Bart Lapers
Visiting Every Country In The World
My Best Travel Experiences of 2021
2021 started with my longest travel interruption in two decades. I boarded my first flight of the year in June 2021, 207 days after my last flight in 2020. A travel ban issued by the Belgian government due to the pandemic was the culprit. Despite a late start, I went on 13 trips this year visiting 12 countries of which 5 for the first time: Iraq 🇮🇶 Nigeria 🇳🇬 Pakistan 🇵🇰 Colombia 🇨🇴 and Peru 🇵🇪 . With 114 out of 193 UN countries done, I have 79 left to explore.
Flights
I reduced my exposure to future loyalty program devaluations by burning a significant part of my miles balances this year. I spent a total of 437.000 miles in 3 frequent flyer programs: Lufthansa Miles & More (338K) Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (41.5K) and Iberia Plus Avios (57.5K) The use of miles greatly reduced the cost of my 14 business class and 30 economy class flights in 2021. Good for a total of 54.452 miles flown or 2.2 times around the earth and 135 hours up in the air.
Read MoreMy Best Travel Experiences of 2020
Despite a global pandemic raging around the world, I managed to visit 20 countries in 2020 of which 11 for the first time: Antigua and Barbuda 🇦🇬 Barbados 🇧🇧 Burundi 🇧🇮 Democratic Republic of the Congo 🇨🇩 Dominica 🇩🇲 Grenada 🇬🇩 Rwanda 🇷🇼 Saint Kitts and Nevis 🇰🇳 Saint Lucia 🇱🇨 Saint Vincent & The Grenadines 🇻🇨 Trinidad and Tobago 🇹🇹. It was also the year I hit the milestone of visiting 100 UN countries. I have now been to 109 UN countries!
Flights
With just 46 flights, the past year has been a low point in my aviation hobby. 39 economy flights, 7 business class flights (limited to Lufthansa and Ethiopian Airlines) good for a total of 44,555 miles flown, 1.8x around the Earth, 115 hours up in the air. My Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Elite status (Star Alliance Gold) was extended till February 2023 and British Airways Executive Club Silver status (Oneworld Sapphire) till December 2021 as a courtesy by the airlines due to the pandemic.
Read More10 Tips For Better Travel in 2020
My best tips & tricks for your travel plans in 2020. How to get the best deals for your flights, hotels, rental cars and travel gear. Also check my best flights & hotels and destinations of 2019.
1. Find the best flight deals
These are my favourite sites to keep track of flight details departing from the Benelux:
Fly4Free
Travel-Dealz
Flynous
For Business & First Class deals, the best site is You Have Been Upgraded. If you’re looking for a particular flight deal, set an email alert via Google Flights to keep track of flight fares. Don’t forget to also check Momondo as they tend to regularly find cheaper or alternative fares.
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My Best Travel Experiences of 2019: Destinations
In 2019, I visited 33 countries of which 19 for the first time: Albania 🇦🇱 Andorra 🇦🇩 Bahrain 🇧🇭 Bosnia and Herzegovina 🇧🇦 Cyprus 🇨🇾 Estonia 🇪🇪 Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Liechtenstein 🇱🇮 Moldova 🇲🇩 Montenegro 🇲🇪 North Korea 🇰🇵 North Macedonia 🇲🇰 Oman 🇴🇲 San Marino 🇸🇲 Syria 🇸🇾 Tanzania 🇹🇿 Tunisia 🇹🇳 Turkmenistan 🇹🇲 Yemen 🇾🇪. It was also the year I decided to visit every country in the world by 2025. At the end of 2019, I had visited 98 out of 193 UN countries. Below are some of my favourite travel experiences of the past year. I hope they inspire you for an awesome travel year 2020.
North Bali, Indonesia
Gitgit waterfall (Jan 2019)
In January, I finally explored ‘the other side of Bali’. On previous visits I had never wandered up more North than Ubud. It turned out to be a stunning destination with an authentic culture and pristine nature with tranquil, rural surroundings. Check my Instagram Stories for the Northern Bali trip report.
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My Best Travel Experiences of 2019: Flights and Hotels
Time to wrap up 2019 with an overview of my travel highlights of the year. In this post I review my best flight and hotel experiences of the year. In a second post, I talk about my favourite destinations of 2019.
Flights
2019 was another great aviation year for me with:
- 107 flights (152,446 miles) (6.1x around the earth, 370 hours up in the air)
- 3 First Class flights with British Airways and Qatar Airways
- 24 Business Class flights with Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Ethiopian Airlines, Cathay Dragon, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Oman Air and Turkish Airlines
- 5 Premium Economy flights with Austrian Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Lufthansa and Norwegian
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