Sixty countries visited! So many more to go.....

Well with all my travels this year, I reached sixty countries!  This may seem a huge accomplishment to some, and not so attractive to others, but to me it is the icing on the cake! I hope to make it to 100 countries before I am 60!
The incredible thing is that if I do make it to 100 that is only half of the countries in the world! My problem is that I fall in love with a country and I continue to go back, like Italy, France, and the Dominican Republic, which believe it or not, I have been to every year since I was seventeen! The funny thing is that I know most countries better than the own residents in most cases. When I travel I like to spend at least two weeks in a few areas, and this gives me a better feel and perspective on the place I am visiting. Most people that travel, I call "hit and run" tourists. They  usually get a package, maybe to a place like Ocho Rios, Jamaica spend a week in an all inclusive resort and say they have seen the island.  I remember almost ten years ago I wanted to take Lauren to Egypt, many of my dear friends did not want me to travel because the Gulf war and it being in the middle of a hot bed at the time. They were afraid that we would never come back. Interestingly enough, Lauren, my mom and I had a great time and it is to this day one of Lauren's favorite countries! India is a country that has not shades of gray, you either love it or hate it, I happen to love it! I hope to travel back to India in October for the third time and having spent more than two months there, I would say I know the country pretty well. I love all the colors, the raw beauty, everything. When one travels to places like India, you need to read up and brace yourself for what you are going to see and then just embrace it! The good, the bad,  the ugly and the beautiful, diversity of it all. I thought I would share a few photos from past travels.