Allen Ginsberg was a true citizen of the world, at home wherever he travelled. Although he never actually left the United States – barely travelling more than a hundred miles from his place of birth – during his youth, in his early twenties he quickly learned the skills necessary to travel for long periods of time. He could be a typical tourist with guidebook in hand, buying souvenirs and clicking away with his camera, but he was also capable of journeying for years at a time, sleeping in fields, making friends with people from impossibly different backgrounds. He could communicate with people regardless of language and survive on little to no money. Everywhere he went, he brought his ideas to share, but also learned from all the people he met.

In my forthcoming book, I document the travels of Allen Ginsberg. It is a biography, but it only focuses on his life as it relates to travel. During two years of research, I have tried to pin down information about each and every journey he took, and below is a list of all the countries I can say for sure that he visited. There may be others, and if I do find them then I will add them. I have tried to put them in order of the first time visited, although I have not mentioned any dates. Certain territories have been included that are not actually countries, but are interesting enough to include. Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic are both included here because he visited both before and after the change.

List of Countries

  1. USA
  2. French West Africa (present day Senegal) [1947]
  3. Mexico [1951, 1953-54, 1956, 1965, 1968, 1981, 1982]
  4. Cuba [1953, 1965]
  5. Canada [1956, 1963, 1965, 1967, 1969, 1973, 1980, 1992]
  6. Morocco [1957, 1961, 1992]
  7. Spain [1957, 1992]
  8. France [1957-58, 1961, 1965, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1982, 1990]
  9. Italy [1957, 1967, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1990]
  10. Vatican City [1957, 1967]
  11. Austria [1957, 1992]
  12. Germany [1957, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1992]
  13. Holland [1957, 1973, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984]
  14. England [1958, 1965, 1967, 1973, 1979, 1982, 1985, 1990, 1992]
  15. Chile [1960]
  16. Argentina [1960]
  17. Bolivia [1960]
  18. Peru [1960]
  19. Panama [1960]
  20. Greece [1961, 1992]
  21. Israel [1961, 1988]
  22. Ethiopia [1962]
  23. French Somaliland (now Djibouti) [1962]
  24. Tanzania [1962]
  25. Kenya [1962]
  26. Pakistan [1962]
  27. India [1962-63, 1971]
  28. Sikkim (now an Indian state) [1962]
  29. Thailand [1963]
  30. Vietnam [1963]
  31. Cambodia [1963]
  32. Japan [1963, 1988]
  33. Czechoslovakia [1965]
  34. Soviet Union (present day Russia) [1965, 1985]
  35. Poland [1965, 1986, 1992]
  36. Wales [1967]
  37. Haiti [1970]
  38. Antigua [1970]
  39. Bermuda [1970]
  40. Virgin Islands [1970]
  41. Puerto Rico [1971]
  42. Fiji [1972]
  43. Australia [1972]
  44. Scotland [1973]
  45. Belgium [1976, 1979, 1982, 1984]
  46. Macedonia [1980, 1986]
  47. Croatia [1980, 1986]
  48. Serbia [1980, 1986]
  49. Hungary [1980, 1986, 1992]
  50. Switzerland [1980]
  51. Nicaragua [1982, 1986]
  52. Denmark [1983]
  53. Sweden [1983]
  54. Finland [1983]
  55. Norway [1983, 1992]
  56. China [1984]
  57. Georgia [1985]
  58. Lithuania [1985]
  59. Belarus [1985]
  60. Palestine [1988]
  61. Turkey [1990]
  62. South Korea [1990]
  63. of Ireland [1992]
  64. Northern Ireland [1992]
  65. Czech Rep (new country) [1990, 1992]

Map