Have you ever wondered what it would be like to travel 30 countries? How about 30 countries before 30? That is something I wasn’t able to do, as now I am a bit over 30 and since I started a family young it wasn’t in the cards for me. But, don’t let that stop you. Also, just because Chantel did 30 countries under 30 doesn’t mean this is only for those under the age of 30.
Go for the gusto, travel at any age, and check out Chantel’s journey below. Chantel is going to share with you how she traveled 30 countries before 30 and how you can too. Get your step-by-step guide to conquering 30 countries by 30 challenge.
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30 Countries Before 30 – How You Can Conquer the 30 Before 30 Challenge
At the age of 29, I challenged myself to visit 30 countries before I turned 30. And I freaking did it (finishing one week before my birthday). So, I’m sharing the story of how I conquered 30 before 30 and how you can too – if you plan ahead and prioritize your goals.
Don’t worry if you are already older than 30 – that’s just an arbitrary number. Your goal can be whatever you want it to be! Whether it’s visiting all 50 US states or every town in your region.
This is my challenge to you – create a goal, target date, budget, and plan using the resources below.
Setting the Goal – 30 Countries Before 30
At the age of 29, I decided to do something extraordinary. I wanted to mark the end of a decade and start a new chapter with an achievement worth celebrating. Then while flipping through a magazine, I saw an article about the 30 countries by 30 challenge and became instantly obsessed!
I knew it would be particularly tough as I had less than a year and my current country count was only 16. Nevertheless, I decided to go after my travel dreams! To prepare for the challenge, I began researching the “rules” and choosing my 30 before 30 countries.
Rules – 30 Countries Before 30
There are no official rules for achieving 30 before 30. It should be pretty straightforward anyway, right? Just visit 30 countries before you reach your 30th birthday. But there are two points here that should be clarified when you are setting your goals, “what counts as visiting a country” and “what counts as a country”.
Country counting is a pretty highly debated topic, some people say that you need to spend a certain amount of time in that country before it can be counted. While others consider a layover in the airport being sufficient. My personal rule is that I spent a day there (outside of the airport). Although I would love to spend more time in every place I visit, it is not always possible.
The second point is a little trickier and even authoritative sources will give a different answer. For example, the United Nations recognizes 240 countries and territories, however, the United States only recognizes 196. For the sake of consistency and simplicity, I decided to use the list of countries in the Been app.
There is are no real 30 countries before 30 rules. And at the end of the day, your quest to is your own and you can make your own rules.
Planning to travel to 30 countries by 30
I put a plan in place to achieve my goal of visiting 30 countries before the deadline of 4 August (my 30th birthday!). The first step was cutting back on my expenses and putting money aside for travel.
I already planned to apply for a Canadian working holiday visa and move to Vancouver at the end of the year. So, I started the visa process in February. I decided that I would finish my current job in April, then take a few months in between to travel before moving to Vancouver in September (after my 30th birthday). Obviously, not everyone can or should quit their job in order to travel. Also, not all nationalities are eligible to apply for working holiday visa programs.
If it is possible, I would recommend living and working abroad. Some countries will even let you work whilst on a student visa. Not only is the experience culturally enriching, but it can also give you access to a totally different region of the world that is far away from your home country.
Strategically Choosing 30 Countries
When choosing what countries to visit for the 30 countries by 30 challenge, I decided to backpack to Southeast Asia, Europe, and Central America. If you also want to travel through Europe, it’s usually more economical to stick to the east. Fortunately, I was able to save money by staying with friends and using Couchsurfing.
By focusing on one region, you can cover more ground in a shorter amount of time. It could also be more cost-effective and environmentally friendly because reducing the number of international flights. However, if you have less time than money (or just can’t leave your job for too long) then search for nearby destinations that are still relatively affordable. I took quick trips to New Zealand and Bali (from Brisbane, QLD, Australia), as well as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Caribbean (from Dallas, TX, U.S.A.).
30 Countries in 5 Trips
In the end, I managed to visit my 30th country just four days before my 30th birthday! The majority of the 30 countries I visited were within four months and on five separate trips.
- 32-day camping tour of Europe (June – July 2009)
- 1-month backpacking around South East Asia (January 2015)
- 1-week Caribbean cruise (May 2015)
- 5-week solo backpacking around Europe (June – July 2015)
- 1-week solo backpacking in Central America (July 2015).
List of 30 Countries Before 30
Here is the list of my 30 before 30 countries, including the cities I stopped in. Some of these destinations I have visited on more than one occasion, however, I have included only the most recent or relevant visits.
June to July 2009 – Group tour of Europe
1. France: Paris, St Emilion, Arles, and Nice.
2. Monaco
3. Austria: Vienna.
4. Liechtenstein
5. Switzerland: Jungfraujoch Mountain and Lucerne.
6. Netherlands: Amsterdam.
7. Indonesia: One week vacation with friends in May 2010 to Bali and Gili Trawangan.
8. United States of America: Lived in New York City, NY from September 2011 to September 2012, Wilmington, DE from October to December 2013, and Dallas, TX from May to September 2015.
9. Brazil: Lived in Sao Paulo from September 2012 to March 2013.
January 2015 – Backpacking South East Asia
10. Thailand: Bangkok, Chang Mai, and Krabi.
11. Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur.
