Dave’s travel and life has morphed into one collective.  He began his travel career after graduation with the start of his travel blog, and has been travelling ever since.    Over the past 20 years Dave has managed to visit 140 UN recognized countries in a quest to discover and experience true travel.  He does not have a specific stated goal of visiting every country, but through his desire to discover the world he has already managed to visit 140 countries, with a target of visiting ten plus new countries a year.  Dave’s other quest is to visit every winery in Napa Valley.  He has visited approximately 850 of the 1,000 wineries.  Dave shares with us how he nearly perished on his first true international trip as he trekked to Everest Base Camp and had to be carried off the mountain after being felled by altitude and food sickness.  This challenging event spurred him on to travel even more.  Dave shares more stories from traveling independently in Papua New Guinea to backpacking in Yemen.  Dave also provides some insights on running his travel blog for 20 years and the benefits of “free” travel.  Please listen in and enjoy.        Check out our partner and sponsor: Explore the unique stories from 20 more world-class travelers from various backgrounds and nations and from all walks of life who have tirelessly pursued visiting every country in the world and have filled their lives with a virtually endless amount of adventure. More about Dave Levart:   Born in: Redding, USA Passports from: USA and Italy (EU) Favorite travel film: Favorite travel book: and   Favorite travel site: Must carry: My camera. Favorite food:  Many different fruits.   Favorite drink: Hungarian Tokaj Favorite Airline: Anyone that will get me there safely Favorite Hotel: Something unique ritzy or rustic, the extremes Website: and Facebook: Twitter:   Instagram:             About Counting Countries Counting Countries is the only podcast to bring you the stories from the dedicated few who’ve spent their lives on the singular quest of traveling to every country in the world. Less people have traveled to every country in the world than have been to outer space. Theme music for this podcast is Demeter’s Dance, written, performed, and provided by . About GlobalGaz Ric Gazarian is the host of Counting Countries. He is the author of three books: , , and .  He is the producer of two travel documentaries: and .   Ric is also on his own quest to visit every country in the world. You can see where he has and keep up with his journey at How Many Countries Are There? Well… that depends on who you ask! The United Nations states that there are . The British Foreign and Commonwealth office states that there are . The Century Club states that there are . The Most Traveled Person states that there are . The Best Traveled states that there are . Me? My goal is the 193 countries that are recognized by the UN, but I am sure I will visit some other places along the way. Check out our partner and sponsor: Explore the unique stories from 20 more world-class travelers from various backgrounds and nations and from all walks of life who have tirelessly pursued visiting every country in the world and have filled their lives with a virtually endless amount of adventure. Disclaimer: I will earn a fee if you order from Amazon/Agoda.