Okay, so I know we can't necessarily assume where each season will go based off of where it has gone in the past. Unfortunately, since we can't read the minds of the producers, this is exactly what we'll have to do in order to speculate where Season 33 will be going.
I think speculation for Season 33 will be unique in that - in my opinion - we can't really eliminate any specific continent from the running! Let's just start with speculation in terms of each continent:
Europe and Asia. Unless they pull something akin to Season 2, which I doubt, we will see visits to Europe and Asia. I don't think anyone will disagree here.
Africa. Since Africa was skipped in Season 32, I think it could be potentially fair game for Season 33.
Oceania. Yes, we are long overdue, and I think a visit in Season 33 is quite likely. Then again, we've been saying that for how many seasons now? (lol).
South America. To be fair, we did have 3 different legs in 3 different countries last season. However, South America was skipped in 30 and 31, and was featured in each of 26, 27, 28 and 29. Personally, I don't think it's likely, but having said that, I don't think we can completely eliminate it.
North America (not USA). This is the only continent that I'm skeptical about. North America has been visited in three of the last five seasons; however, keep in mind that, excluding season 8, North America has only been visited 7 times. I would completely welcome another leg here since it's so underused, but I don't think it's likely.
So, all continents are fair game this season! In terms of pinpointing countries however, I think this could make it a little difficult to speculate since all are fair game. However, I have noticed a pattern. Let's investigate this pattern:
With the sole exception of Season 20, every season from 19 to 32 has visited at least one country that has only been visited once:
- Taiwan (12 and 19)
- Panama (8 and 19)
- Indonesia (19 and 21)
- Bangladesh (17 and 21)
- Turkey (7 and 21)
- Botswana (7 and 22)
- Scotland (3 and 22)
- Portugal (3 and 23)
- Poland (11 and 23)
- Sri Lanka (6 and 24)
- Denmark (19 and 25)
- Philippines (5 and 25)
- Namibia (2 and 26)
- Peru (7 and 26)
- Zambia (1 and 27)
- Mexico (3 and 28)
- Greece (9 and 29)
- Iceland (6 and 30)
- Belgium (19 and 30)
- Czech Republic (15 and 30)
- Zimbabwe (27 and 30)
- Croatia (12 and 31)
- Colombia (28 and 32)
- Paraguay (20 and 32)
- Kazakhstan (13 and 32).
I think this pattern will continue for Season 33. Now, there's some countries that I don't think will be visited this time around. For example, I don't think we'll see Trinidad and Tobago again (for obvious reasons) or Burkina Faso (for safety reasons). But if I had to put my money on any specific countries to be seen again, I think Costa Rica, Uruguay, Ireland, Finland, Hungary, Tunisia, Ethiopia, or one of the Caucuses could be seen again.
In terms of new countries, I think the usual suspects - the ones that this community has been throwing around for several years now - are fair game as always: Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Andorra, a whole slew of Balkan countries, Cyprus, Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar, among others. I think these are all likely, but here's a few that don't get much attention:
Rwanda. Rwanda has really been trying to make itself stand out on the international stage. I recently watched a video on how Rwanda is trying to make itself "the Singapore of Africa." It's a safe country that has been trying to rebuild itself since the genocides. I think it would be awesome if the Race went here.
Algeria. I could actually see two legs here. Algiers and Oran are some beautiful Mediterranean cities that have loads of history and culture, which equate to a slew of possible challenges. Plus, it's quite safe.
Moldova. I know when people talk about new countries in eastern Europe, they almost exclusively talk about Belarus, with some side talk about Bulgaria or Latvia, depending on your definition of "Eastern Europe". However, I think a lot of people skip over Moldova, which is too bad. It's a beautiful country, with lots of history and scenery, and Chisinau would be a great anchor for a leg here.
If you're still reading, thank you! I know it's a long post, but I could analyze this stuff for days and I could say a lot more. Let me know what you guys think!