Up for nomination? Only those countries I have never visited.

I have been inside several I would like to see further … like Spain. I’ve done Barcelona but not Madrid.

But these 10 are “never been there at all, and changing planes in the airport doesn’t count”.

Let’s do them Letterman style, counting down, with the country I would most like to see listed last.

10. Finland. OK, yes, it’s dull. A Finn told me that a day ago. “It’s boring.” But I still want to see what must be a very crisp and clean and woodsy place. Helsinki, at the least.

9. Russia. This “want to go” is mostly about the Cold War. Well, and the Soviet Union. Getting inside the belly of the beast. This is a messed-up place, I’m pretty sure. But I may be doing a little something about getting there sometime soon.

8. Sweden. (See Finland, above, and sub in “Stockholm” for “Helsinki”.)

7. The Netherlands. Amsterdam, the canals, the little Dutch boy. Culture and scenery, compact, and tidy as can be. Or so I’m told.

6. Iceland. Have to really want to go to get there, all alone as it is, in the north Atlantic. But a couple of days rolling around the island, looking at volcanoes and thermal pools, and having a beer in Reykjavik …

5. Costa Rica. I’ve been talking about this for decades. “If I disappear one day, I might be in Costa Rica.” The most stable country in Central America, not expensive, beaches on the coasts, temperate weather in San Jose, in the mountains. Once got halfway there, got sick, turned back.

4. Portugal. Tiny country but a great influence on world events over the past 500 years. Scenic. Inexpensive. Why have I not been here?

3. The Czech Republic. Mostly to see Prague. I’ve been within driving distance of Prague a couple of times, and I have flown over it … never been on the ground there. Need to fix that.

2. New Zealand. Once changed planes in Auckland. That doesn’t count. I would like to see the place, mostly for the scenery. The Hawaii-like climate in the north and the Alpine stuff in the south. But this would have to be a serious trip. At least a week. Lots of driving, probably.

1. Chile. Yeah. Chile. I am fascinated with it, on a couple of levels. The geography, of course — the place is 2,600 miles long but only 217 across, at its widest point. I also am curious to see agriculture there, because in Southern California most winter fruits come from Chile. I like the notion of the wild, windy Straits of Magellan at the southern end of the country, the world’s driest desert (the Atacama) at the other, and the big cities between. Thing is, it’s a hassle to go there, and difficult to move around without more flights. (Not like you can wake up one morning in Santiago and decide to drive to the Atacama.) But I would like to go. For sure.

Honorable mention: Israel, Cyprus, Morocco, Bulgaria (no, really), Syria (once the shooting stops), Jordan, Egypt (if it ever settles down), Brazil.