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As a long time member of TCC and for the past several years consumed by moving up the list on Most Traveled People I have found myself going EVERYWHERE. That was the great thing about the TCC list; it gave me a structure to see the entire world. When you really get into the list you end up in places like Nakhchivan, South Sudan and Lampedusa. Not the sort of places one would think of as normal destinations. That is the good part of following a list; finding unexpected pleasures in odd corners of the world.

The bad part is that it forces you to go to some truly unremarkable spots which take time and money and the ONLY reward is ticking off a box. As one gets deeper and deeper into the little bits on a list, one also encounters the schedule quandary; flying on very small airlines whose reliability is even less than questionable. I never worry about safety but I do worry about getting out. They just cancel flights and you find yourself stuck. In the old days that was not much of a problem as you just waited and got the next plane. But now with the insane airline policies which charge a fortune to change anything, and who cancel all the remaining flights on an itinerary if you miss any portion of it, this becomes a huge issue.

This comes to mind as I have just found out that my return flight from Cabinda has been canceled. (*&(&*)%&*($*&)_(