#tanzania

IG yug0h

DRCongo

https://www.instagram.com/adiy_babe/?hl=fr

Ig: ennaezaa

Born St.Vincent

Ancestry West African

Seen in Arusha, Tanzania by Sam Vox for Sidai Designs

Seen in Kilimanjaro, Tanzania by Malaika Kuhner

Last September in Trinidad I celebrated having visited my 50th country and wrote a post (find it by clicking here) listing the nations I’d been to and linking to some stories I had shared about them. 

This weekend I’ve hit the next interval with Cyprus being my 60th country!

Here are the places I’ve been in the past 8 months that have gotten me from 50 to 60:

50. Trinidad and Tobago

51. Puerto Rico (some people might not count this since it is technically part of the U.S, but as it is not a State and has a very different culture, I do)

52. St. Kitts and Nevis

53. South Africa

54. Namibia

55. Zambia

56. Botswana

57. Saudi Arabia

58. Qatar

59. Egypt

60. Cyprus

I’ve also revisited a few countries in the meantime: Rwanda, Tanzania, and the UAE.

It has been interesting to see the number continuing to increase, especially as I am realizing that more and more I’m feeling inclined to visit familiar places again.  I decided to move back to the UAE, want to spend more time in Tanzania, and am thinking of visiting family in Germany and friends in Israel.  Of course, there are many new places I want to see- and hope to get to them sometime soon!  It will be an interesting balance to see how I spend my future travels.  I’ll keep you updated : )

For MONTHS my to-do list has been plagued by a singular word acting as an imperative action verb: “blog”.  I’ve had relatively good reasons for ignoring it: completing my final semester of university, applying for and getting a full-time job, traveling for projects and fun, and then beginning said job and moving literally half way around the world.  However, none of these add up to good excuses, because they are exactly what I should be writing about!  In the end, procrastination and laziness are the true explanations.

Motivations for writing again are because of both personal desire and realizing that others have a desire too!  I like the blog as it helps me go through my thoughts, learn to write better, and give updates to friends and family around the world.  Similarly, even though no new material has been up there has been many new followers and between 800-1,100 visitors each month. 

Regardless of why, I’m here now- at least for today- hopefully for good!  So let’s start with a quick update and then a bit on what to expect coming forward.

Update: I’m currently writing from Saudi Arabia, where I am working on an engagement for the management consulting firm I joined last month.  I live in Abu Dhabi but travel four days a week to wherever the study is (currently Saudi) and spend one day a week at our Middle East headquarters in Dubai.  Though I’ve always been quite mobile- it has never been this constant… and it is just getting started. 

In the months since I’ve written, I spent the Fall back in New York, completing my undergraduate career. I wrote a graduating paper on The Political Economy of Regionalization- using MERCOSUR, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the East African Community, and the Caribbean Community as case examples.  I also defended my major, Culturally Sustainable Development, to a group of interlocutors (including the President of my university), on the topic of “The Expansion of Culture and Development.”  

I also applied, prepared, and interviewed for this job (a much bigger commitment than it sounds), and then once I was offered the position, I made the decision and did an office visit to Dubai.  The Fall also saw, of course, the US and Venezuelan Presidential elections, which I watched very closely, my evacuation from New York (relocating to D.C) because of Hurricane Sandy, and my last pre-Christmas in the City. 

I then spent the holidays with family in Texas and Indiana before heading to the small island of St. Kitts and Nevis to complete Trail of Seed’s third project with Shannon.  Stopovers in Puerto Rico and Miami on the way there and back, respectively, would have also made good posts (and still may).  A quick three days back in the States to pack up my stuff went by with lightning speed, as did a short day in the UAE, before I was off to Southern Africa for my self-described graduation trip with my friend Jil. 

We visited some of my UWC friends as we traveled around South Africa, Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana before making our way to Mangula, Tanzania- the village where Shannon and I did Trail of Seed’s first project in 2011.  We spent a week there and then headed to Dar es Salaam to meet another one of my UWC friends.  Jil then flew back state-side as I returned back to Mangula for two more weeks of being with a slew of old friends (Ramazan, Dimoso, Jasmine, Mrisho, and others).  I purchased a farm, explored Islam, and tried to fix a few issues that arose with the grants we gave last time.  Overall it was a great trip- though my goal of it being full of reflection was not completely fulfilled.

I then headed back to South Africa, this time to Johannesburg, for training for my current job.  It was an intense but fantastic week where I met many colleagues who became friends, learned the Firm’s tool-kit, and started the path to being an impactful consultant.  Not wanting to leave the continent too fast, I spent two days in Rwanda- visiting some more historical sites and meeting the sister of one of my Rwandan friends to learn more about the development in the beautiful nation.

Upon landing back in Abu Dhabi I started the process of becoming a resident, finding an apartment, and getting adjusted into the Firm.  It ended up taking significantly longer than expected with huge delays on visas, contracts, and more- but now all is well, so I’ll try not to dwell.  Instead, I’m moving forward optimistically and very eager to learn as much as I can from this region, this organization, and myself.

