There is a very definite "snob" value attached to countries travelled in, among the travellers: different countries travelled in bare different amounts of prestige. We all sit around saying: How long have you been travelling? The longer you have been travelling, the more snob value it carries. The countries visited that gain the most respect are: Russia, Nepal, India, the Eastern Block and the Far East. It you have been to any obscure island, or encountered any unusual culture, it is highly rated. If it is a place no one has ever heard of, all the better. So European countries are pretty low on the scale.
Our best countries to boast about so far are Yugoslavia, and Israel ("We got out just before the Gulf War started"). But we were happy with what we were seeing, and I knew trips I wanted to take in the future: America, Far East...I have little interest in Australia, Canada or India. I wouldn't want to see the poverty in India. The Australians told us that the Aborigine's metabolism is intolerant of alcohol - one of the travellers was a Doctor- sounded a bit racist to me. We told them in very broad terms, what South Africa is like, as it is all quite unreal to them. So far I have been to : England, South Africa, Israel, France, Spain, Egypt, Greece, Yugoslavia, Austria and Germany.
There are still countries and journeys to dream of, which I did in my top bunk bed in the castle turret.
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