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A man says he visited every country in the world — without stepping foot on a plane

Scott Simon

NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Torbjørn Pedersen, a Danish traveler who says he's visited every country in the world without flying.

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Take the high road: the man who visited every country in the world – without boarding a plane

At 34, Torbjørn Pedersen embarked on a seemingly impossible journey that would take 10 years – and involve cerebral malaria and being held up at gunpoint. He reflects on the highs, the lows and the joy of getting married en route

T orbjørn Pedersen has always dreamed of being a famous adventurer. He spent his childhood building dens in the woods, pretending to be his hero, Indiana Jones. Even as an adult, he couldn’t shake the sense that he was destined for greatness.

There was just one problem. “I was born at least 100 years too late,” he tells me over video call from his home in Copenhagen. “I had a profound feeling that everything had been done. The great adventures took place in the past. It was all over.”

Things reached a tipping point in 2013. He was 34 and had a successful career in shipping and logistics. He had just bought a flat and started a serious relationship. It was time to give up his childish dreams. Then his dad sent him an article about people who had travelled to every country in the world. “I didn’t know you could do that,” he says. “Certainly you would have to be a millionaire.”

But here were ordinary people walking, cycling and hitchhiking around the globe on shoestring budgets. Then came his eureka moment: “I discovered that no one had ever gone to every country in the world completely without flying [in one unbroken trip].” (A British man, Graham Hughes , has set foot in every country without flying, but took two breaks from the journey for personal reasons.)

Pedersen was already obsessed with world firsts: “The first to go to the north pole, the south pole, the deepest sea, the highest mountain, the longest river.” Now he had a chance to set a world record himself. “It was right in front of me,” he says, eyes gleaming. “It could be Ibn Battuta, Marco Polo … Thor Pedersen! I could do something of significance with my life, something worth putting in a book, something worth remembering. And it would be a great adventure!”

Pedersen spent the next 10 months planning the journey – the route, budget, what to pack – without ever making a conscious decision to go. It was only when he turned down an opportunity to work in South America that he realised he was fully invested in the project, as he had started to call it. He set himself three rules: at least 24 hours in each country; no visits home; and absolutely no flying. His list of countries included the 195 states recognised by the UN, plus extras such as Kosovo and Taiwan – 203 in total. He figured the journey would take him about four years. His budget was $20 a day, funded by savings, supporter donations and sponsorship. He would be acting as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross, raising awareness of its work in 199 countries and encouraging people to give blood. He also aimed to share something positive about every single country – “even the ones we hear horrible things about” – on social media.

What made him think he had even a hope of completing such an epic task? “I was born to do this.” Pedersen had lived in three countries by the age of seven – Denmark, Canada and the US – and spent holidays in a fourth, Finland (his father is Danish, his mother Finnish). “I was uprooted a lot as a child,” he says.

After school and business school, he completed military service and became a UN peacekeeper, stationed in Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti. But he says it was his first overseas logistics job after leaving the army that really shaped him. He went to Libya, then still under Muammar Gaddafi’s rule. “I can barely recognise the person who was sent to Libya and the one who came back,” he says. “I was green, lacking in self-confidence. I came back after two years with proper life experience.”

He started to work all over the world: in Bangladesh, Greenland, the Arctic Circle, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as Florida and a number of European countries. He also trained in humanitarian aid and volunteered at a homeless shelter.

His parents, who had divorced when he was 15, each reacted differently to his project. His dad was convinced he was throwing away a glittering career. Pedersen had to explain to him that this wasn’t an extended gap year; he would not be “sitting on a beach with long hair, playing a guitar and smoking something I shouldn’t”. His mum, who had taken a young Thor mushroom hunting and told him tales about trolls, accepted the idea. “I also like to travel,” was all she said.

It was a lot harder breaking the news to his girlfriend, Le. They had been together less than a year, and now he was going into self-imposed exile. “I have had previous experience with long-distance relationships and it’s hard. I was trying to warn her against it while wanting her to stay,” he says. They agreed to give things a go.

