Travel the world and collect points! Here's how!
It has never been easier to travel across the globe than it is today. Whether you want to take a trip through Europe, an excursion to the North or South Pole, or a vacation to the depths of Africa, airplanes, trains, and online travel companies make it possible to turn your plans into reality. This allows you to easily experience adventures and learn about other cultures. Along the way, you also collect miles and country points. But what exactly are country points, and why are they collected? How does collecting points work when traveling through different regions?
Some people collect stamps, others postcards or coffee mugs from famous restaurant chains to remember a vacation spot or country they visited. Similarly, it is possible to collect country points at the respective places that have already been visited. The principle is simple: For every region visited, a traveler earns a country point. The more country points collected, the higher the traveler climbs in the rankings. In America and Europe, travel clubs have emerged in recent decades whose members aim to travel as far as possible and visit as many regions as possible to earn as many country points as they can.
Most clubs find the 193 countries listed by the UN insufficient to determine the travel destinations they want to focus on. Depending on the club, they divide the Earth into more than 300 to nearly 900 destinations. The 'Most Traveled People' list currently includes 875 states, provinces, islands, territories, and autonomous regions. In Germany, there are officially 18 destinations, including all 16 federal states, while many more places can be discovered and visited in other countries.
For years, the most-traveled person in the world was the American Charles Veley, who managed to collect 834 out of 875 destination points through travels around the globe. A few years ago, he was overtaken by his compatriot Donald Perrish Jr., who achieved 839 points. As a private traveler, you don't necessarily have to aim for a top position in such clubs. However, country points can still help you discover new travel destinations and motivate you to not always visit the same regions of the world.
Let's be honest: Every German has visited different places in Europe at some point in their life. Everyone knows the Eiffel Tower, and everyone knows what Italy looks like. Of course, these countries are still fascinating but not really adventurous. You know what to expect before you arrive. Why not instead visit a place where not many people have vacationed? This way, you discover something new and actually have something to talk about after your trip. You can gain experiences that few others have and tell stories that no one else has told.
Collecting country points means getting to know many new places. Long stays in the respective locations are not included. Many hobby travelers report that a stamp at customs is often enough for them, and they only spend one or two days in the country before leaving again. They briefly explore the area, grab their country point, and then move on. As a traveler, you don't have to follow this example, but you can. Country points are especially suitable for people traveling alone or in pairs. Many trips and short stays in individual countries are more difficult for families, but not impossible.
With the Traveler's Century Club country list, you can now easily save and count your country points online. The Traveler's Century Club currently defines 327 different countries and regions on Earth, including places like New Zealand, Mexico, or Peru. All these destinations are represented in the online list. No matter which corner of the Earth you want to see, you'll find it on this list. Travel across Australia, dive into the urban jungle of North America, or be impressed by the vastness of Africa. Country points await you everywhere.
The Traveler's Century Club has the advantage of being long-established. This means for you: A reliable and well-developed list you can rely on. Not everyone has to collect country points just to get the points. You can also view it as a kind of geocaching and simply visit as many interesting places as possible to earn a point. Not all trips have to be expensive, and not all stays have to be long.
You can see collecting points as a hobby or as an opportunity. Learn from others, discover new things, and try yourself out. Develop yourself by traveling to different places and collect country points on the side. Each point then represents an unforgettable memory and a dreamlike experience that was special for you.
You can become a member of the Traveler's Century Club with 100 points, as soon as you have checked off 100 destinations on your list. Of course, this sounds like a lot at first, but country points can be easily achieved over a few years and are much lower than the entry points in other clubs. The club is very fair here and admits several new members each year. And even if you don't become a member of the club, it's no loss for you. The app alone can already help you get closer to your travel goals and discover the world!