I’ve never counted trips or countries visited for status, but I have kept a list, mainly to give helpful reminders of where I’ve been and when during the course of my over 30 years of writing about travel (it all starts to blend) – years that I recently realized, after a recent excursion to Curaçao, have put me on the cusp of having taken 200 “professional” trips during my career (not counting personal holidays and such).

I’m telling you this because I can – which is to say that I learned, a long time ago, that discussing such matters with non-travel people usually does not go over well.

For example, I casually commented on my upcoming milestone to my son, who simply replied, “I hate you!”

On the other hand, an industry friend recently complained about a necessary upcoming trip to a particular fabulous Caribbean island that, nevertheless, was just too hot during the summer.

“Boo hoo,” I said in jest, but we both knew that I “got it” and we traded our long-standing observation, when catching oneself saying something that might sound insane (or ungrateful) to others, that “we can only have this conversation with someone else in travel.”

That’s not to say that there isn’t the ever-present realization that travel is nice work if you can get it, and beats slogging it out in the cracker factory, but the travel part of travel can still be boring at best and arduous at worst. Delays are delays and being stuck in a conference room in tropical locales can be more torture than terrific when knowing what you’re missing outside the window (if there is one).

I once asked a colleague who worked for an Indian airline and was required to travel to India frequently how he liked the place. He replied that he didn’t know, never having got any further than the airport.

I have flown to Europe for the day (not fun when I was sick and my ears wouldn’t pop – in both directions). I went to Korea for a weekend, my body clock not knowing what to think.

On my last trip, I sprinted through Miami airport to make a short connection and thought I’d have a heart attack. And then waited out a three-hour delay on the return leg, finally arriving home at 3 a.m. In Peru, my flight was postponed at the gate at 2 a.m. – for 24 hours.

I have been on a plane that was nearly hijacked (and actually helped subdue the perpetrator).

Then there’s missed life events, many over the years – birthdays, graduations, weddings, Halloween when the kids were little. I almost missed one of their christenings when a cruise ship couldn’t make port in time for my flight home, and I once tallied that I had cumulatively missed a year of my son’s first decade on the planet in three- to seven-day increments. I cried at a conference after watching my dog be put down on Facetime.

This is not to complain – there could have been things much worse (such as being stuck in Europe for weeks after the Iceland volcano eruption, as some were – and some of the nonsense going on at airports today), and we’re lucky to do what we do. But it’s still nice to have someone to share the shite (however First World it may be), and the complaints, with someone who just gets it too.

Or, by the same token, to share the joys. My family, for example, generally doesn’t want to hear what a great time I had in Jamaica in January while they suffered in the cold in Canada (my sister in particular also “hates” me); or about the fabulous fun, food, and any number of amazing experiences that regular folk rarely, if ever, have.

But you can confide in a travel friend or colleague, with no pretension attached, because they’ve just as likely done, met, eaten the same, or better. (“I was just in Boston; well, I was in Bermuda). I’ve been to 80 countries, but I know people who have been to more. Indeed, I can still only aspire to joining the Travelers Century Club, an international organization for those who have hit 100.

So, with 199 official trips in the books, where will my 200th trip, and 81st country, be?

I’m not sure, but maybe we can talk about it!