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(Inadvertent) New Country Day: Bosnia and Herzegovina

June 10, 2012 By James Clark 3 Comments

Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
Date: 24 May 2012

Here at Nomadic Notes I like to keep track of when I visit a country for the first time, which I celebrate as New Country Day. I’ve been back to lots of countries, but you can never reclaim the same experience of entering a country for the first time.

There have been some occasions when I have questioned whether I can say I’ve been to a country. For example my first trip to Turkey involved spending half a day at the tourist resort town of Marmaris. Technically I had been to Turkey, but I would never claim it in passing conversation. Now I’ve had another day served up to me where I’ve had to make the call if I have been to a country: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Welcome to Bosnia and Herzegovina? Huh, really?]

I didn’t even know I was going to Bosnia and Herzegovina on this day. I was in Croatia on the bus from Split to Dubrovnik. I don’t usually travel with a guide book in Europe and I didn’t look at a map so I had no idea of the geography. The bus takes about 5 hours and around an hour out of Dubrovnik we arrived at a border checkpoint. I wondered if I had nodded off and missed my stop, but no, there is a little bit of B&H that protrudes from Croatia and touches the coast.

Map of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina]

Our passports were given a cursory glance but there was no stamp. I figured I might let this slide and not count it as a new country, like changing planes at a hub airport, but the bus made a stop at the town of Neum for a 30 minute refreshment break.

Neum - Bosnia and Herzegovina
[Neum – Bosnia and Herzegovina’s little sliver of coastline]

I stepped out of the bus and trod on Bosnian and Herzegovinian soil, bought refreshments, and went to the toilet, so I’m calling it as visited. I have technically been to Bosnia and Herzegovina. I do plan to visit more of the Balkans on another trip, which will include at least a few nights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Would you count this as a new country?

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: bosnia and herzegovina, neum

Comments

  1. Elize says

    June 12, 2012 at 11:38 am

    Yes 🙂 you were not in an airport, you bought something in a different country, and maybe even pick up a souvenier 😉 

    I would consider it a new country

    Reply
  2. Brian Hill says

    March 13, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    If you spend a day and a night in a country I would consider it a new country day. Remember a day includes the night time also.

    Reply
    • James Clark says

      March 16, 2013 at 4:58 am

      Yes, I think staying a night in a country is a good way of counting it.

      Reply

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Welcome to Nomadic Notes

James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

I’m currently based in Vietnam, writing about transport and infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

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