When it comes to deciding where to travel next, Gabriel Morris discusses his thought process and why he often finds himself returning to the same countries. With 93 countries under his belt and a total of 198 entries when counting multiple visits to the same destination, Gabriel has a wealth of travel experience to draw from.
In his latest video, Gabriel explains that despite the allure of exploring new and unfamiliar places like Africa, Australia, and more, there is something special about revisiting countries he has been to before. With 9.5 years of his life spent traveling internationally, Gabriel has a deep connection to certain countries and enjoys the familiarity and comfort they provide.
Gabriel’s love for travel extends beyond simply ticking countries off a list, as he delves into the culture, cuisine, and experiences each destination has to offer. Whether it’s the vibrant streets of India, the picturesque landscapes of Greece, or the warm beaches of Mexico, Gabriel finds himself drawn back time and time again.
As he takes a stroll through Low Gap Dog Park in Northern California, Gabriel reflects on his travels and the joy he finds in revisiting familiar places. With a disc golf course nearby, Gabriel enjoys a round of the game, highlighting the simple pleasures he finds in each destination.
Through his videos, books, and travel writing, Gabriel Morris shares his adventures with others, inspiring a love of travel and exploration. Whether you’re planning a budget trip or seeking inspiration for your next journey, Gabriel’s insights and experiences offer a valuable perspective on the joys of travel.
So, if you’re wondering how to decide where to go on your next trip, take a page out of Gabriel Morris’s book and consider revisiting a country that holds a special place in your heart. The world is full of incredible destinations waiting to be explored, and sometimes the best travel experiences come from returning to the places that feel like home. Safe travels and happy journeying!
Watch the video by Gabriel Traveler
Hey there good afternoon a much sunnier day than yesterday here at low gap dog park in Yukaya mosino County Northern California going for a walk back in the woods where I have recorded many videos in the past it’s been a while since I filmed one back in here a nice
Uh park on the edge of the town here and in the course of this walk then I should uh get up to a Viewpoint and you will be able to see the town of Yukaya where my mom and stepdad live have lived for many uh decades as I mentioned in my last video
Recorded back in the house because it was raining yesterday then I got back from Hawaii 2 weeks ago and have been hanging out here getting various things done so I wanted to follow up on the last video in which I talked about where I might be going next and as
I discussed in detail in that video I have no idea but there are many possibilities including including very likely going back to a country that I have been to before or maybe not maybe a new one not sure but uh in the coming year very likely I will return to
Countries and maybe exact same places that I have been previously so I thought that I would discuss the issue of why do I go back to the same countries over and over again why don’t I Branch out more do more exploring of totally unfamiliar places get deeper into Africa see more of
Australia go to New Zealand Brazil Mongolia Antarctica Greenland more of South America South Pacific Islands etc etc etc so let’s go through a few fun facts about my travels I have been to 93 countries in total since well since I was born in Canada and then moved to the
US when I was a year and a half old and then my first International solo backpacking Adventure was right after I turned 18 back in the summer of 1990 to Europe and so 93 countries in 34 years of international traveling on this last trip 8 months straight of traveling starting last May
Returning to the us a few weeks ago then I visited 22 countries six of which were new countries that I hadn’t been to before I have spent altogether 9.5 years of my life traveling internationally that does not include my time working in Canada or traveling in Canada at all I
Don’t count Canada as International because for me in particular it is not International because I am a Canadian citizen born in Vancouver my parents are native Californians from Los Angeles but uh moved to Canada for a couple of years my dad had a job offer there and then moved
Back to Southern California when I was a kid and then we moved North up here to this area I was raised in Willets a smaller town just uh north of Yukaya here here so if uh you count every country that I have been to including the multiple times that I have
Been to many of those countries if you count every entry separately in other words I’ve been to India 13 times I’ve been to Greece 10 times I’ve been to Mexico nine times been to Thailand I think eight or seven times so if you count those numbers up all the countries
That I’ve been to but then add them up based on number of times that I’ve been to each country so in other words how many times have I entered a country then it adds up to 198 which is pretty cool because it depends on how you count it
As far as total number of countries in the world disc golf course I am a disc golf player and this course here is where I first learned back in the 9s one of the things that I do when I’m here is go play disc golf I haven’t uh played a
Game since I’ve been back but uh there are four different disc golf courses right around here so Lake Menino is over there there are two disc golf courses over there and so one of the things that I will do to get out do a walk have a