Pedersen left Denmark on 10 October 2013, heading first to Europe and then North America. “These continents were very easy in terms of logistics and bureaucracy,” he says. The difficulty in Europe was sticking to the budget. He got a rail pass that allowed him unlimited travel for a month, and travelled as quickly as possible within the 24-hours-per-country rule. “I lost about 10 kilos in the first month. I was skipping meals, I didn’t get a lot of sleep. I was so exhausted.” He realised that moving on so quickly was impossible and he settled on a minimum of three days in a country.

As he ticked off countries, moving into Central and South America and to the Caribbean, his “no flying home” rule began to bite. “My grandmother died and I couldn’t come back for her funeral,” he says. A close family friend also died. “He was on his bicycle and his heart stopped. That was someone I wasn’t expecting to lose.” Then there were friends who were struggling. “I have had people really close to me who experienced depression, and I wasn’t there. I had to weigh out: do they have enough support without me? Can I support them from a distance? Or should I be there with them?”

His relationship with Le wasn’t plain sailing either. “We had some rough patches and came pretty close to breaking up,” he says. “But we found a way to fix it. We paid more attention and she came to visit me more frequently. Things got a lot better.” So much so that on her 10th visit Pedersen proposed, on top of Mount Kenya, in a snowstorm. “I was so nervous and scared – what if she said no? But she said yes.”

That was one of the happiest moments of the entire journey. He also has a fond memory of being on top of a truck in the Republic of the Congo. “I was on this truck for two days, with 40 or 50 people. It was slow, super-dusty, really hot and unbelievably uncomfortable,” he says. “As the sun was setting, the woman next to me started banging her water bottle rhythmically. Then she started singing. Another woman joined her, and then a man, and suddenly the whole truck was singing. It was beautiful, powerful, emotional – one of those moments where you realise: you could not buy a ticket for this.”

It was also incredibly satisfying when he crossed a border that had felt impossible. “I genuinely felt pleasure every time I entered a new country. That high was the best feeling in the world.”

But if the highs were dizzying, the lows were devastating. “I was living a nightmare at times. There were hundreds of difficult checkpoints; I had to recover from cerebral malaria; I was held up at gunpoint many times,” he says. “I should have been dead. I should’ve quit even more times.”

There is one incident which haunts him, when he was stopped by drunk, armed, hostile men in military uniform in the jungle near the Cameroon/Republic of the Congo border at 3am. He recently relived the experience when filming a documentary. “Suddenly, I was back in that situation; my heart started racing and I had tears in my eyes. I feel it coming back again now,” he says. “I have trauma in my body that is buried so deep, I know I’m going to have issues with it at a later point. I need to find a way to deal with it.”

Did he come close to giving up? “Oh yeah. I realised that I had imprisoned myself. I was in physical pain, emotional pain, I had no motivation and it felt like the world couldn’t care less about what I was doing.” How did he find the strength to carry on? “I didn’t want to be a person who quits.”

Pedersen had been travelling for more than six years when he and Le set a date to marry in New Zealand. He was on his way to their wedding, via four days’ transit in Hong Kong, in March 2020. You can guess the rest: Covid hit, the territory locked down and he didn’t leave Hong Kong for two years. She was back home in Denmark, but after they married online she managed to get a spousal visa and visit for 100 days, after restrictions had eased. The couple later had a ceremony on a beach in Vanuatu in the South Pacific.

Le visited him 27 times, but they still spent nine-tenths of their time apart. He puts the survival of their relationship down to trust and honesty. “I trust her and that gives me peace. And she knows she can trust me. If that trust isn’t there, it will poison the relationship,” he says.

He kept fit on the road by doing 30 push-ups and a one minute plank every day, and running when he could. Where did he most enjoy the food? “I had laksa for the first time when I got to the Malay area and it blew my mind. I had some really good food in Peru as well. In central Africa, you would get grilled fish on the roadside with some manioc (cassava), onion and a secret sauce … It was fantastic.”

And the worst? “Take your pick. I had snake, dog, horse, camel, a variety of different insects, cow’s skin, which was really gelatinous. The worst could be goat’s brain in Nigeria; I didn’t care much for that. Nigeria had amazing food too, though, such as suya – they cut meat into small strips, barbecue it, pour chilli on, add small pieces of onion, and serve it like fish and chips on newspaper with a toothpick.”

