Jenna Pava … #FOMO

Jenna Pava has been to 181 countries

 

Hey now, I am your host, Ric Gazarian. I had the pleasure of meeting Jenna Pava at the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok, only to discover that we were also  (distant) neighbors in the city. This conversation offered another fantastic opportunity to dive into the story of a truly compelling traveler in our community. Jenna’s early life was marked by a tug-of-war between her birthplace in Russia and her new home in the United States, shaping a deep sense of resilience from a young age. Remarkably, her travel journey took two major turns for the better—both triggered by moments of disappointment when friends let her down. In this episode, we explore the transformative power of those experiences and much more as Jenna makes her way toward visiting all 193 countries.  

 

I would like to thank everyone for their support of Counting Countries, especially my Patrons.  You know them, you love them!  Bisa “fully nomadic” Myles, Ted Nims, Adam “one-away” Hickman, Steph “Phuket” Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Katelyn Jarvis, Philippe “BC” Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Phil “Marmaduke” Marcus, Sam Williams,  Scott Day, and Dana Mahoutchian for supporting this podcast.  You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries.  My patrons will hear extra content with Jenna that you will not hear and you can be part of our members only FB group.  

 

Also, please remember if you are interested in traveling to Papua New Guinea to partake in your own private Sing Sing to meet scores of tribes in an intimate setting, check out our friends Tribes of Papua New Guinea.  Reach out to me to learn more about this experience and how to get a 10% discount or look here website on the Show Notes.  And, we also have partnered with Ahmed and Aknaf in Iraq who offers monthly fixed date trips from Baghdad to the marshes.  

 

Remember to keep up to date with the Extraordinary Travel Festival by joining our Instagram and Facebook groups and signing up for the ETF newsletter on our.  ETF will be sometime, somewhere in 2026 around October/November, destination unknown.  

 

Jenna and I were in Krung Thep for this recording. Please listen in and enjoy.   

Thank you to my Patrons - you rock!! … Bisa Myles, Ted Nims, Adam Hickman, Steph Rowe, Simen Flotvik Mathisen, Ed Hotchkiss, Barry Hoffner, Katelyn Jarvis, Philippe Izedian, Gin Liutkeviciute, Sunir Joshi, Carole Southam, Sonia Zimmermann, Justine, Per Flisberg, Jorge Serpa, Phil Marcus, Sam Williams, Scott Day, and Dana Mahoutchian.

Be the first on your block to sport official Counting Countries apparel!  

 

    
And now you can listen to Counting Countries on Spotify! And Alexa!

 

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