I had set a goal for my blog that by the end of 2013 I would have visitors from 50 countries. Well I made it by December 31st with one to spare. Today I am at 52 countries. I think I would like to set a goal of reaching people in 100 countries by the end of this year.

Here is a list of the countries and the number of visits from each:

Country Views
United States 3,953
Thailand 354
United Kingdom 75
Bulgaria 71
Canada 62
Guatemala 34
Finland 29
Denmark 29
Germany 27
Israel 27
Singapore 27
Belgium 26
Australia 24
Hungary 16
Romania 13
Russian Federation 12
India 10
Sweden 9
Italy 9
Pakistan 7
France 7
Indonesia 7
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 6
Poland 6
Netherlands 5
Malaysia 5
Ukraine 5
Spain 4
Philippines 4
Saudi Arabia 3
Republic of Korea 3
Japan 3
Latvia 3
Viet Nam 2
Cambodia 2
Guernsey 2
Lao People’s Democratic Republic 2
Cyprus 2
Nigeria 1
Serbia 1
Georgia 1
Slovakia 1
Kazakhstan 1
Brazil 1
Norway 1
Brunei Darussalam 1
Switzerland 1
Taiwan 1
Hong Kong 1
Mexico 1
New Zealand 1
Costa Rica 1

I was not surprised that the most visits were from the USA.  I was delighted that Thailand came in second.  After spending three weeks there in November and writing about our daily excursions, I am hoping that means that people who are visiting Thailand and are looking for information on places to explore have used my blog as a reference point.

That would make me happy.

I am hopeful that as we travel and as I write about each country we go to, this site will become a better resource for anyone wanting to see pictures, or are thinking about traveling there themselves.

I also want to have a goal for number of people who follow my blog. As of today I have a small group of 163 people who have signed up to follow my blog. That means they get an email notification whenever I post a new entry. I would like to raise the number of followers and am shooting for 1000 by the end of this year.

I know many of my visitors come from seeing a post on my Facebook page. I am thrilled that my friends care and want to see what Tim and I are up to.

One more goal to set. My current record is 152 visits in one day. My goal for this year is to hit 500 visits in one day.

So how will I hit those goals, and why does it matter to me anyway???

I guess the short answer is that I do care. I want the information we share to be fun, helpful, colorful, informative and accurate. I want to keep our friends and family up-to-date on where we are.

But even more important:  I want to inspire the dreamer in anyone that is thinking about getting out the door and exploring. Take the leap! You will never regret traveling.