What to expect: I hope to be sharing as much of this learning on the website as I can.  Of course, I have to abide by very extensive and strict (though 100% justified) rules on confidentiality from the company, so those insights unfortunately will be kept completely out.  That said, there will be an enormous amount still to share as I begin my journey as a (sort-of) adult.  However, I want YoungGlobalCitizen.com to be less about me move towards more insightful commentary on issues in the world, trends of globalization and identity, and analysis of development.  These are the things more people come to the site to read, the discussion of how to define ‘global citizen’ for example is the most read post by far.  

We’ll see how it goes!  Stay tuned.

I’ve hit a milestone. It is somewhat obscure but very meaningful, and is an accomplishment that took lots of effort, and yet was never really striven for. 

On September 8^th, at the age of 21, I landed in Trinidad, and officially had been to fifty countries. The big 5-0. 

I think that all of this reflection I’ve been talking about in the past couple posts was initiated largely by the realization of this accomplishment.  It is strange because I don’t travel to increase my number, yet as a fact, it is still representative of many things.  As I’ve written before (here), I view my passport as kind of the physical manifestation of this ‘number,’ and as a kind of table of contents to my life.  The stamp, or the name of the country on the list I’m about to present, doesn’t tell you what I’ve experienced or learned in each location, but you can assume certain things.

 I’m presenting the list here for a few reasons.  1. I think it would be fun for readers to ask me about certain locations I may have not yet written about.  2. In the next few days I want to put a list up of places I want to go, and it would only make sense to know where I’ve been.  3. It’s a generally accepted human desire to share accomplishments with others.  Also, if you think I’ve traveled a lot- then read about the world’s most traveled men (here).

So here it is.  I’ve divided it by continent (though I like to divide it by region too) and then in parentheses written the order it was chronologically.  If I’ve written a post about it then a link follows.

AMERICAS- 17

USA (1)

Mexico (6)

Canada (4)

Antigua and Barbuda (20)  Finding Music in Antigua

Bahamas (25)

Jamaica (23)

Nicaragua (21) Thoughts on Trip to Nicaragua

Costa Rica (22)

Argentina (9)

Uruguay (10)

Brazil (19) Africa in Brazil

Chile (11)

Bolivia (24)

El Salvador (47)

Venezuela (48) Tales of Transport

Guyana (49) From the Middle of Nowhere to Actually Nowhere

Trinidad and Tobago (50)

EUROPE - 13

Latvia (34)

Hungary (35)

Iceland (18) Romantic Weekend in Iceland

Vatican City (14)

Germany (5)

Czech Republic (12)

Italy (13)

Spain (15)

France (16)

Netherlands (17)

Belgium (38)

Norway (39) Best Country in the World?

England (40)

ASIA- 13

China (3)

Japan (2)  Eating Whale in Japan

United Arab Emirates (31) Farewell

Palestine (33) Borders and Checks

Israel (32) Tale of Two Holy Cities

Kazakhstan (36) Photo Diary

Kyrgyzstan (37)

Oman (41) Oman, A Real Country

Jordan (42) Photo Diary from Jordan

Thailand (43) Stress and Stress Relief in Bangkok

Sri Lanka (44) Finding Nature in Sri Lanka

India (45) Leaving India

Nepal (46) Living Goddess: Kumari

AFRICA / OCEANIA – 7 (5/2)

Burundi (28) Relaxing Day in the World’s Poorest Country

Tanzania (27) Favorite Posts from Mangula

Kenya (30) Kibera and Mob Justice

Uganda (26) Boda Boda

Rwanda (29)

Australia (8) Chasing Kangaroos in Australia

New Zealand (7)

Honorable Mention (been in only airport on transit and thus not part of the 50)

1.    Panama

2.    Turkey

3.    Ukraine

4.    Bahrain

5.    Colombia

All written out like that it still seems like it was all a dream! But I’m so proud and grateful for each and every adventure!

Nungwi (Zanzibar 2019)

©️ corinne Hetzel

Nungwi (Zanzibar 2019)

©️ corinne Hetzel

Nungwi, low tide (Zanzibar 2019)

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Jambiani, Zanzibar

©️ corinne Hetzel

Nungwi beach, Zanzibar

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Nungwi beach, Zanzibar

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Nungwi beach, Zanzibar 2019

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Jambiani, hand fishing

Zanzibar

©️ Corinne Hetzel

La pluie au loin

Nungwi, Zanzibar

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Playing with the sand, low tide, Jambiani 2019

Nungwi beach, Zanzibar 2019

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Nungwi beach, Zanzibar 2019

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Jambiani, low tide and sunset (Zanzibar 2019)

©️ Corinne Hetzel

Nungwi (Zanzibar 2019)

©️ Corinne Hetzel