In August 2019, I achieved one of my most important goals to date. I have officially now visited every country in Eastern Europe!!!

For clarity, I generally mean Eastern Europe in a cultural sense more than a true geographical sense: including Central Europe, the Baltics, the Balkans, and east to Russia. Countries like Poland and Czechia are definitely geographically central in Europe. But I do count them as culturally they’ve been considered Eastern Europe. I don’t count the Caucasus region as Eastern Europe. Geographically and culturally it is much more remote than the rest of the countries that are connected on the continent (even though cities like Tbilisi feel very European). Although Greece is part of the Balkans, historically with its strong ties to Western Europe I don’t include it as part of Eastern Europe. Most of the countries I include as Eastern Europe were under the control of the Soviet Union, or part of Yugoslavia. (And Albania, but they just did their own thing in the second half of the 20^th-century.)

I have now visited all of the following Eastern European countries: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Moldova, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine.

Visiting every country in Eastern Europe hasn’t always been my major goal. It wasn’t until last year when a friend of mine asked if I wanted to meet up in Estonia that I thought, “that’s one of just four countries left in Eastern Europe! YES, I want to go!!” Visiting Estonia in April 2018 gave me just three countries left (North Macedonia, Kosovo, and Albania). In August 2019 I visited these three countries and achieved this huge goal!

I don’t plan on visiting every country in the world—in fact, I don’t want to. I think it would turn into a very time-consuming chore, with ticking off each country becoming a task to complete, as opposed to an adventure. It would also seriously get in the way of returning to places and regions I love. I love re-visiting places and returning to a destination that I loved. I don’t plan on giving that up for the sake of visiting every country in the world.

Not to mention, visiting every country in the world is a lot of work, and is very expensive. Certain countries are extremely hard to get into as a tourist. Many, such as Syria, with good reason as it’s not safe for locals to return there yet, let alone tourists. Certain countries also have time-consuming visa processes. As an American, I am privileged enough to be able to visit SO many countries without obtaining a visa in advance—so I intend to do that, and obtain visas as and when I need them for a specific country and a specific trip.

I would like to visit every country in Europe, I think. I’m well over half-way there, with most of the remaining countries being either micronations, or expensive destinations. It’s places like Liechtenstein, San Marino, Switzerland, Norway, etc. But I’m not at the point where I want to plan out my trips based on where I haven’t been—again, I love going back to places I enjoyed! I think it’ll happen eventually, but I’m in no rush to do it.

But visiting every country in Eastern Europe is huge for me. I first visited Latvia in the Baltics in November 2013, mainly since I found cheap flights for a weekend away. It was an amazing trip, my first solo trip in Europe outside of the UK, and gave me so much confidence! In less than 6 years, I’ve visited all the other Eastern European countries (including two trips to Russia!).

I am SO proud of this achievement! Eastern Europe is my favorite region in the world. It is where I am most comfortable—haggling for taxis, jumping on buses while they’re still moving, eating bureks and blini and everything in-between. I’m in my element when I’m traveling in Eastern Europe. I don’t think I would like to live there long-term. But I could happily spend months and months traveling the region. The history and the culture fascinates me like nothing else.

There is so much to see in Eastern Europe, this all-encompassing region that most people still associate with the Iron Curtain. And not only that, but it’s one of the most affordable regions in the world! I never would have been able to accomplish a goal like this if it wasn’t possible to travel cheaply around Eastern Europe. I’m planning on doing quite a few big posts on this region now that I’ve achieved this huge goal: what to see, tips for traveling around, budget ideas, etc.

But for now, I’m happy to be happy with accomplishing this landmark. I still intend on traveling to Eastern Europe. And I still intend to go back to places I loved, or places I didn’t have enough time. (I swear, I will visit Transnistria on my next trip to Moldova!)

A lot of people have travel goals. I’m no different, and I’m so pleased to have done this one! Here’s to goals that matter, and a lot of amazing memories!

Do you count countries and have any specific travel goals? Have you visited anywhere in Eastern Europe? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

You might like these posts on Eastern Europe:

How Much Does It Cost To Travel Eastern Europe For 6 Weeks?

20 Tips For Traveling Eastern Europe

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