any country or territory that is deleted from the list will still count for the purposes of having reached the minimum number of destinations required for me

The TCC has 324 "countries" whereas there are only 193 UN recognized countries. The TCC list does consider some silly places countries based on these rules, such as PEI, Alaska, and all of the individual emirates in the UAE, but one has to draw a line in the sand somewhere and I think the TCCs rules are generally pretty good. It is always a heavily debated subject among world travelers but in my opinion each person needs to decide for themselves what makes the most sense.

For me, even though Hawaii is governed by the US I feel like it is a separate country from a traveler's standpoint due to its landscape, history, and culture. Same as how St. Maartin is nothing like France or the Netherlands and Cocos and Christmas Islands are nothing like Australia. It's a more extensive list than that of the recognized UN Countries but I feel like if I am ever to "see the world" the TCC list is more relevant than the UN list as it includes a lot of small autonomous places which are nonetheless technically governed by a colonial parent.

[flipstah]

Looks like I have a lot to catching up to do.