75 Country Recap

Max and I celebrated our first wedding anniversary in Uzbekistan with a casual pizza dinner and an early night in at the hotel. Every day feels like an anniversary when you live on the road. Someone we met along the way joked that we celebrated our first anniversary before our honeymoon was over.

Since the last time we wrote, we’ve knocked off 25 more countries — reaching a total of 75 traveled together since March of 2022. A quick recap: after our five-week car ride through the Balkans, we took the historic Orient Express with YPO International before embarking on a five-week trip through Africa.

Those of you who have been to Africa know how it can change you. You’ll leave the African safari experience a different person. Five weeks with Mother Nature, watching every stage of the circle of life pass before your eyes, is a sobering and beautiful experience.

After Africa, we went back up to Europe for a future YPO planning trip, met friends vacationing for the summer, and then flew to Northern Europe to explore countries neither of us had been to before. Going forward, every country we visit will be new for both of us.

We crossed off the Caucasus, made an impromptu stop in Dubai, and just wrapped up 21 days in Central Asia visiting “the Stans” — all but Afghanistan and Pakistan (planning on going in 2026!).