It’s unusual for someone completing a flight-free challenge to talk so little about the environment. Was he conscious of travelling sustainably? “The environment wasn’t a motivation, but I am very proud to look back at a project like this and say my carbon footprint was at a minimum,” he says. “In 2013, the climate debate wasn’t at all what it is today. I think people should definitely limit flying when they can.” Pedersen is open about his willingness to fly in the future – and, of course, he benefited from family and friends flying to visit him.

But overland travel has become more difficult, he says, thanks to increased border security, stricter rules on container ships and disappearing ferries. He gives Iran as an example. “They were perplexed that I wanted to enter overland when they have international airports where you can get a visa on arrival. It took me a good three weeks to get one.”

Travel has changed in other ways, too. “Twenty years ago, when I travelled in south-east Asia, you would wave down a tuk-tuk auto rickshaw and negotiate a price. These days, you use an app. The world is super-super-connected.”

As the end of his journey approached, he struggled. It had taken far longer than planned – nearly 10 years – and, he says, he experienced “burnout and had seen what is on the other side. I felt nothing when I reached the last two countries. Nothing at all. The smiles that I posted online were fake.” He chose a slow, 33-day voyage home from the Maldives to prepare himself. “The last three days, coming towards the port of Aarhus, I have never had more doubt in my life: ‘What if no one cares?’”

He walked down the gangway on 23 May 2023 to find his wife, father, two sisters, assorted journalists and 150 well-wishers. “People had come from abroad to be there because they wanted to witness history. There was so much love and support.” He says his reception was “ace”, but perhaps after a decade away, it could never be enough. “It could have been tens of thousands of people, you know, but it was 150 people and it was nice and positive and good.” He pauses. “And then my doubts came back. But I’m starting to figure things out now.”

What big lessons did he learn on his travels? “We are far more similar than anyone would ever believe. But we are so quick to see the differences.” Most people, he thinks, are good. “Chances are if you need help, and it is not too costly to them, people will help you. There are very few people who actively want to harm you. I can definitely say that I had help and support from someone in every country in the world.”

Still, he was more optimistic about the future of humanity before the pandemic. “And then I saw rich people buying up all the vaccines. There are still a lot of countries that are just getting their Covid vaccines now. That breaks my heart.” Power and money can corrupt anyone, he believes.

If anything, his quest to become a heroic explorer has taught him to rely on others. “The solution is not necessarily in you. A lot of solutions in life are found through other people. If you feel you have reached the end of the line, you just haven’t met the right person yet,” he says. “You might have to try 1,000 closed doors, but there is always an open door somewhere. Never, ever give up.”

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He visited all 195 countries without flying. It nearly broke him.

Torbjorn Pedersen packed a suitcase with a few necessities in 2013 — shirts, jackets, shoes, a first-aid kit and a laptop — excited to begin a historic journey.

Pedersen hoped to become perhaps the first person to visit all 195 countries without flying. He figured he would return home to Copenhagen in four years as a record holder.

But Pedersen recently walked off a boat in Denmark, having completed his objective six years later than anticipated and feeling fortunate to be alive. Pedersen said he ventured about 260,000 miles via cars, trains, buses, taxis, boats, shipping containers and his own feet.

Pedersen, 44, said he encountered hundreds of challenges, including visa problems, war zones and near-death scares, but he finished with a reformed confidence in himself and in the world.

“I feel well above my age coming out of this,” Pedersen said. “This could be 50 years of life experience crammed down to 10 years.”

In January 2013, Pedersen read an article about tourists who had visited every one of the world’s countries. Pedersen had built a career shipping products and planning construction projects worldwide, and he had recently started dating. But he wanted to set a travel record, so he started to plot a route that would take him around the world without flying.

Pedersen said he received funding from a Denmark geothermal energy company that took an interest in his endeavor, and he withdrew thousands of dollars from his savings account and took out loans.

In October 2013, Pedersen said, he began his travels by riding a train from Denmark to Germany. He said he spent at least 24 hours in every country, where he often rented a bed in a dormitory or a hostel or found a host on the app Couchsurfing . He aimed to spend about $20 per day.

