Friends of ours (who are world travelers) asked us if we knew anything about a Century Travel Club. We had heard about this club but we didn’t know the details.
With a quick Google search we learned that The Travelers’ Century Club, or TCC, is a club for people who have visited 100 or more of the world’s countries and territories. Founded in California in 1954, the club now has regional chapters throughout the U.S. and several locations around the world. We also learned that the Kansas City Chapter meets right in our neighborhood.
Of course, we had to download the application and count our countries and territories. We both had 95 out of a possible of 324.
The TCC list should not be confused with the United Nations list of recognized countries, of which there are currently 193.
The TCC list of countries and territories includes not only sovereign states but also certain territories, exclaves and island groups. The club literature notes that “although some are not actually countries in their own right, they have been included because they are removed from parent, either geographically, politically or ethnologically.” For example, Alaska, the U.S. state where Mr. Jones was born, counts as one of the 324 “countries and territories” on the TCC list.
Anyone who has visited 100 or more of the places on the list is eligible to join. The club has no requirements as to how long the traveler must have stayed in a country to qualify. Travelers who have visited 75 or more of the list places can become provisional members.
We haven’t joined yet. But we recently visited San Marino, bringing our total to 96. And soon we will be crossing two more new countries off the list.
In case you are interested in what The Travelers’ Century Club counts as a destination on the list, see below. We’ve also noted in BOLD those destinations that we’ve visited.
While our total count is at 96 for both of us, there are some minor differences since we both travel separately for work.
The Travelers’ Century Club list as of as of January, 2014.
NOTE: (from the TCC Website): THIS LIST IS RECOGNIZED BY THE WORLD AS THE STANDARD OF COUNTRIES AND TERRITORIES THAT ARE POLITICALLY, ETHNOLOGICALLY OR GEOGRAPHICALLY DIFFERENT.
PACIFIC OCEAN (39)
- Australia
- Bismark Archipelago (New Ireland, New Britain, Bougainville, Admiralty Islands)
- Chatham Islands
- Cook Islands (Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Penrhyn)
- Easter Island
- Fiji Islands
- French Polynesia (Tahiti, Tuamotu, Austral, Gambier)
- Galapagos Islands
- Guam
- Hawaiian Islands
- Juan Fernandez Islands (Robinson Crusoe Is.)
- Kiribati (Gilberts, Tarawa, Ocean Island)
- Line/Phoenix Islands (Palmyra, Fanning, Christmas, Canton, Enderbury, Howland)
- Lord Howe Island
- Marquesas Islands
- Marshall Islands, Rep. of (Majuro, Kwajalein, Eniwetok)
- Micronesia, Fed. States of (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk,Yap, Caroline Islands)
- Midway Island
- Nauru
- New Caledonia & Deps. (Noumea, Loyalty Islands)
- New Zealand
- Niue
- Norfolk Island
- Northern Marianas (Saipan, Tinian)
- Ogasawara (Bonin, Volcano Island, Iwo Jima)
- Palau, Republic of
- Papua New Guinea
- Pitcairn Island
- Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa)
- Samoa, American (Pago Pago)\ Samoa, Western (Apia)
- Solomon Islands (Guadalcanal, New Georgia, Tulagi)
- Tasmania
- Tokelau Islands (Fakaofu, Atafu, Union)
- Tonga (Nukualofa)
- Tuvalu (Ellice Island, Funafuti, Vaitapu)
- Vanuatu (New Hebrides Islands)
- Wake Island
- Wallis & Futuna Islands
NORTH AMERICA (6)
- Alaska
- Canada
- Mexico
- Prince Edward Island (Mr. Jones only)
- St. Pierre & Miquelon
- United States (continental) (Mrs. Jones has visited all 50 U.S. States)
CENTRAL AMERICA (7)
- Belize (British Honduras)
- Costa Rica
- El Salvador
- Guatemala
- Honduras
- Nicaragua
- Panama
SOUTH AMERICA (14)
- Argentina
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Chile
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- French Guiana
- Guyana (British Guiana)
- Nueva Esparta (Margarita Island)
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Surinam (Netherlands Guiana)
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
CARIBBEAN (30)
- Anguilla
- Antigua & Deps. (Barbuda, Redonda)
- Aruba
- Bahamas
- Barbados
- Bonaire
- Cayman Islands
- Martinique
- Montserrat
- Puerto Rico
- St. Barts
- San Andres & Providencia
- St. Kitts & Nevis
- Cuba
- Curacao
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Grenada & Deps. (Carriacou, Grenadines)
- Guadeloupe & Deps. (Marie Galante)
- Haiti
- Jamaica
- Leeward Islands, French (St. Martin)
- Leeward Islands, Netherlands (Saba, St. Eustatius)
- St. Lucia
- St. Maarten (formerly Netherlands Antilles)
- St. Vincent & Deps. (Bequia, Canouan, Grenadines
- Trinidad & Tobago
- Turks & Caicos Islands
- Virgin Islands, U.S. (St. Croix, St. John, St. Thomas)
- Virgin Islands, British (Tortola, etc.)
