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| Night falls on Rio de Janeiro in Brazil -- One of 100 countries visited by Doug Eberhart (wikipedia) |
CHARLOTTE, NC, October 24,
2015 – Football season is
in full swing and as every player and fan knows, 100 is the magic number. Be it
100 yards for a touchdown or 100 yards rushing or passing, 100 is the standard
of excellence in America’s favorite sport.
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| Seeing the world up close is Doug's passion |
Perhaps that’s why former All-Ohio
offensive center for Massillon Washington High School, Doug Eberhart, chose as
his next landmark to travel to 100 countries. Today Eberhart measures his
success in miles rather than yards but the number 100 remains the standard.
Recently Eberhart, a graduate of
Princeton, “touched down” in Piran, Slovenia to become a full-fledged member of
the Traveler’s Century Club; people who have visited 100 countries or more in
their travels.
Like many “Centurians” Doug followed the
wind and Slovenia just happened to be the country that captured the elusive
trophy. As a rule Eberhart visits multiple countries when he can, not only for
convenience but also as a cost and logistics factor.
Though Eberhart is an expert at finding
a deal, he does not scrimp to necessarily seek out the lowest price because he
knows all too well that that can be detrimental for a traveler even though it
may keep his wallet a little bit fatter.
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| Antartica was a once in a lifetime experience, even for someone as well traveled as Doug Eberhart (wikipedia) |
Over his years of travel, Eberhart
estimates he has spent between $200,000 and $250,000 to accomplish his feat,
but considering the number of countries he has seen that number is relatively
inexpensive. Furthermore, there is no price tag he can put on his memories or
his experiences.
The most expensive trip Eberhart has
ever taken was to Tahiti and Bora Bora which rang up a tab of about $8,500.
Spending that kind of money is a rarity, however.
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| Transiting the Panama Canal (wikipedia) |
Most people do not think of football
players as having an interest in seeing the world, but Doug was heavily
influenced by his great uncle Eugene Jeffers who was an undercover agent for
the CIA for many years. During school holidays, Eberhart and his twin brother,
an All-Ohio high school quarterback, were enthralled by “Uncle Jeff's” stories
of exotic places from the world’s most intriguing “hot spots.”
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| Iguazu Falls are one of those sights you have to experience to understand its magnitude (wikipedia) |
Eberhart also credits a French professor
who brought the world alive, especially when teaching the Renaissance and the
Reformation.
That laid the groundwork and Doug has
been on a mission ever since. While at Princeton he went to Taipei with a
friend as part of the International Student Body. During his visit he contacted
a contagious disease know as “wanderlust” which is incurable. Once bitten the
only thing that will stop someone is time and money.
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| Pha That Luang Vientiane in Laos is an example of world far different than our own (wikipedia) |
Though Doug did not initially set out to
travel to 100 countries, somewhere between 2000 and 2003 he realized he wanted
to set a goal of visiting at least 100 countries and territories. Eberhart is
careful to qualify his dream because technically territories are not countries
and determining prescisely what constitutes a country can be tricky at times.
For example, the Vatican is a country
but it still feels like Rome anyway you look at it. And that’s just one tiny
sample of countless other questionable destinations.
“I always had an interest in the diversity of
other countries and seeing the world through other people’s eyes,” says Doug.
“I’m not interested in just checking off places for the sake of saying I have
been there. I like to immerse myself in the culture as much as possible.”
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| Eberhart's favorite is Kenya, but he clarifies that he savors the diversity of all of Africa (wikipedia) |
The most obvious question Eberhart gets is
which is his favorite country to which he says “Kenya” but actually he qualifies
all of Africa in that assessment.
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| Paraguay is Eberhart;s least favorite destination, but someplace had to be last on the list (wikipedia) |
By contrast, his least favorite country is
Paraguay which Eberhart found boring.
Like most world travelers, there are
gaps in Doug’s personal itinerary: Israel, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Jordan,
Poland, the Seychelles, Bhutan, Tibet and Myanmar to name a few.
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| Stockholm< Sweden ranks as one of Eberhart's top five cities in the world (wikipedia) |
Eberhart’s top five cities, in no
particular order, are Sydney, Vancouver, Stockholm, Prague and Rio. Look
closely and you will notice that somehow water makes its mark in the rankings.
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| Bali is another exotic favorite (wikipedia) |
One of the best things about his job as
a sales rep for Merit Medical says Doug is that it has allowed him the freedom
of time to pursue his dream.
And so the quest continues as Eberhart pursues
some of those “gaps.” Don’t bet against him. He has already scored once and now
he is working on his second 100 following his personal “turn of the century.”
Read more travel and discover great tours at: Magellan Travel Club
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