Traveling Europe was the easiest part of his voyage. Pedersen encountered his first hurdle when he said he couldn’t find a boat to take him from Norway to the Faroe Islands in December 2013. After about three weeks, Pedersen said, a shipping company let him on board.

“That kind of stuff seemed hard at the time,” Pedersen said. “But that’s child’s play compared to what I had coming.”

In May 2014, Pedersen said, he rode a boat in poor conditions from Iceland past icebergs during a storm. Before the boat arrived in Canada 12 days later, Pedersen said, he thought it would crash and sink.

In June 2015, Pedersen said, he was diagnosed with cerebral malaria at a Ghana clinic. He said he believed he was infected by the parasite about two weeks earlier in Liberia, where he said he slept outside a gas station. Pedersen said he hallucinated and temporarily lost his ability to perform simple tasks, such as writing. Even after about two weeks of treatment, Pedersen said, his hands shook for nearly three months.

But other moments reminded Pedersen why he started his voyage.

In the Republic of Congo in October 2015, Pedersen said, he sat on the back of a truck with about 50 people as they traveled on a dirt road. At one point, a woman began banging a water bottle against her hand and singing. Within seconds, everyone on the truck was singing together.

Still, Pedersen grappled with thoughts of quitting around that time. He was exhausted and lonely and felt people weren’t taking his mission seriously.

His perseverance only diminished in January 2016, Pedersen said, when he was traveling through an African jungle at night and encountered a group of men drinking and dancing to loud music. When they spotted Pedersen, he said, three men pointed guns at him and asked what he was doing. Pedersen thought he was seconds from dying.

The men let him go, Pedersen said, but later that month, a man fell asleep while driving him and seven others in Cameroon. The car started drifting off a dirt road and approaching a cliff when Pedersen said he jumped from his seat and grabbed the wheel.

Still, the kindness of other people kept Pedersen motivated. While Pedersen said his visa requests to some countries were denied for months, he found taxi drivers or mutual friends who were residents of those countries to drive him there.

Pedersen visited South Sudan in November 2016, almost three years into the country’s years-long civil war. He was terrified as he watched buses being shot at and passengers attacked, he said.

But it wasn’t long before the pendulum swung the other way. Later that month in Kenya, he made one of his best life memories when he proposed to his visiting girlfriend, Le, atop Mount Kenya.

As he chronicled his travels on social media , Pedersen said, people offered to host him and buy him beer when he visited their countries.

People often asked Pedersen how he would visit North Korea, but he said he was able to book a trip to the totalitarian country with a tour group. In March 2019, he and the group rode a train into North Korea from Beijing. The country was the only one to brief visitors on its guidelines, such as not taking pictures or dancing in front of government buildings, he said.

Pedersen experienced one of his favorite memories in October 2019 in the Solomon Islands. The electricity was out, and a resident asked him whether he had any movies on his laptop. About an hour later, about 80 people were sitting around his computer watching “The Thin Red Line.”

Pedersen said he noticed commonalities among people worldwide. Everyone was discussing “Game of Thrones” when it aired in the 2010s. People played soccer and fiddled with fidget spinners and shared their opinions on Donald Trump in almost every country, Pedersen said.

In March 2020, Pedersen said, he arrived in Hong Kong with nine more countries to visit. Then the coronavirus pandemic struck and suspended international travel. Pedersen said he was able to get a job at a church that provided him housing.

“There’s no legit answer why I didn’t quit,” Pedersen said. “I should’ve quit many times.”

After living in Hong Kong for nearly two years, Pedersen said, he went to Palau in January 2022. In October, he and his fiancée got married in Vanuatu among palm leaf decorations and hearts etched into the sand.

In May, Pedersen said, he arrived at the final country, Maldives. A few days later, he said, he began a two-month sail across multiple oceans to Denmark. About 150 people — family members, friends and social media followers — greeted Pedersen on Denmark’s eastern coast on July 26.

Back in Denmark, Pedersen is searching for a new identity. He was timid a decade ago but now hopes to give speaking engagements about his voyage across the world and write a book. Other than that, he just wants to go somewhere quiet where he can process what he learned over the past decade.

