There are five good ways to keep track of the countries you've visited: a printed checklist, a scratch-off map, a spreadsheet, an online map you color in, and a phone app that reads where your photos were taken. A checklist or spreadsheet is the most reliable record, a map is the most satisfying to look at, and an app that reads your photos does the remembering for you. Many travelers use two: one to keep the record, one to show it off.
Whichever you pick, decide first which list of countries you're counting by.
First, pick your list
"How many countries have you been to?" has different answers depending on the list:
- 193: the member states of the United Nations, the most common answer. See the UN member states.
- 250: all the world's countries and territories, including places like Greenland, Puerto Rico and Hong Kong. Browse all 250.
- 330: the Travelers' Century Club's list, which splits up places like the UK's nations and far-flung islands. See the TCC list.
None is wrong. 193, 195, 250 or 330: which list should you count by? explains the differences and the edge cases, and how many countries are there? has the background.
1. A printed checklist
The simplest method: a list of every country, ticked off as you go. Print one, keep it in a travel journal, or use our country checklist, which lets you tick countries by continent and by the list you count by.
Good for: a clear, complete record; spotting what you haven't visited in a region. Falls short on: dates and details, unless you add them; it's easy to lose a piece of paper.
2. A scratch-off map
A poster with a foil layer you scratch away to reveal each country underneath. It's the most physical option, and it makes a good gift and a talking point on the wall.
Good for: a visible, satisfying record at home. Falls short on: small countries, which are hard to scratch neatly (try Andorra or Singapore); mistakes, which can't be undone; and travel, since it stays on the wall. It also shows nothing but countries. Scratch-off map or travel app? compares the two in detail.
3. A spreadsheet
The method for people who like data. One row per country, or better, one row per trip:
| Country | First visit | Visits | Cities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japan | 2016 | 2 | Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka | Cherry blossom 2019 |
| Peru | 2018 | 1 | Lima, Cusco | Machu Picchu |
Good for: dates, repeat visits, cities and anything else you want to track; easy to sort and count; lasts forever as a CSV file. Falls short on: looks; it's a table, not a map. And you have to fill it in, which for years of old trips is real work. How to remember every place you've traveled helps with that.
4. An online map you color in
A world map where you click each country to color it, then save or share the picture. Our visited countries map does this in a browser.
Good for: a quick, clear picture of where you've been; sharing on social media. Falls short on: detail. Most maps stop at countries, and you still have to remember them all yourself.
5. An app that reads your photos
Your iPhone saves where most photos were taken, so an app can read those locations and work out which countries you've been to, including trips from years ago. You can also do this by hand: how to find every country you've been to from your iPhone photos shows how.
Globestamp works this way, privately on the iPhone, with no photos uploaded and no account. It shows your countries on a 3D globe, counts by the 193 UN members, all 250 countries and territories, or the TCC's 330 (Pro), and imports a list from any other tracker if you've kept one before.
Good for: catching countries you'd forgotten; almost no typing; regions and cities as well as countries. Falls short on: trips with no located photos (old cameras, location switched off), which you add by hand. And you should check how any app treats your data; why a travel tracker without an account is worth looking for covers what to look for.
How they compare
| Method | Effort | Dates and details | Looks | Survives a move |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Printed checklist | Low | Only if you add them | Plain | If you keep the paper |
| Scratch-off map | Low | None | Great on a wall | Rolls up, but fragile |
| Spreadsheet | High at first | Full | Plain | Yes, as a file |
| Online map | Low | None | Good for sharing | Save the image |
| Photo-reading app | Lowest | From your photos | Good | With backup and export |
Combine two
Most methods are better in pairs:
- A spreadsheet plus a map. The spreadsheet is the record; the map is the picture.
- An app plus a poster. Let the app find your countries, then print the result. See how to make a poster of the countries you've visited.
- A checklist plus a scratch map. The checklist keeps it honest when a tiny country is hard to scratch.
Whatever you choose, keep a copy of the list somewhere it can't be lost: a CSV file with your photo backups is enough.