Little fun play game of disc golf it’s free you just got to buy the uh discs and they are many places all over the US there’s like an app you can get to find out where they are fun game so uh anyways total number of countries in the world the strictest interpretation I
Believe would be 193 that is going by the UN list of independent countries but then Palestine and Vatican City have Observer status in the UN so I guess they have a representative but that representative can’t actually vote so they’re kind of halfway in in terms of you know that Criterion of
Recognizing official countries then you can count them and so I do count them in my country’s visited list of 93 I count having been to Palestine this last year West Bank and visiting Vatican City in Rome Italy of course and so if you include them then you get
195 but if you add a few of the unrecognized countries that for all practical purposes really are independent nations but it is debatable especially according to people in other countries who dispute their status so you can go up that trail there but I will head this way and get
The uh view on the City View Trail so Koso claims Independence Serbia considers it part of Serbia and then Taiwan claimed by China they claim Independence but they’re pretty much you know their own fully independent nation but they don’t have un representation or recognition and then Northern Cyprus
Claimed as part of Southern Greek Cyprus considered to be not a uh independent country Cypress the island in the Mediterranean considered to be one nation so if you add those in then you get 198 which is pretty cool cuz that’s what my country list as I explained adds up
To if you count all of the individual times I’ve been to each country so anyways there you go 93 countries visited but as that number 198 makes clear then I keep going back to the same countries over and over again so why why do I keep going back why don’t I
Make a point of getting out and seeing new territory so as I mentioned on this last trip then 22 countries visited six of them were new so I am mixing it up with going back to places I’ve been before and then going to new countries but all of the new countries that I
Visited on this last trip were relatively shorter trips in large part because they were small countries so lonstein I spent a few hours there that was really all it needed I mean I would actually go back to lonstein and spend another day or two there it’s
Worth it there’s a bit to see I could like go hiking or something and then Palestine I was there for like 4 days got a good taste of it you could certainly spend more time there there is quite a bit to see but again it is a quite a small country you
Know depending on whether you call it actually a separate country but uh then Kuwait I was there for 5 days the only reason that I was there for that long WR was because I was planning to fly from there to aeran and there was a direct flight but it didn’t go every day
So there was a uh flight going there on a Monday and then the next one wasn’t until Wednesday I was flying in to Kuwait on Saturday morning this was the day of the Hamas attacks on Israel October 7th I had an over night flight landed in Kuwait Saturday morning so if I had
Taken the uh flight on Monday I would have had only like the day that I landed in which I would be sleeping because I was you know arriving early in the morning and then just one full day on Sunday and so I decided to stay until
The Wednesday flight in order to be able to see more but uh 5 days was too much for Kuwait and then azaran I think it was about a week and then Kazakhstan also around a week and then Sri Lanka for I think a couple of weeks so all of that
Was planned out based on assessing just how long I felt like staying there especially for first time being smaller countries considering where else I wanted to go on that trip you know I obviously think quite a bit about my flights and try to determine based on what I know based on doing some
Basic research how much there is to see there how much I think I’m going to enjoy it how interested I am in the you know culture history all that kind of stuff and the reality is just for me that there are places that I find a
Lot more interesting with a lot more to see that I am more Curious to visit and explore than other places it’s that simple also there is this restriction I have in which I can only be in one place at one time and so that is a factor just because you know there
Are lots of places I would still love to see get into more of Africa you know really want to go to Mongolia skipped it on that trip just because of you know time of the year and my general trajectory and and uh you know kind of wanting to wrap that trip up without
Getting pulled into too many places and it going on forever without ever coming back and finally getting a break from the traveling so I skipped over places I was curious to see just because if I stopped everywhere I was never going to get back home I never expected that
Particular trip to be 8 months long to begin with but uh one factor is simply that the more I go to certain places the more I learn about them and want to go back and see these new places India is just jam packed with sites to
Seea compare it to Nepal for example and not a like which one is better comparison but Nepal is without a doubt one of my favorite countries the Himalayas if I had to choose like one region that is like the most all-time ultimate epic place to see in the world
