“I tried to finish our mission in 2024, Kim, but alas, seven countries still need a Kim’s View.”
Kim's Views World Map
Kim’s View 2024 – By The Numbers
3382 straight days exploring the world before returning home to San Diego on 12/30/24
194 total countries with a Kim’s View at year-end
22 new countries with a Kim’s View
9 months of nonstop travel “sprinting to the finish line”
9 countries explored while based in Barbados
7 magic number of countries needing a Kim’s View at year-end
6 countries revisited
4 hall-of-fame Kim’s Views scored
4 United Kingdom member “countries” with a new Kim’s View
3 months of zero travel (Cartagena)
2 base camps – Barbados and Colombia
1 level – 4 “do not travel” country visited (South Sudan)
Kim’s View 2024 Highlights
Gates Of Hell
We started 2024 with a loud New Year’s Eve party in the middle of nowhere at a natural gas crater nicknamed “Gates of Hell” near Darvaza, Turkmenistan – which I brilliantly nicknamed Weirdmenistan.
It Doesn’t Get More Exotic
Camping with Mundari herders near Juba, South Sudan was 2024’s most amazing cross-cultural experience. And, thankfully, brief.
Best Roman ruins outside Rome
I’ve tried to get a visa for Algeria for years, Kim, and I finally succeeded by taking a group tour. Our Kim’s Views at Djémila and Tipasa are hall-of-famers.
Diamond Beach
Kim’s View among beached icebergs is another hall-of-famer and was one of many amazing natural wonders in Iceland.
Welcome to GREAT
The greeting at United Kingdom immigration in Edinburgh says, “WELCOME TO GREAT … Britain and Northern Ireland.” I thought it sounded pretentious, but they’re absolutely right. After exploring the United Kingdom for six weeks, I learned that the UK is indeed GREAT.
Politically, the United Kingdom is only one country, the only member of the United Nations. But England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are culturally, historically, and footballically separate – they each have their own FIFA-ranked football team.
So, now we have a Kim’s View in all four “countries” in the United Kingdom; Overlooking Edinburgh, Scotland from Arthur’s Seat, at Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland, in Bute Park in Cardiff, Wales, and at the world’s coolest botanical gardens, Kew Gardens, in London, England.
Deep In The Amazon
Local Patamona legend says chief Kai sacrificed himself to their great spirit, Makonaima, by paddling his canoe over this hall-of-fame waterfall, Kaieteur, in Guyana.
Kim’s View 2024 Lowlights
Just Checking Off Countries
Unrewarding. That’s how I felt while visiting all eight, small, eastern Caribbean Island–nations, the Lesser Antilles.
Yes, Kim, the beaches are cool, and the history is rich and colorful, but backpacking the eastern Caribbean sucks – limited public transportation, narrow roads without sidewalks, high prices at weak grocery stores, and tons of tourist gouging.
Kim’s Views in the Lesser Antilles include Fort James Beach in Antigua – Barbuda, Red Rock in Dominica, and Brimstone Hill Fortress in Saint Kitts which was known as a “death sentence” in the British navy.
The iconic Pitons in Saint Lucia are tres cool, and our best-ever Airbnb view was in Saint Vincent – Grenadines, and riding eBikes during a gully washer in Trinidad – Tobago was kid-fun.
Visiting Grenada was just checking off another Caribbean island, but I have to admit, Kim, I enjoyed ogling locals during Crop Over in Barbados.
“The Lesser Antilles are ‘Africa at European prices.’”
And except for Switzerland, I was just checking off countries in Eritrea, Comoros, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, and Suriname, too. Unrewarding.
Travel – Weary
I’m tired, Kim, I’m tired of moving. I’m beat. Traveling nonstop to 20 countries in 6 months wore me out. I’m not able to backpack continuously like I used to. I returned to Colombia after seven years and chilled out in Cartagena for every single day of my 90-day visa. Then I finally went home to San Diego to surprise mom and dad for their 90th birthdays.
“After exploring the world for 3382 straight days, Kim, I appreciate how special southern California is even more.”
Kim’s View 2025
I still don’t want to move, Kim, but I need to “keep on truckin’” (remember that bumper sticker!). Our Sprint to the Finish will resume in March 2025 with a group tour to Central African Republic. Then we’ll have only two African countries left – Chad and Sudan. In April, I’ll finish Europe with a group tour to Kaliningrad, Russia and Belarus.
We’ll score Kim’s Views in our last two “tough” countries as soon as Venezuela starts issuing tourist visas to Americans again, and Arab-Sudanese and Black-Sudanese stop fighting their civil war.
Our final country – United Nations full member #193 (total #201) – will be The Bahamas, a nearby, easy-breezy country where family and friends can vacation and help us celebrate the completion of our Kim’s View mission. Vamos hermana! KV
