I chased some DX in my early days of ham radio but didn't really get bitten by the "DX bug" until November, 1992. I'd just purchased a used Yaesu FT-101E and put up a 40 meter dipole outside my second-story apartment. The band was flourishing with DX at the time and I began to work it on 40 CW.

One day the thought occurred to me "I wonder how long it will take me to work 100 countries?" Armed with a copy of the DXCC Countries List which was several years old, I began to work DX with exuberation, keeping track of the countries I worked. It took me about 6 months to get my 100 countries. At the time, I had no Internet, no PacketCluster, and subscribed to no DX bulletins. It was entirely "tune the band, listen and call".