Man Travels To 192 Out Of All 193 Countries; See The Last One

His name is Ramblin' Randy, or as his friends call him, RDub, is currently on a mission to accomplish a traveler's wildest "bucket list" dream. What is that dream, you ask? To travel to all 193 "member" countries.

Before we take off, it's important to figure out what is considered a member state or country. According to Dictionary.cambridge.org, a country (in political unit) is, "an area of land that forms an independent political unit with its own government; a nation considered esp, as a place."

The countries Randy travels to, in simple terms:

There are officially 193 member states apart of the United Nations and two additional "observer states" that are technically not members which are Vatican City and Palestine. Randy also observes the two states, Kosovo, which is recognized by around 114 states, and Taiwan, which is recognized by around 14 states, according to Dfat.gov.au.

Randy states on his website, RamblinRandy.com, that it all started in his community college Spanish class. His teacher Mrs. Houston influenced his fascination with traveling by telling her story of the time she went to Brazil. Studying other cultures, languages and his peers with heritages from other countries grew his appreciation. In addition, learning another language helped him communicate with more individuals during his travels around the world.

Ramblin' Randy's website showcases tips and tricks on "best ofs", traveling advice, applying for VISAs, recommended hotels, personal thoughts, photos from his trips and more. Randy explains what he counts as visiting a country. Sleeping 24 hours in each country didn't always take place on many of his trips. Some of his visits are layovers, lunch visits, and short explorations. Furthermore, he really takes advantage of international long layovers to wander around a new country or it's neighboring countries.

At this time, he has traveled to 192 out of 193 "member" countries. The only country that he has not yet traveled to is Turkmenistan. Also, if you don't leave the airport, it doesn't count as visiting the country.

We hope you find some helpful tips on his website HERE.

As if we weren't already aware of the germs, and just general yuck, on airplanes, the Covid virus made us even more aware.

Trying to stay healthy on flights has always been an issue for travelers. We're not only keeping Purell in our carry-on bags now, but we're disinfecting every other area on the plane from potential germs!

According to flight attendants, and Travel and Leisure magazine, there's one thing that most travelers often ignore: the seat-back pocket.

A Reddit user and long-haul flight attendant, posted on an r/AskReddit thread about some of most germ filled places you can find on an airplane. “I ALWAYS recommend you never, ever, ever, EVER use or put anything in the seat pocket."

They are cleared of trash, but are never 'cleaned',” the user wrote. Eww.

They went on to talk about the numerous gross things cleaning crews have found while clearing the plane: dirty tissues, air sickness bags (not empty ones), underwear socks, chewed gum, half sucked candy, apple cores, orange peels... The list goes on and on.

Think about it for a minute: A passenger is hacking into a wad of tissues and instead of immediately throwing them out - because they're in the window seat, and don't want to get out -  they just shove them in the seat-back pocket. It’s very common, and we've all done it.

Not only is it disgusting, but your feet swell while flying, so it's going to be harder to put them back on while everyone is trying desperately to just get off the plane, and get home, or start their vacations.

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Check your carry on bag's dimensions at home and make sure they adhere to your airline's limits. Remember, European carriers' limits vary slightly from those in the U.S.  Blame it on the metric system that we were supposed to learn the one Tuesday, 40 years ago, but never did.

Even on next-gen jets like the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and the Airbus A350, cabin humidity levels rarely top 20% (and are only around 8-10% on conventional aircraft). To avoid looking like a prune after your flight, pack a light moisturizer and apply it frequently.

Preferable only on longer flights, and only after food has been served (if there is food on your flight), so the person behind you can eat comfortably.

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If you're in the middle seat, flight attendants say YOU get both armrests. I mean, that's the least you can do, aisle and window people!