Orla Phillips … A Travel Brochure

Orla Phillips has been to 172 countries Hey now, I am your host, Ric Gazarian. On this episode I have the pleasure to speak with Orla Phillips who I was fortunate enough to meet at the Extraordinary Travel Festival in Bangkok. Orla was inspired as a child to travel as she thumbed through travel brochures in her home. We trace her life as she leaves the Irish countryside to become a long term expat in Dubai. We discuss her transition from avid traveler to someone who is Chasing 193. And we learn about the tragic passing of her mother and why Portugal will be her last country to visit. 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, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Dana Mahoutchian, Mihai Dascalu and Ryan Knott for supporting this podcast. You can support this podcast by going to Patreon.com/CountingCountries. My patrons will hear the entire conversation with Orla. Please remember the next Extraordinary Travel Festival will be on October 22-25 in 2026. You can join the event and use code BANGKOK to save $110 for this incredibly packed event. We have great speakers like Jaime Aleman, who has completed the Grand Slam of Travel, every country in the world, both poles, and outer space. Consider joining our Instagram and Facebook groups and signing up for the ETF newsletter. Any questions, please let me know. We are also adding in a Travel Content Creation day at the ETF, where we will screen travel documentaries and host travel authors. Speaking about books, friend of the pod, Ildy Szabo has just published a new travel book. Congrats! The World Is Your Playground. You can purchase this book on October 7th for just 99 cents on Amazon. And remember to pick up a copy of the Impossible Journey by Thor Pedersen. The Impossible Journey (including Kindle on Amazon US - affiliate). I was in Bangkok while Orla was in Dubai 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, Sam Williams, Scott Day, Dana Mahoutchian, Mihai Dascalu, and Ryan Knott. 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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Orla Phillips … A Travel Brochure is an episode from Counting Countries by Ric Gazarian.

This episode is 01:30:50 long.

This episode was published on Oct 3, 2025.

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