When applying for a tourist visa at an embassy for, say... 30 days, does that time start "ticking"?

For example; is you obtained a 30 day visa for a country 10 days away, does that mean by the time you arrive at the border you've only got 20 days left? Or does it start when you enter the country?

I'm sure some well traveled people can answer this question...

When applying for a tourist visa, I'm sure you're supposed to specify on which date you'll be entering the country, so the visa will start from that date.

My nan's been to Australia loads of times and I think that's how she said it works. Not entirely sure, though.

Oh, that's good. I've been worrying about it lately.

I think it's best to contact the visiting countries embassy or your "state department" (whatever the Australian equivalent is). Often a countries embassy has a FAQ page on their website that will alleviate any concerns.

What country are you going to? Usually its from arrival.

No country in particular, just planning.

Well you could always come here and get automatic residency

Also, in some places (such as Kenya) it's just as easy to fly in and apply when you get there. And for an Australian, there's a bunch of places where you don't actually need a visa (generally only for stays shorter than 90 days, and you'd have to check whether other restrictions fit with your plans); the Schengen area (in Europe), Canada, the UK, New Zealand, South Africa, and probably more. We also have reciprocal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_holidaymaker_visa#Australia with a bunch of countries, for which are restricted to 18-30 year olds (plus other conditions).

In other words, you picked the right country to be born in if you want to travel the world .

Thankfully there are so many countries that don't require Australians to have visas. But I eventually want to backpack around West Africa and the Middle East and pretty much every where around those places require visas.

But if you want to be smart about it, travelling to some safer, more familiar places (Europe or North America, basically) first would be the way to go. After that you should have enough of a handle on things that you'll be able to figure it all out yourself fairly easily.

On the other hand, I suppose that doesn't make for much of a hobby at this point .

If you're going to any place in europe that is in the EU, you wont need one, unless you're staying longer than three months, I think.

Visas can be a pain in the ass to obtain. Its best to check the sites of where you want to go to see if one is required.

Yeah the only countries in Europe that require visas are; Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.

It sounds stupid but my dream is to eventually visit every country in the world. All 196 of them.

Nothing stupid about having dreams. Have you thought about writing down your journey or even setting up a blog to track your progress, when you do set off? I'm sure there would be a lot of people who would be interested in reading about all those different countries.

That isn't stupid. I wish I could go to tons of countries just to try their food.

I have thought about maybe starting a blog when I'm visiting them.

I've been reading 2 blogs at the moment about going to every country in the world. If you're interested, Google:
Chris Guillebeau

And

The odyssey expedition.

If I ever do it I'll be sure to mention this forum somewhere...

Also, many countries require Visas if you're staying past a certain period. For example, I'm going to live in Germany for 2 months this summer for school, but since I'm staying under 90 days, I don't need a Visa. When I lived in Italy for 9 months, I did need a Visa. So it is, I imagine, with most Western countries.

Yup. Places which do have a visa-free period generally limit it to the length of a tourist visa. Another common condition (I haven't seen one without it) is for it to be no more than three months within a six-month period, so you can't just pop over the border and come back to another three months. In fact, it has the potential to alter one's travel plans significantly -- if you want to hang around The Netherlands for a couple of months then do the same in Switzerland, you'd have to get a visa for at least part of your stay in the second country (and you'd have to shorten it if they decide not to give you one).