January 04, 2017

Countries I have visited...so far


When I was studying abroad, I used to collect the Coat of Arms badges from countries I visited and sew them onto a mechanic's tool bag I used as my regular bag to attend classes. Technology has changed and we adapt so I now collect them digitally over the internet. It's more convenient and cheaper than buying them. Most of the countries I "conquered" were during a summer holiday when I joined my course-mate on his Ford Transit van to visit his granny in Spain. We covered 15 countries in 2 months taking the old beaten road rather than the super highway because we wanted to see the real countryside. We moved when we wanted and stopped whenever we felt like it but because of that, usually reached formal camp sites late (they close by 10:30pm) and ended up sleeping in the van where my friend had modified the rear seat to allow it also to function as a bed though I preferred to sleep in the front because it was cooler during the nights. Other countries covered were usually on government service. We accepted a definition of having traveled to a foreign country as "to have at least step outside the fence of an airport or port of call". I found the Latin people the most friendly of which the Spanish (even the old folks) were the most friendly while the Italians were the most beautiful. For the record, and I see on the internet, that is also agreed upon by another who have travelled much more countries than me that Malaysian food is the best in the world.