Well capadia turkey is up there the Himalayas are I would really kind of have to say even more phen phenomenal but Nepal in general actually has a very limited number of different places to see you could spend as much time as you want exploring the Himalayas
But you know you get in a trek or two or three and we’ll uh probably want to move on beyond the Himalayas catmandu POA and that is kind of it as far as you know the absolute must see places there’s also lumini I’ve been there I
Was there for like half a day and that was enough it’s a quick stop there is the chitan national park haven’t been there that is I’m sure worth visiting but uh when you compare it to India obviously there’s the size difference but uh also India is just so jam-packed
With places to see that you you don’t hear about most of them on uh you know your first visit or first few visits as I showed in this last series went back to India was there for 6 weeks posted 52 videos of India including going to many uh new places
And also places I had been to before that I was curious to revisit and also make you know new videos there but India is just so chalk full of places to visit you could spend a lifetime there and the variety of different uh things places cultures Landscapes everything is just
So vast and so it just keeps drawing me back again and again and then factor in the fact that it’s so inexpensive and so it’s a good place just to travel in general and be able to travel longer spend less money Greece also despite being a small country without naming
Names let’s just say that there are various countries nearby that are similarly sized similar size or maybe a little bit smaller or whatever but uh having been to all of those countries near Greece there’s just no comparison in my opinion as far as number of different places to see and
Explore again like India it is just jam-packed 227 inhabited islands of which I’ve been to 47 and none of them I would say like don’t go there every island I’ve been to was worth a visit some certainly longer than others but that is just the islands and
Then the mainland has tons and tons of places to see many that I have not been to yet but they are on my list to explore and then turkey Thailand Mexico other countries that I haven’t explored nearly as much Philippines Indonesia China barely dipped a toe into
China and so coming back to that limitation of mine I can only be in one place at one time if I could you know multiply myself in order to expand my reach of seeing more places then I would do that and send myself out to all different places and you know record
Videos with each of those different multiplications of myself and uh get more content and see even more places or whatever but uh you know I can’t do that so rather than only kind of focusing on like trying to visit every country in the world which is a you know valid goal
And there are people who have done that or at least seen more countries than I have in less time in much less than 34 years of traveling guys out there including on YouTube who have been traveling for you know 5 years 10 years 12 years whatever and seen over 100
Countries or whatever but they’re doing it different from me and uh it isn’t just about you know certainly not just about adding countries to a list of course but uh it also isn’t just about seeing new places I enjoy going back to certain places because they’re nice places and they’re
Worth spending more time there and a good place to relax have you know good food choices lots to do rishikesh India Santorini Greece capid doia turkey various places in Mexico there you go Yukaya California snow on the mountains over there Lake mesino where I have also
Recorded videos is I can kind of see the water a little bit basically just beyond the first little Hill out there past the town and then there are some other factors at work here one of which is simply that it is a demanding lifestyle especially when you’re going
To the more extreme places and the more unfamiliar places going to a new country is more mentally emotionally physic physically demanding figuring out everything that is involved in The Adventurous International traveling experience the language issue dealing with uh you know Transportation how do you get around the country how easy convenient is it
Compared to other places for example Africa is going to be much more demanding in many different ways there is just the cultural divide issue which is certainly a factor going to certain countries for me is just generally easier because their culture is closer to my culture and so there’s less of the
Uh cultural Gap there that you have to wrestle with and then Transportation around Africa in much of Africa is going to be very challenging difficult tricky to figure out many places do not have you know bus systems just going regularly you have to pay for a guide or find the one particular
Bus that is going or rent a car or whatever and then a lot of Africa is actually quite expensive from what I understand because they don’t really have that you know budget traveler infrastructure not much tourism at all and so you are limited to like five-star
Hotels in a lot of places and you could be paying you know Switzerland prices or whatever in a country that is certainly not you know at that same standard of living The Adventurous more whatever you want to call it a developing country traveling experience and yet paying uh super high
Prices and so getting deeper into Africa is going to be just a much more intense uh demanding experience and I have been doing this for a long time 34 years as I said not non-stop but uh doing this especially as a job and basically full-time for the
