I’m trying to decide where to go with my friend Ann in April. Ann has lived all over the world and visited more places than I can even dream of seeing in my lifetime. She has graciously offered to accompany me wherever I want to go – so far, anyway. I haven’t suggested anything she’s turned down, at any rate.

When I think of all the places I’d like to go, I get overwhelmed. Not only is there a long list of places I’ve never been, but there are also countries I have visited, but desperately want to return to. A week or two in, say, Italy, doesn’t begin to cover all there is to see and experience in that country. On two trips there I’ve seen a lot, but honestly, if some powerful entity were to decree that I could only and always visit Italy for the rest of my traveling days, I’d be perfectly fine with that.

Anyway, I was thinking about where I’ve been and where I want to go and I wondered how many countries I’ve visited if I were to alphabetize them. Are there any letters of the alphabet that don’t represent countries I’d consider visiting? What if I make it my goal to visit at least one country for every letter?

Let’s alphabetize and color code. The countries I’ve visited will be red and those I’d like to visit or at least consider visiting in purple. If I can only think of a country, or countries, that I don’t want to visit under a given letter, I’ll leave them black. Okay:

A – Australia, Austria B – Belgium, C – Canada, Croatia  D – Denmark, E – England, F – France, Fiji, G – Germany, Greece  H – Holland, Hungary, I – Italy, Ireland, Indonesia, Isle of Man, India J – Japan, K – Korea, L – Lithuania, M – Mexico, N – Norway, O – ?, P – Poland, Portugal, Q – Qtar, R – Russia, S – Switzerland, Singapore, Scandinavia, Spain,  T – Turkey, U – Uruguay, V – Viet Nam, W – West Africa, X – ?, Y – Yugoslavia, Z – Zimbabwe.

I’m not sure if West Africa is a country, or an area of Africa. Can’t think of anything else with a W. X isn’t a surprise, but what about O? There has to be a country that starts with O, don’t you think?

So there are my ABCs of destinations. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some places. Too many places. Not enough time or money —