I did go back and have a look where I'd mentioned it and outlined what they are. Do you know what? I never did. I thought I had - and I figure I'll be referring to them in the future again, so it makes sense if I reference The Rules again that I provide a link to a post which states what they are. Welcome to that post!
So. The Rules came about as a conversation I had with Jeremy one day, where we were discussing what counts and what doesn't when you claim you have been to a place as sometimes, its not clear. After some thorough going over, we settled upon what we both thought was a robust, and thorough definition/guidelines which I have forever after referred to as The Rules.
The Rules are: That in order to claim a place, or country as having been visited or "been to", you must have left the means of transport, or transport terminal in which you arrived.
So if flying, you have to leave the Airport itself - being in transit does not count, and even entering the border for the country would not count unless you leave the airport terminal. Changing platforms at a train station also does not count - you need to exit the station. For a bus, its exiting the bus station or bus stop; for a car, it would simply be getting out of the car and wandering away from the carpark it is in. its just that simple. The Rules do not provide any kind of time requirement - having "been to" a place is not the same as having "seen" a place for instance, but it provides a handy and easy way justify what counts and what doesn't. It does however create a few "grey areas" because some things you might think count, don't; and other things you might think don't count, do.
Some examples from travels:
- Sasha and I recently flew into Geneva from Portugal, and flew out again to Berlin. We saw Geneva's pretty lake and mountains from the plane, saw the city from the aircraft and terminal windows. But we never left the airport - Geneva doesn't count.
- Similarly, Sasha and I both transited for 4 hours at Stavanger Airport in Norway, and 5 hours in Brussels Airport in Belgium. We might have ate local food, drank local beer and saw a lot from the airport terminal, but we never left it - so they don't count.
- At Lille in France, Sasha and I spent nearly 1.5 hours sitting on the Eurostar at the station, and a further 2.5 hours in the station before rebounding the train. We call it the "Ordeal at Lille", and involved a lot of queuing and wandering around the station. However at no stage did we leave the station - therefore, despite being a fairly notable (notorious) part of or trip, Lille does not count as a place we can say we have visited.
- Upon flying into Zurich for my first time, I left the airport terminal to go across the road to by some things at the supermarket before going back to the airport to catch my train. I was at the airport for no more than 1.5 hours, and in the supermarket for no more than 20 minutes. But because I left the airport terminal, Zurich counts.
- My train arrived late at Hannover Station and I missed my connecting train. I had to wait for the next train, and spent some of that 40 minutes wandering outside the station looking at the Christmas Market outside and some of the shops, before going back to the platform. Hannover counts because I left the station.
- On the bus to and from Oktoberfest from London, we had to hop off the bus at Dover and Luxembourg in both directions. At Dover, we hopped off in the ferry terminal area and visited some shops for approx 45 minutes, and we could see the white cliffs. At Luxembourg, we had to hop off so the bus for 30 minutes could refuel at the petrol station, so we went across to some shops and had a Dunkin Donut each. Dover does not count because we didn't leave the Ferry Terminal; Luxembourg counts because we left the terminal area and went to some nearby shops.
That last one, Luxembourg, is contentious between Sasha and I - Sasha does not count it, but I do. By the definition of The Rules, it counts - but by the barest minimum definition and only because the shops were not a part of the terminal but next to it. It was the middle of the night - we never saw anything of the city. This is an example of where I have "been to" somewhere, but not "seen" somewhere.
Most people try and suggest that there should be a time requirement or activity requirement - that on top of whats already outlined, you should have to be somewhere a minimum amount of time, or you should have done something like eat, drink or buy something. On the surface this seems reasonable, but drill down and this becomes problematic. How long should the time period be? I have heard suggestions anywhere from an hour, to half a day. For example, I visited Stonehenge - I spent an hour there. If your time minimum was an hour, then it counts. If it was half a day, then it doesn't count - even if I spent 2 hours at Stonehenge which would be more than enough. In fact, 30 minutes would be sufficient at Stonehenge - which is less than an hour. Suppose someone had only spent 30 minutes at Stonehenge, walked all around it, had their photo taken with it - would you dare suggest that "It doesn't count"? Maybe you might try and mitigate this by saying you have to spend at least an hour there OR you buy/eat/drink something for it to count. But what if there is nothing to buy, eat, or drink from that place? Stonehenge does have a cafe with a museum and souvenir shop nearby but this is a recent development. What about in the past where there wasn't one? What if you drop the time requirement and just have an eat/drink/buy requirement? That might work in most instances, except what happens if you spend 6 hours in a city and don't buy a thing? does that not count now? And bringing this last point back to Luxembourg - we did buy something to eat there (the donuts), so even if that was a requirement, we satisfied it.
Perhaps instead with the time requirement you split it somewhat. Half a day in a country for it to count, and a lesser amount of time in a place? Sounds reasonable again on the face of it. However, Sasha and I for instance visited Liechtenstein and we were in the country no more than 3 hours - definitely less than half a day. We were in Vaduz, the capital for about 2 hours so as a place, you could say that counts no matter what measure you put on it. But then we have a problem because we've visited Vaduz in Liechtenstein, but we can't claim to have visited Liechtenstein because we weren't in the country long enough - which is patently ridiculous (how can you have visited a place within a country, but not visited that country?). And does anyone dare suggest to my Mum that her visit to Neum in Bosnia, which would have involved a roughly 30 minute stop there does not count by any measure - that she can't claim Neum nor Bosnia as places or a country she's been to, even if say she brought an Ice Cream there? Its for these kinds of complexities why The Rules don't have any time or other requirements - they are too hard to quantify and do not reflect the reality of the fact that you were there, even if you stepped outside the station for 30 seconds you still walked on the ground in that place, in that country.
So, if I list a place and say I've been there, then The Rules is the criteria how it counts. Generally most places would count beyond most definitions, but it is handy to have a line in the sand for the tricky ones and in particular some definition for those transit situations and where they stand.
So those are the rules - take them or leave them, but they are how I define what counts and what doesn't!