Hello Lynx-lynx and welcome to the club!
My conception of Journey around the World is closest to Bookpossum's second post and Lynx-lynx - an open category minus any countries already chosen as indicated by the list HIMS made, and that's how it was explained it as an option on the categories poll. So each nomination could be from any author from a country not already on the list. As such, we need no build-up to it; it's ready to go on the first.
The other ideas are good as well but this category is already complex, and I think the other ways of doing it would be too difficult. Any which way, we'll still end up with a selection from a country we've never tackled before which is the point.
Is that good?