Egypt – My 50th Country

When I first arrived in Qatar in 2017, I made a list of personal goals:

Goals Before I’m 50

Pay off student loans
Start an emergency fund
Save for retirement
Complete a contract at Qatar University
Become an English Language Fellow or Specialist
Teach/work in two more countries
Visit 50 countries

Slowly but steadily, I began crossing items off my list. First, I paid off my student loans. Next, I completed my first contract at Qatar University (and later signed a second and third). During every academic break, I made it a point to visit a country or two, gradually ticking off destinations. I thought I was making good progress on my travel goal, but then, the pandemic struck.

During the pandemic, travel became challenging or nonexistent due to quarantine and vaccine requirements. Still, despite these hurdles, I managed to visit countries like Turkey, where I spent a month in Istanbul, and Bosnia, Croatia, and Montenegro during a brief trip. Then my Christmas break in Dubai with my mother and sons was unexpectedly extended because my oldest son contracted COVID.

When restrictions eased even more, I resumed traveling in earnest. During one summer break, I explored Europe and the Caucasus, and by early 2024, I had reached 47 countries. With just three more to go, I leisurely planned my next trips. Number 48 was Thailand. Number 49 was Tanzania. And number 50? Egypt.

People often ask why I hadn’t visited Egypt earlier, especially since it’s only a three-hour flight from Qatar. When I first arrived in 2017, Qatar was under a blockade, and Egypt was one of the blockading countries, making it off-limits. Additionally, many colleagues shared stories about the challenges of traveling there, so I decided to wait until I was more experienced. After visiting 49 countries of varying levels of difficulty, I felt prepared. Spending my fall break in Egypt allowed me to achieve my goal: visiting 50 countries before turning 50.

When I returned from my trip to Egypt, people asked me, “How was it?” My response has been Egypt is not for beginners.

First, if you are planning to drive in Egypt, think twice—or reconsider altogether. Egyptian traffic is some of the most chaotic I have ever experienced, rivaled only by Sri Lanka. In Cairo, traffic lines on highways are more of a suggestion than a rule, maybe even a hallucination. A road might have five lanes—or seven—depending on how drivers feel at the moment. The streets are often unlit, and pedestrians dart across them unpredictably. I wondered if anyone ever got hit trying to cross the road, and on my second day in the country, I watched traffic slow around a woman who had been hit and blood was puddling from her head on the ground.

Additionally, I was quite wary of scammers in tourist areas, and to avoid unnecessary stress, I used GetYourGuide, an app I first discovered while traveling in Thailand. Booking excursions through the app allowed me to have both a driver and a guide, which saved me significant time and hassle, particularly when visiting places like Giza and Alexandria. I had booked a day trip to Luxor; however, the travel provider was not able to provide me with a return flight the same day, so I easily cancelled my trip from the app and had my money promptly refunded.

Choosing where to stay in Cairo also required some consideration. After some research, I decided on Maadi, a serene, lush neighborhood popular with expats and foreigners. It was a stark contrast to the rest of the crowded and bustling city. In Maadi, I saw children trick-or-treating with their parents and teens heading off to soccer practice—a slice of normalcy and affluence. However, the disparity in Egypt was hard to ignore. I also saw children, during normal school hours, collecting recyclable garbage, likely for a small pittance. This contrast highlighted Egypt’s economic challenges, which, unfortunately, lead some locals to see tourists as opportunities for exploitation.

One of the most valuable lessons I have learned from my travels is to remain flexible. While I had a loose itinerary, I welcomed suggestions from locals. One day, while deciding how to visit some of Cairo’s museums, I asked the barista at a coffee shop for advice. He casually asked, “Do you want to ride the metro?”

Is it safe? I asked.

“Yeah, and the stop is nearby,” he replied.

So, I gave it a try. Riding the metro turned out to be an efficient way to reach the Coptic Museum and the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, two of my stops in Cairo. When the crowds and the hustle of the city overwhelmed me, I would retreat to my quiet Airbnb in Maadi, recharging for the next day’s adventures.

Alas, the biggest challenge I faced in Egypt was figuring out how to transport the baskets and lights I had purchased back to Qatar. In the end, I bundled them in cardboard and secured the package with packing tape, making it resemble a mummified bundle. I worried that Qatar Airways might not allow me to check it in this way because it looked like I was smuggling antiquities. However, after adding an extra layer of plastic wrap at the airport, I had no issues checking it in.

Would I visit Egypt again? Absolutely. I had only scratched the surface of the country’s rich cultural sites and diverse geography. Inshallah. Now that I have achieved my milestone of visiting 50 countries, I can return to places I truly enjoyed. Egypt is definitely on that list.

How do I feel after visiting my 50th country? A little sad. You set lofty goals for yourself and invest so much time and energy into achieving them. Along the way, you are often focused on the moment, and the goal seems distant and almost unattainable. When I first set this goal, I had only visited a handful of countries, so reaching 50 felt like a far-off dream. In the beginning, I carefully planned my trips, researching every detail and ensuring everything was in order. By the end, I had become so comfortable with travel and the problem-solving it requires that I wasn’t even checking visa requirements until after boarding my flight.

Looking back, maybe I should have made my 50th country more challenging, like visiting North Korea or Bhutan. However, while these destinations might be logistically more complex, I know that once I arrived, I would fall into my usual travel routine: sightseeing, taking pictures, eating, and shopping. Nothing too out of the ordinary. At my age, I ain’t trying to push myself to the brink of adventure or survival.

Still, with some life goals, the true excitement lies not in their completion but in the journey toward achieving them. I felt this way while working toward my first-degree black belt in karate (and later my second degree), earning my Master’s Degree in English Literature (and later in English TESOL), and getting my documents attested to start my expat journey at Qatar University in Doha. Once each goal was accomplished, I often felt a bit empty, because I had lost the focus that had driven me for so long.

After crossing off my goal of visiting 50 countries, here is what my list of goals from 2017 looks like now:

Goals Before I’m 50

~~Pay off student loans~~
~~Start an emergency fund~~
~~Save for retirement~~
~~Complete a contract at Qatar University~~
~~Visit 50 countries~~
Become an English Language Fellow or Specialist
Teach/work in two more countries

Currently, I am a candidate for the English Language Specialist program. Next, I aim to teach in two more countries during the upcoming summers. Once I achieve these remaining goals, I can reflect on this chapter of my life and begin setting new objectives for the next decade. However, with age and experience, I have learned to savor the journey and not become too fixated on simply crossing the goal off the list.

(Spoiler alert: I have already drafted a list of “Goals before I’m 60.”)

The following are some of my pictures during my week in Egypt.