Guy visits 198 countries in under 10 years, but is he missing the meaning of travel?

A lot of people consider Gunnar Garfors something of a travel spirit animal. At 37 years old, the Norwegian became one of the youngest travel hobbyists ever to visit every country in the world (the youngest, depending on what you consider a country). Garfors managed to do this in under 10 years, and all while holding down a full-time job. His book "198: How I Ran Out of Countries" has just been translated into English, and I'm scared it will inspire a new generation of travelers to see the world the wrong way.

Living in Europe gave Garfors the advantage of being able to take weekend trips to nearby countries. He also took a lot of marathon-style trips, like the time he visited five continents in one day. He set the Guinness world record for visiting 19 countries in 24 hours. Garfors believes you don't have to stay overnight in a country to say that you've been there. Here's his argument:

"I may have been to the same country 10 times in one year, never having stayed overnight. I may have traveled there very early in the morning, stayed there all day and had breakfast, lunch and dinner. I may have walked or jogged tens of kilometers, met a bunch of people, had work meetings, gone wild shopping and had way too many drinks, yet managed to leave the country by plane, car or train before midnight. Those who claim that I need to stay overnight to count a country will ignore everything I managed to do on those 10 visits, as exemplified above."

Fair enough, if you've visited ten times for full days. But how many countries did Garfors visit for just one afternoon?

I think encouraging people to collect countries like they're Pogs can create a slippery slope and people can forget why the wanted to travel in the first place. Instead of visiting a country to gain fresh perspective or to learn something new, travel can become more about another stamp in your passport or how many likes you get on your next Instagram post.

You can spend one night you'll probably forget clubbing in Berlin, but that doesn't mean you've learned anything about the cultural capital of Germany. Similarly, spending a single day in Mumbai will barely allow you to scratch the surface of the biggest city in one of the most complex countries on earth.

I do appreciate Garfors' adventurousness, and his dedication to complete a 10-year goal. That being said, it's important to remember that there's something to be said for slow travel too. It's all about the journey, not the destinations.