12. Cambodia: Siem Reap, Phnom Penh, and Sihanoukville.
13. Laos: Vientiane.
14. Singapore: Singapore.
15. New Zealand: Four-day road trip to Auckland, Rotorua, and Waitomo in March 2015.
May 2015 – Cruise of the Caribbean
16. Jamaica: Montego Bay.
17. Cayman Islands: Grand Cayman. Visit Cayman Islands.
18. Mexico: Cozumel.
June to July 2015 – Backpacking in Europe
19. Scotland: Edinburgh and Glen Coe.
20. England: London, Salisbury, and Bath.
21. Belgium: Antwerp.
22. Germany: Cologne, Hamburg, and Berlin.
23. Poland: Warsaw.
24. Czech Republic: Prague.
25. Hungary: Budapest.
26. Slovenia: Ljubljana.
27. Italy: Udine and Venice.
28: Spain: Madrid.
July 2015 – Backpacking in Central America
29. Nicaragua: July 2015 – Granada and Managua.
30. Costa Rica: July 2015 – Liberia.
30 before 30 challenge
Now it’s over to you! I challenge you to come up with a goal and set a deadline to reach it. The number isn’t important, whether it’s 50 US States before 50, or taking your first solo trip by the end of the year.
Not everyone will have the same resources or dreams. But by using these resources, you can create a goal, target date, budget, and plan that will help you conquer your chosen challenge!
Originally published in 2016, updated in February 2018.
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Toni says
Amazing post! Question-how did you manage to live in the states??? I have been dreaming of that forever! So bloody jealous!
Chantell Collins says
Hi Toni, thanks for the comments :). The first time I lived in the USA was on a J1 working visa, sponsored by Grow USA. That was back in 2011 and at that time you need to be currently studying or a recent graduate.
Gemma says
Great post! Very inspirational I’m 29 in January…perhaps I should trya a 30 before 30 list too! I’m currently at 22 countries, and I’m leaving New Zealand in a month to travel back to the UK through Asia…It’s definitely do-able, so watch this space! 🙂
Chantell Collins says
Hi Gemma, awesome! It is definitely doable in that amount of time and SE Asia is a great place to travel as it so cheap and easy to get from one country to another. Go for it! 🙂
nannymookay says
Beautiful written Chan ,,,,Living yr dream ,,,Lots of love xxxx
Chantell Collins says
Thanks Nanny! That’s so nice of you to say. Love you too xxx
Rosiescapes says
cool article. mine is 50 by age 50.
Chantell Collins says
Great goal! Definitely let us know how you go 🙂
annastraveltribute says
Wow! That’s a dream! 🙂
Chantell Collins says
Thanks Anna! It’s definitely achievable for anyone 🙂
Pam @ Skinny chick travelling says
Can’t believe you were so close and didn’t come to Croatia 😛
Chantell Collins says
I know! I was actually planning to but I ran out of time. We will most likely be based in Europe from September, so will have plenty opportunities to explore the beautiful Croatia!
Anita H. E. says
Guess I’ll have to try for 50 countries before 50 🙂
That leaves me a few years to complete as I’ve just turned 39 and so far I’ve visited 21 countries but I’ve barely travelled the last decade due to different cirumstances. I hope to travel a lot more the comming decade!
Chantell Collins says
Hi Anita! It is totally possible – you should definitely go for it :). You could either go one huge trip, a few big ones or many smaller ones but it’s definitely doable if you break it down and plan it out. So exciting! Let us know how you get on 🙂
Shayan Naveed says
Wow, that is amazing! Almost 15 countries in just 1 year! I’m 31 and I haven’t even hit double digits yet!!! Biggest mistake not covering more when I was younger or going on trips with parents (like US and countries in Europe).
I guess I’ll have to aim for 40 by 40. I’m at 9, 10 soon.
But it’s not easy for me…for many reasons: being Pakistani and having a full time job (I could never quit a job even if I could)
Chantell Collins says
Hi Shayan, thanks for the comment! I know that everyone’s situation is different and it doesn’t necessarily have to a specific number by a specific birthday (e.g. 30 before 30). There are many, many people who traveled to more countries than I did before they were 30. And that’s okay, we are all on different paths. I didn’t start traveling until I was 23 and since then have been lucky that I was able to take the time off work and move internationally. Not everyone will have the same opportunities. I think that the most important thing is having a goal that means something to you. A goal that is attainable but still challenging. Like visiting certain places by a certain date or exploring a particular area e.g. visit Paris in the next two years (or whatever it is that you are dreaming of!). 🙂
Mike Clegg from TravelAndDestinations says
Congratulations on visiting 30 countries before 30! That’s awesome! It definitely helps when you visit Europe and Asia as it’s quite cheap and easy to travel between countries and knock of a good handful in one go! Good luck with the next 30 ?
Chantell Collins says
Thanks Mike! That’s so nice. Actually I think I am up to about 56 now at 32 and most of the recent ones were from spending a year based in Europe and traveling around. Europe is great because it has so many countries, cultures, and languages all close together and is easy to travel around.
Rachel says
This is so cool! I’m turning 33 this month, and I will finally hit my 30th country next month. My goal before 30 was to go to every continent. I hit 6 of the 7 (not Antartica because I refuse to go in debt over traveling) by the time I was 29 which was extremely cool. Keep on traveling!
Sheila Thomas says
Happy Birthday 🙂 I turn 50 on Sept 9th, and haven’t done all these countries. I am Sheila, I imported all these amazing posts about world travel from a site I took over from a woman named Chantell. She was living her best life for sure. Glad you like it.
I know a gal who’s husband took her to Antartica.. and for a 2 week trip I think they spent over $10k – That would be lots of smaller trips for me. hahaha