Don't you have that giddy feeling when you have something to look forward to? Like when you booked a flight for a trip you've been planning for a while? Like when you're now getting more and more sure that you're going to visit a new place, a country you haven't been to yet? Well, that's what I have right now, a giddy feeling, since it seems that I am increasing my country count yet again!
The thing is, I have this goal of visiting a hundred countries before I die. I am already at 48. That said, in recent years I also realised that I also enjoy travelling beyond simply counting countries. So I also decided to go back to places I have been to before, exploring new areas of countries I have previously visited. Hence, the last new country I visited was Iran, and this was in September 2016. Therefore, more than two years have passed before I am going to cross the border to enter a new country, which is happening in a few months. After all, I just bought my flight tickets!
It's quite an interesting feeling: now I have something to look forward to. And I must say, I also miss this feeling, this anticipation of a wow moment. See, the trips I have taken the last two years were great, but since I was not visiting something totally new, there was a part of me that felt that I already knew the feelings and sensations I have experienced, and therefore it wasn't new and novel. When I was visiting Belgium in summer 2017, or Spain in autumn 2017, or Mexico during the beginning of this year, or the Netherlands during the early summer, there was no novelty. I had a pretty good idea what I was going to see, and so there was no wow moment. I did enjoy those trips, but nevertheless it was a different feeling.
So yes, I am going to visit a new country again. I am still going back to places I have been to before, but I suppose it's time to increase my country count by one again.
