I read; I travel; I become.

Derek Walcott

Over a year ago I set myself a gigantic goal. I wanted to read a book by an author from every country in the world. My grand total from last year was 27 different countries. I’m excited to say that that total is now 35. Was that a drastic difference? No.

BUT I made a concerted effort to read multiple books from each new country that I added to my list. Reading and travel are so unique in that they open your eyes to different ways of life, opinions, values, and they both expand your horizons. In a world coming out of a pandemic and the political unrest in so many places, not to mention the recent Supreme Court rulings, it’s more important than ever to see things in a new light.

I’m going to keep slowly adding new countries/authors/books to my list and I’m loving this journey so far. I’m also finding that I devoured books by Swedish, Indonesian, and South Korean authors this past year more than anywhere else. I’m learning so much and having a massive amount of fun while doing it. Isn’t that just a huge win in itself?

Below is my newly updated map showing which countries I’ve read books from so far.

https://www.amcharts.com/lib/3/ammap.js https://www.amcharts.com/lib/3/maps/js/worldHigh.js https://www.amcharts.com/lib/3/themes/dark.js var map = AmCharts.makeChart(“mapdiv”,{ type: “map”, theme: “dark”, projection: “mercator”, panEventsEnabled : true, backgroundColor : “#535364”, backgroundAlpha : 1, zoomControl: { zoomControlEnabled : true }, dataProvider : { map : “worldHigh”, getAreasFromMap : true, areas : [ { “id”: “CY”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “DK”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “FR”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IS”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IE”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IT”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “NL”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “ES”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “SE”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “UA”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “GB”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “CA”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “MX”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “TT”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “US”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “BR”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “DZ”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “GH”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “MA”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “NG”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “SL”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “ZA”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “ZW”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “CN”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IN”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “ID”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IR”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “IL”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “JP”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “PK”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “SG”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “KR”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “YE”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “AU”, “showAsSelected”: true }, { “id”: “NZ”, “showAsSelected”: true } ] }, areasSettings : { autoZoom : true, color : “#B4B4B7”, colorSolid : “#0E6AEB”, selectedColor : “#0E6AEB”, outlineColor : “#666666”, rollOverColor : “#9EC2F7”, rollOverOutlineColor : “#000000” } });

Have recommendations for me? I would LOVE to hear them. I want to read more from authors in Eastern Europe, Africa, and South American because that’s where I have the most glaring holes in my reading. So, that’s what I’m going to spend the next year doing!

My Current List of Countries I’ve Read Books From

• Algeria
• Australia
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• Cyprus
• Denmark
• France
• Ghana
• Iceland
• India
• Ireland
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Israel
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• South Korea
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Trinidad and Tobago
• Ukraine
• USA
• UK
• Yemen
• Zimbabwe

What Reading/Travel Goals Do You Have This Year?

Tell me all about them! I love hearing about what everyone is doing. This is such a great community and I’m lucky to be a part of it! As you can see any progress towards your goals is great. I love seeing the difference between where I was last year and where I am now.