Visited Countries guides

Every Visited Countries guide, grouped by topic, with the rules and the sources behind each answer.

How can I make a map of countries I have visited?
The three ways to make a countries-visited map — manual, live-tracking and photo-based — what a good countries-visited app should do, and how to keep the record private.
- What makes a travel map app private?
  A checklist for evaluating whether a travel map app relies on GPS, a cloud account, a social feed or a private on-device record.
- What makes a good travel map app?
  How to choose a travel map app when you want a useful record without treating every trip as social content.
- Can I keep a travel record without GPS tracking?
  A private alternative to continuous location tracking for people who want to reconstruct a travel history from evidence they choose.
- How many countries have I visited?
  A practical, personal way to count countries visited without pretending that one travel definition is universal.
- Is a digital scratch map app worth using?
  What a digital scratch map adds beyond a paper map, and the privacy questions worth asking before you build one.
- What is a countries-visited counter app?
  A useful countries-visited counter should let you keep a personal total, make corrections and stay clear about what the number means.
- A Polarsteps alternative that doesn't track you
  Polarsteps positions itself as an automatic trip tracker with an account. If you want the map without the live tracking and the cloud, here is a private alternative built from your photos.
- A private alternative to the "Been There" app
  Looking for the "Been There" app or a more private alternative? Here is how to map every country you have visited from the photos on your phone, with no account and no tracking.
- A world map of places I've been, built from my photos
  Make a world map of the places you have been straight from your camera roll, with no typing, account or location tracking. Here is what to look for and how the photo method works.
- How do I keep track of the countries I've visited?
  A countries visited tracker keeps a running record of where you have been. The most reliable ones let you correct entries and rebuild older trips from evidence you already have.
- How do I make a list of the countries I've visited?
  A practical way to build a reliable list of countries visited from stamps, photos and travel records, then keep it up to date.
- Which travel journal app keeps your memories private?
  Most travel journal apps store your trips in their cloud, behind an account. What to check before you commit, and how to keep the record on your phone instead.
- Visited-countries map with country names
  A visited-countries map with names labels each country you've been to, so the map reads at a glance. The ways to get names onto a map, and how to build one privately.