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40 Before 40

December 19, 2017 Comments : 2

I mentioned last year that I fancied doing 40 before 40, and I’ve made strides towards it this year but haven’t really documented the plan for the future or talked about it much on here. I wanted to have something I could link to when I mention this and check back in with on a regular basis to see how I’m doing. As I turned thirty one yesterday, giving me just under nine years to hit this target, it makes sense to write this today.

Countries visited so far in my 40 before 40 (as of August 2018)

Belgium

I’ve been to Bruges on a mini cruise with a good friend of mine, and had a great day-but I definitely need to spend more time in the city and explore some more of the country too.

Cuba

I spent two weeks in Cuba in 2011 and I’ve written a fair bit of content about that trip, so do have a read of that.

Cyprus

As a child I spent a week in Limassol with my family. I don’t remember much of the trip, other than visiting ‘no man’s land’ where you could see the patch of land between Greek Cyprus and Turkish Cyprus so I do think I need another trip to Cyprus, but I’m counting Cyprus anyway!

England

Okay so I’m FROM England and this is technically cheating but I have visited a few different bits of our fine country and again, I’m counting it.

France

I’ve been to Paris twice, once with my family and once with school. There’s so much more of France I need to see and it’s definitely on my list.

Germany

I visited Berlin in August 2018, and spent 72 hours in the city.

Ireland

I visited Dublin in April 2017 and wrote about my #CheapFlightsChallenge at the time.

Poland

Wroclaw was a bucket list destination for sure, and I had a brilliant weekend there in May. There are plenty of posts about my trip, including what I did in my 72 hours in the city, and a Wroclaw food diary, for you to have a read of.

Scotland

I also visited Glasgow this year and had a great weekend with Fiona. There are a few Glasgow related posts on here for you to enjoy.

Spain

I’ve done mainland Spain a good few times and Majorca twice. There’s Majorca content for you on the blog too.

The Netherlands

Amsterdam is one of my new favourite places and I’ve been twice this year. And whilst I’d like to go back, I need some new places first.

Wales

My ex lives in Wales and so I visited him regularly. I also did Cariff (very, very briefly!) this year, and Barry Island.

Completed : 14/40

To visit : 26/40

Now if your maths is decent (I’ll admit to having to use a calculator!) you’ll see that I need to visit just over three countries per year for the next nine years. That’s got to be achievable, right?

The plan:

The below list is the countries I want to visit over the next few years, to add to my total. If I can get the below done by the end of 2021 I’ll be on a total of twenty three out of forty countries. That will leave me with seventeen countries to visit in five years, which should again be doable.

2018

Denmark

2019

Japan 

China 

South Korea 

Sweden

2020

America 

Canada 

Greece 

I’m crossing my fingers that I can pull this off, and will be adding as much as possible to my travel fund to make that happen.

Do you have countries you really want to travel to? Which would be on your 40 before 40 list?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Comments

  1. kariss Ainsworth says

    December 21, 2017 at 2:27 pm

    This is a goal I can 100% support! I don’t actually know how many countries I’ve been to, I think about 20 but I’m taking my list to mym mum to see if she can help me fill in the places I went as a kid

    Reply
  2. Laura Dove says

    January 14, 2018 at 11:37 am

    Great goal!! I have barely visited a fraction of the places we would like to go! Top of my list is Italy which is totally doable, and Canada which Im not sure is quite as doable just yet! Good luck with your list!

    Reply

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About Me

Welcome to my little corner of the Internet! I'm Laura, a 33 year old Yorkshire girl aiming to see as much of the world as I can, usually by myself. I'm a big fan of animal print, bright lipstick, gin liqueurs, cocktails, photography, writing and booking flights. I'm in love with a Lhasapoo called Buster and if I don't have my phone, laptop or a camera in my hand, you probably need to ask if I'm feeling okay. I blog about short city breaks, usually solo, on a budget without a hostel in sight. I also cover food reviews, life with Fibromyalgia, and there's a bit of lifestyle content thrown in when the mood takes me. I'm aiming to have visited 40 different countries before I turn 40, so I have 7 years left. Coronavirus has slightly changed my plans for 2020 but so far I'm 17 countries into the challenge and as long as September and October remain safe to travel I'm adding Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Romania, Serbia and a couple of others to the list before this year ends. I love working with brands on sponsored/collaborative content and if you're a travel or food related company, or just someone you think I'll love, please do get in touch.

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