WHAT'S THIS? We wanted a way to describe how challenging a country is to visit from an American perspective to assist you in planning your own international adventure. The levels are based entirely on our own experiences and are in no way a commentary on a nation's culture, people, or history.
CRITERIA
Country (+ 1 point each)
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English is not primary language (+2)
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English is not widely spoken
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Flight is over ten hours
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Arrival requires prop plane or 3 modes of transportation
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Extreme temperatures
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Unsafe drinking water
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State Department Travel Advisory 3
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State Department Travel Advisory 4
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Poor or non-existent public transit
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Drive on left side of road
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Currency conversion is tricky
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Alphabet is non-Latin based
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Non-western toilets
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Poor cell service
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Cash only economy
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No/limited hot water access
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Recent civil unrest
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Women have limited rights
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High poverty rates
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Requires vaccinations
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Requires anti-malaria pills​​
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Impacted by holiday/special event
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Elusive weirdness factor
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Trip (+/- as indicated)
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Illness or accident +1
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Lost luggage/phone/wallet (recovered) +1 per
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Lost luggage/phone/wallet (not recovered) +1 per
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Severe weather event or natural disaster​ +1
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Missed/cancelled flight +1
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Crime against person +2
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Stay in a hostel +1
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Stay in 4-star hotel -1
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Stay in 5-star hotel -2
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Bad work exchange experience +1
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Good work exchange experience -1
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Fluent in primary language -1
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Hire a guide or have friends -1
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Previous visit to country -1
The Travel Levels
100 EASY PEASY
0-2 points: Basically the US with a few slight differences. These countries are great introductions to international travel.
200 MILD CULTURE SHOCK
3-7 points: You're not in Kansas anymore but it's doable. Novice travelers will probably need a few days to adjust.
300 WHAT'S HAPPENING?
8-12 points: You've graduated to advanced travel. Well done!
400 IT'S A LOVE/HATE THING
13-17 points: Way outside your comfort zone but very much worth the new experiences. Even seasoned travelers will probably freak out a few times.
500 HOLY SHIT KICKERS
18-20 points: Prepare for a weird and wild adventure! We've never been to this level, so all we can say is "Godspeed, friend. God. Speed."
How we calculate
When determining a country's Wandering Wilsons Travel Level, we assign one point for each of the items from our criteria list that the country meets. Based on that point total, a country is then assigned a Travel Level.
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A secondary score can also be assigned to indicate how challenging a particular trip in a country was. For instance, lost luggage or an illness can bump a country into a higher level because of the added challenges. Likewise, staying with a friend or being fluent in the language can offset some of the other challenges and move a country to a lower level of travel.
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Here's how we calculated Australia:
​Earned 2 points for the flight being over ten hours and driving on the left side of the road. They are 100 Level because most Americans, even novice travelers, would feel right at home. On this trip though, we could add a point for hard to reach (Lamb Island took a train, then a bus, then a ferry) and if we had just stayed in Cairns, a point for poor cell service. So at times Australia felt like a 200 Level.
When we travelled to Egypt in 2013, they were a 400 Level country. Civil unrest, mostly Arabic, State Department warnings, Turkish toilets, etc. But we hired a guide for three days and stayed at a 5-star hotel, so it became a 300 Level experience. And today, Egypt might score differently than they did ten years ago.
Did we miss something? Shoot us an email or message us on our socials. And send us your Wandering Wilsons Travel Levels for countries you've visited!
