When New York–based interior designer Athena Calderone realized her 50th birthday and 25th wedding anniversary would coincide last year, she knew the double milestone called for a party. So she and her husband, Victor, a DJ and music producer, planned a two-pronged, nine-day trip to Italy. They began with an intimate vow renewal in Umbria and then let the festivities roll in Rome with 50 of their closest friends. “That city holds this rich historic legacy, and I feel like our love does too,” Calderone says. Here she shares the locals-only spots that drove the itinerary and the “opulent and over-the-top” hotel where guests danced till dawn.
Stop Counting the Countries You Visit
12.03.2025 - 16:03 / cntraveler.com / Charlie Hobbs / Megan Spurrell / Matt Ortile / Hannah Towey / Jamie Spain
When asked to weigh in on his travel in's and out's for 2025, associate editor Matt Ortile did not hesitate to declare the practice of “country counting” decidedly passé. If you're unfamiliar, a traveler engages in country counting when they present, usually on their Instagram story or some other form of social media, a list of destinations with adjacent boxes checked for each that individual has visited. If you don't think too hard about it, such posting is perfectly innocuous. But may we suggest that it only seems so because it is shallow and consumptive?
When you approach your travels in the same way you tackle a to-do list, you hollow out the nuance of place and turn it into just another prize for your mantle. Besides, what kind or quality of visit merits counting? How long must you stay? (Is a layover good enough?) And where must you go—certainly not everywhere within? Most importantly, once that box is checked, is there any point in going back to that country? To discuss, Ortile joined fellow associate editors Charlie Hobbs and Hannah Towey, associate articles director Megan Spurrell, associate social media manager Emily Adler, travel bookings editor Jamie Spain, and editorial assistant Kat Chen to discuss.
Charlie Hobbs: This debate is inspired by Matt and his feelings against country counting. Matt, could you please define country counting in your own words?
Matt Ortile: Gladly. Country counting is the practice of counting the countries you have “been to.” Very often, I see this in the bios of social media accounts, whether you're a travel influencer or a private citizen. People say something like, “59 countries and counting" with all the emoji flags for Japan and El Salvador and Australia. In my opinion, the idea that you're just gobbling up all of these countries clues me into how you travel and signifies an anti-slow travel mindset.
For me, I called it out in a recent video for the magazine because to me, country counting is about broadcasting where you've been, rather than sharing a story from an experience you had there or deeply engaging with what it means to be a visitor in a place. It's another sort of way of signaling status, of global citizenship. It just seems very shallow. I'm trying to sound very deep about it, but it just rubs me in such a weird way, very similar to the way that people say, “Oh, what's your body count?” You know, “What is your country count?”
I've had conversations with people, and they'll say, “Oh, yeah, I've been to Qatar,” for example. I was like, “Oh, what did you think of like the souqs?” and they were like, “Oh, I was just at the airport.” You're counting that when you had this very limited view, a very minute slice of what life in that place could be like.
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