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7 Countries That Are A Breeze For Travelers And 5 That May Break Your Heart!
Some Countries Practically Roll Out the Red Carpet While Others Make You Fight for Every Step (and Sanity)!
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One minute I was breezing through immigration in Spain, practically handed a glass of Rioja with my stamp, excited to start the Camino de Santiago and wondering why everyone made international travel sound so complicated.
A few months later, I was stuck at the Polish-Ukrainian border, passport in a grim-faced officer’s hand, customs agents tearing through our humanitarian vans like we were smuggling gold.
That’s when it hit me: not all countries welcome you the same.
Some, like Spain, France, or Thailand, felt built for travelers.
Friendly locals, smooth transit and paperwork that didn’t involve post-Soviet-era bribes.
Others?
Total Expert Mode: Georgia, Albania, Ukraine (especially in the ’90s), where even catching a bus felt like solving a riddle.
After years abroad, I’ve learned: some countries roll out the red carpet.
Others roll you up in it.
Before you book that dream trip, give this a read.
It might save you from crying in a train station bathroom in Sofia.
What Makes a Country “Easy” or “Expert Mode”?
I think of countries like airports.
Some guide you effortlessly: clear signs, friendly staff, coffee everywhere.
Others? Total chaos.
No signs, no English, and someone yelling at you to fill out a form you’ve never seen… in triplicate.
So what bumps a country into Expert Mode?
- Transport: Metro system or unmarked minivans?
- Bureaucracy: Can you get a SIM card without your grandmother’s birth certificate?
- Language: Can you ask for a toilet without miming?
- Digital access: Online systems or…
