THE WORLD IS HER HOME
Camille Dunn has been to 130+ countries but says the greatest is here: Canada
Determined to visit all 193 countries recognized by the United Nations, Camille Dunn meets every destination where it is at: Peaceful or war-torn, democratic or under dictatorship, welcoming or suspicious of tourists.
Recent trips to the Republic of Belarus and Kazakhstan in Eastern Europe were “awesome,” the Windsorite says. “I’m pretty proud of my first major accomplishment in my goal. To complete an entire 51-country continent is a pretty big milestone for me, especially as that was the first continent I started travelling in to begin with!”
Her call to explore began as a high school student, visiting Germany, France and Switzerland. Since then, Dunn has traveled to more than 130 countries.
Earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa followed by a bachelor of arts in education at the University of Windsor in 2003, she has been able to further her globetrotting ambitions with teaching engagements in local schools in England and New Zealand, as well as international schools in Ethiopia, Colombia and Oman. For the past seven years, teaching in Jordan in the Middle East has provided a jumping-off place for foreign jaunts.
Typically traveling alone – “because I go to places no one else wants to go to!” Dunn says – she enjoys sightseeing at her own pace and whim.
“But I’m only alone when I want to be.”
When she wants company, Dunn connects with hosts she meets through a couchsurfing website or sends a social media shout-out.
“Most big cities have Facebook pages where you can post a comment saying you’re in the city for a few days and asking if anyone wants to meet up. Oftentimes these are fellow expats living in a city who are happy to meet up, or locals who are very proud to show their city off.”
As a citizen of the world, Dunn volunteered at the 2004 Olympics in Greece. Providing spectator services, she sat on a lifeguard chair in the main Olympic complex and answered guests’ questions.
Nearby was the set for NBC TV. “Every morning, Matt Lauer would look over and wave to me. I got to meet him, Katie Couric and Al Roker,” says Dunn.
Befriended by the NBC crew, she attended their Olympics wrap-up party. “The Olympics was something super special. Seeing people from all over the world being so friendly with each other, so welcoming, was what you envision the entire world should be like.”
Not all experiences have been so positive for Dunn, although she encounters wonderful people everywhere.
About seven years ago, Dunn volunteered in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, giving a week of seminars on women’s and children’s rights, conflict resolution and the importance of volunteering. Approximately 20 “kind and hospitable” male and female Iraqis in their twenties participated.
“It was honestly very eye-opening about things that were ‘normal’ in their lives but humbling about how open they were to hearing an alternate side to things they were used to,” Dunn recalls.
With risks in all countries, she has had narrow escapes.
Being robbed at gunpoint while working at a bar in Australia “was an experience I could never have imagined could make me feel so terrified. It could have been a scene out of a movie,” she says.
A tracer bullet flew over Dunn’s house in a secure compound in Ethiopia during the 2005 national election. I was watching a movie, then heard a gunshot... then another... then another,” Dunn remembers. “That was pretty crazy.”
Emailing home about the Ethiopian strife, Dunn realized “no one had any idea of what I was talking about.”
She was “outraged” that people were under attack yet the story wasn’t being covered. “From then on, anytime I hear or see potential for trouble, I grab my camera and head there.”
Her vigilance has proved useful to the CIA.
Willing to working as a foreign correspondent or government field agent, the intrepid teacher plans to return – eventually – to Windsor.
“It will always be home, even if I’m not living there,” Dunn says. “Over the past few years I’ve dreamed of opening up a café/bar called ‘Bean There, Dunn That’ – full of travel memorabilia all over the walls and hanging from the ceiling and a menu comprised of names of cities and countries. If I do end up doing this, it will have to be in a place popular with tourists, as I envision them adding travel memorabilia to the walls as well.”
For Dunn, “my all-time favourite city is Sydney, Australia. To me, this place feels like ‘home’ (away from home – Canada will always be number one – as the maple leaf on my bellybutton ring can attest!). I’m the happiest there and enjoy it every time.”
Other beloved places are Guatemala, Jordan, Italy and most of Eastern Europe including Slovakia, Slovenia and Bosnia.
“I love Africa because people are so kind and welcoming there. Many of them don’t have much, but they’d give you anything they had if they know you needed it; we need more people in the world like this.”
Most of South America’s countries have felt Dunn’s footsteps. She spent 2014 touring Central America and the Caribbean.
Spinning the globe for her next destination, Dunn says, “Antarctica is quite high on the list, even though it won’t count towards my UN country total.”
Fluent only in English, Dunn’s Ontario accent has picked up international flavour. On visits to Windsor, “almost every person comments on my ‘accent,’” she notes.
We should all feel very fortunate to come from the greatest country in the world: Canada!
Now surrounded by more Canadians and Americans in her Jordan school, Dunn thinks “it’ll be interesting to see what people say when I go home this summer!”
When asked for travel advice, she cautions, “Don’t always expect things to be the same as they are at home.” Roll with frustrations over how things are done. “We can’t, and shouldn’t, enforce our ways on other countries.”
“However, I have to say that we should all feel very fortunate to come from the greatest country in the world: Canada!”