Past around you know 10 12 years or so then constantly going to new places is just you know more intense demanding on yourself and you just get worn out quicker when I go to somewhere like you know Greece Italy Canada the United Kingdom or even Japan then it is just easier
Less challenging less of a daily you know taxing experience and so kind of what I’m doing is I’m mixing it up in my traveling itinerary going to countries I’ve been to before where I know what it’s going to be like where I also want to see
More of that country that I haven’t been to before or returning to those places that I just really like and then kind of sprinkling in there new countries both for my own personal interest of seeing these new places and then also just for you guys to show new places get new
Content out there from uh countries I haven’t been to before and so I making my decisions based on all sorts of factors flights where uh I want to go that’s kind of nearby to where I already am you know trying to tailor a route that makes sense just
Logically and factoring in prices and uh what I have to do to enter the country as far as visas whether I have to have a return flight the weather is a big one for example I was going to go to Australia a year ago I booked a flight and
Then the weather forecast changed I had checked uh the weather when I booked the flight like a couple weeks earlier and then I was like a few days out and checked the weather and it was just like all rain in Northern Australia and so I decided to cancel that plan didn’t want
To do a trip somewhere where you want to be out exploring hiking around and going to beaches and stuff if it’s going to be pouring down rain every day and so there are all these different factors you know that I’m thinking about uh as I uh make
My next you know phase of the trip region specific country where to go within that country and I’m trying to balance it out and uh you know do what I can do push myself to those more extreme places when I’m actually feeling ready for it and then otherwise then uh go
Somewhere easier where I can just relax more and so grease for example is my go-to just relaxation peaceful mellower and yet in my opinion also very exotic interesting fascinating history culture good food kind of the whole package of many different places to see different types of places not just beaches they’re you
Know hiking in big canyons and all the ancient ruins and cities smaller towns and I just kind of vibe with the atmosphere that is ultimately the reason why Greece is my favorite country the are the practicalities of you know I like the food I like the music I like the
History the people the variety Etc but really it’s about you know I just like the feeling the kind of uh just evocative kind of uh you know atmosphere of being on the islands and the Sunshine the good weather the kind of strange atmosphere of those little island villages with
With almost nobody around and uh you know having this town to yourself just wandering around and then getting out and exploring and finding remote beaches and biking around and hiking around and just like that adventurous aspect in which you can explore as you want without worrying
About you know being in the wrong place political problems gangs or whatever it’s just safe and uh you know wide open to explore and so that you know that feeling of of of being there is a big part of what brings me back and then you add the variety of
You could spend an entire lifetime literally just exploring Greece and not see everything and so when it comes to making my next you know traveling decision then I can look at well there’s this one you know region of the world I’ve barely touched but am I really in
In the mood to tackle that right now or am I just in the mood to get back to somewhere where I know how it’s going to be and where I know that there is lots of adventure to be had I’m not the type to just sit around on a beach you know for
Weeks and so I know how it’s going to work I know you know how to uh tackle traveling around the country and I know that there is going to be a lot uh more to explore there so just depends on my mood and a lot of other factors but uh
You know I’m not just trying to rack up as many countries as I can I’m not just thinking about well what do the viewers want that is a factor but that is really not a big factor when it comes to making my decisions about where to go it’s more
About where do I feel like going and I’ll make videos there and people can enjoy them or not it would probably be more strategically uh smart to do things differently as far as you know building my channel and making more money and all that kind of stuff but uh that isn’t how
I want to travel based on what I should do what is practical what other people want of me I want to travel based on where I want to go and then the way it’s working out I can do that and uh make enough money to keep it going so that is
What I will uh plan to do going forwards but I certainly do also consider the viewers to some extent what do people want to see and uh you know try to make it as interesting and adventure as I can within those parameters of what
I really want to do so uh there you go as I said in the last video I have no clue where I’m going next it could be somewhere new it could be somewhere that I’ve made many dozens of videos before we shall see all right that’s all for now happy trails
Video “How Do I Decide Where to Go When I Travel?” was uploaded on 02/23/2024. Watch all the latest Videos by Gabriel Traveler on Gretopia