Counting countries

It has finally hit me that our Africa trip is quickly approaching! While John and Wendi are really on the ball, I've been dragging my feet a bit. We leave on Sunday, March 25, which is less than 3 weeks away. While I was a bit exhausted from traveling so much for interviews over December and January, I am rejuvenated and ready to again escape the Minnesota winter. But I am a bit behind in the planning. I have just started thinking of "things I need to pack" and doing the things I need to get done before the trip, as graduation is imminent upon our return.

The fact that, in several weeks, I will be hitting a new country reminds me of something I've been meaning to "get down" for a while. Various people have asked me, at different times in the recent past, how many countries I have been to. So the other day I sat down and counted. I also counted U.S. states and have actually been to one fewer state than I have countries! While I did a lot of traveling this past year, there are lots of the parts of the U.S. I haven't seen! Maybe I can use this summer break to see some more of them. I am wondering how I compare, number-wise, to my parents and sister (count, please!). I am not even close in number to my godparents, the world's traveling experts!

In any case, here are the 35 countries I have visited. I don't think I forgot any, but I'm not 100% certain. I hope I didn't make up any countries. The criteria are that you have to set foot in the place (airports don't count):

United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain,
Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Vatican City, Czech Republic, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Latvia, Lithuania, Greece, Turkey, Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, Egypt.
I hope to add four (Nigeria, South Africa, Lesotho, and maybe Swaziland) to this list by May of this year!

I have only been to 34 states. Here are the ones I still need to hit:

Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah.
I'm open to suggestions of how to visit these (i.e. anyone living here..... ?).
:)