ATLANTIC OCEAN (13)
- Ascension
- Azores Islands
- Bermuda
- Canary Islands
- Cape Verde Islands
- Falkland Islands
- Fernando do Noronha
- Faroe Islands
- Greenland (Kalaallit Nunaat)
- Iceland
- Madeira
- St. Helena
- Tristan da Cunha
EUROPE & THE MEDITERRANEAN (67)
- Aland Islands (Mariehamn)
- Albania
- Andorra
- Austria
- Balearic Islands (Mallorca, Minorca)
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Corsica
- Crete
- Croatia
- Cyprus, Republic
- Cyprus, Turkish Fed. State
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Dodecanese Is. (Rhodes)
- England
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Germany
- Gibraltar
- Greece
- Guernsey & Deps (Alderney, Herm, Sark, Channel Islands)
- Hungary
- Ionian Islands (Corfu, etc.)
- Ireland (Eire)
- Ireland, Northern (Ulster)
- Isle of Man
- Italy
- Kosovo
- Lampedusa
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Netherlands
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Sardinia
- Scotland
- Serbia
- Sicily
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Bear Island)
- Srpska
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Trans Dniester
- Turkey in Europe (Istanbul)
- Jersey (Channel Islands)
- Kaliningrad
- Ukraine
- Vatican City
- Wales
ANTARCTICA (7)
- Argentine (Palmer Peninsula)
- Australian Antarctic Territory South Pole (Mawson, Davis, Macquarie, Heard)
- Chilean (Palmer Peninsula)
- British Antarctica (Graham Land, South Shetland, South Orkney)
- French Southern & Antarctic Territory (Kerguelen, Crozet, Amsterdam, St. Paul)
- Norwegian (Queen Maud Land, Bouvet)
- New Zealand (Ross Dependency)
AFRICA (55)
- Algeria
- Angola (Port. West Africa)
- Benin (Dahomey)
- Botswana (Bechuanaland)
- Burkina Faso (Upper Volta)
- Burundi (Urundi)
- Cabinda
- Cameroon
- Central African Republic
- Chad
- Congo (Brazzaville)
- Congo (Kinshasa-Zaire)
- Djibouti (French Somaliland, Affars & Issas)
- Egypt in Africa
- Equatorial Guinea (Bioko, Fernando Poo)
- Equatorial Guinea (Rio Muni)
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana (Gold Coast, British Togoland)
- Guinea (French Guinea)
- Guinea-Bissau (Port. Guinea)
- Ivory Coast
- Kenya
- Lesotho (Basutoland)
- Liberia
- Libya
- Malawi (Nyasaland)
- Mali (French Soudan)
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Morocco, Spanish (Ceuta, Melilla)
- Mozambique (Port. East Africa)
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda (Ruanda)
- Sao Tome & Principe
- Senegal
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia (Italian Somaliland)
- Somaliland (British)
- South Africa
- Sudan, North
- Sudan, South
- Swaziland
- Tanzania (Tanganyika)
- Togo
- Tunisia
- Uganda
- Western Sahara (Spanish Sahara)
- Zambia (No. Rhodesia)
- Zanzibar
- Zimbabwe (So. Rhodesia)
MIDDLE EAST (21)
- Abu Dhabi
- Ajman
- Bahrain
- Dubai
- Egypt in Asia (Sinai Peninsula)
- Fujeirah
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Palestine
- Qatar
- Ras Al Khaimah
- Saudi Arabia
- Sharjah
- Syria
- Umm Al Qaiwain
- Yemen
INDIAN OCEAN (14)
- Andaman-Nicobar Islands
- British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago, Diego Garcia)
- Christmas Island
- Cocos Islands (Keeling)
- Comoro Islands (Anjouan, Moheli, Grand Comoro)
- Lakshadweep
- Malagasy Republic (Madagascar)
- Maldive Islands
- Mauritius & Dependencies (Agalega, St. Brandon)
- Mayotte (Dzaoudzi)
- Reunion & Dependencies (Tromelin, Glorioso)
- Rodrigues Island
- Seychelles
- Zil Elwannyen Sesel (Aldabra, Farquhar, Amirante Islands)
ASIA (51)
- Abkhazia
- Afghanistan
- Armenia (Yerevan)
- Azerbaijan (Baku)
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China, People’s Republic
- China, Republic of Taiwan
- Georgia
- Hainan Island
- Hong Kong
- India
- Indonesia (Java)
- Irian Jaya (Dutch New Guinea)
- Japan (Mr. Jones only)
- Jeju Island (South Korea)
- Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo)
- Kashmir
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Korea, North
- Korea, South
- Laos
- Lesser Sunda Islands (Bali, Indonesia)
- Macau
- Malaysia
- Moluka (Moluccas, Indonesia)
- Mongolia, Republic (Mrs. Jones only)
- Myanmar (Burma)
- Nakhichevan
- Nepal
- Pakistan
- Philippines
- Sabah (North Borneo)
- Sarawak
- Siberia (Russia in Asia)
- Sikkim
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
- Sulawesi (Celebes, Indonesia) (Mrs. Jones only)
- Sumatra (Indonesia)
- Tajikistan
- Thailand
- Tibet
- Timor Leste
- Turkey in Asia (Anatolia, Ankara, Izmir)
- Turkmenistan
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam
How many destinations on this list have you visited? Where will you visit next? Please share in comments below.
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