While reflecting last week, Pedersen said the mundanity of people’s lives has stuck with him.

“People are just being people everywhere,” he said.

A previous version of this article incorrectly said that cerebral malaria is a virus. It is a parasite. The article has been corrected.

Danish traveller Thor Pedersen completes 10-year round-the-world journey without flying

After almost a decade of travel, a Danish man has become the first person to visit every country in the world in an unbroken journey without flying.

44-year-old Torbjørn "Thor" Pedersen set off in October 2013 on an ambitious mission he expected would take four years.

He arrived at his 203rd and final country – the Maldives – on board a container ship on Tuesday, marking the end of a 3,512-day adventure.

"In a way, this has just been a huge sociological experiment and a success at that," Mr Pedersen told the ABC.

"Because I cannot remember a country I've gotten to where I did not receive some sort of kindness or support from people."

The United Nations recognises 195 sovereign states — but Mr Pedersen has included other disputed territories in his tally.

He spent at least 24 hours in each country, travelling by foot, car, bus, train and boat — including 37 container ships.

"At this point, for me, getting on board a container ship is not much different from getting onto a city bus," he laughed.

"I rank among the 150 most-travelled people in the world."

Mr Pedersen said while others had visited every country using planes, or broken up the journey by flying home and later resuming it, he was the first to do so entirely without flying and in a single, continuous voyage.

The project – dubbed Once Upon A Saga – has been tested by bureaucratic and logistical issues, civil unrest and unexpected hurdles like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.

"This is something which has never been done before, so it has been hard to foresee everything that would be coming my way," Mr Pedersen said.

"I am proud that I never gave up throughout all of this. I am proud that I was able to show the strength that was required."

The traveller was stuck in Hong Kong for two years during the COVID-19 pandemic and considered abandoning the project.

"This was before we had the vaccines, we didn't know where it was heading, we didn't know how dangerous it was. And it was just taking up more and more time," he said.

While his plans were paused, Mr Pedersen married his long-term girlfriend Le, who visited him 26 times throughout the project.

When the world opened up again, he took a ship to Australia, arriving at the Port of Townsville in April 2022 and staying in the country for almost two months.

His budget for the project was just $US20 a day, financed through personal savings, corporate sponsorships and crowdfunding.

Tens of thousands of people have followed his journey on social media.

"Every time I look at a world map now or a spinning globe, I'll look at it and I'll think, there's someone kind and helpful in each and every one of those countries, and I came across them – and what are the odds of that?" he said.

After starting out his travels "starry-eyed", Mr Pedersen said he finished the mammoth journey feeling "exhausted, especially mentally".

"Although there has been a lot of pain and disappointment, there has just been a great deal of knowledge and beauty and great experiences throughout all of this," he said.

He believes his achievement – reaching every country in a single journey without boarding a plane – might never be done again.

"It got harder as I went along," he said.

"More and more ferry connections disappeared and were replaced by aeroplanes, I think border crossings got far more strict, and it's getting almost impossible to come on board container ships as a passenger."

After spending some time unwinding in the Maldives, Mr Pedersen will return home to Denmark for the first time in nearly a decade – also without flying.

"Once I'm home, it's going to be about friends and family, and also just taking a deep breath and realising that [I'm breathing] Danish air for the first time in a very, very long time," he said.

"And who knows, it might not be too late for my wife and I to start a family, so if we can get that ball rolling as well, then there's an adventure hidden somewhere within all of that."

Mr Pedersen has spent the past four years working on a feature-length documentary and plans to publish a book about his travels.

He also wants to get back into marathon running and participate in races across the globe.

"It's a lot easier to deal with running for four hours than it is to go through 203 countries over nine years and seven months – but I do see the parallels," he said.

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Thor has visited 196 countries in a single journey but hasn't flown once.

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Sal Lavallo Visited All 193 Countries. So We Asked Him 193 Questions

By Louis Cheslaw

All products featured on Condé Nast Traveler are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Sal Lavallo, at 27, is one of the youngest people to have visited every country in the world. It’s a feat most people would never think to dream of, let alone conquer, but that’s just what Lavallo did when, a few years into work as a consultant, he realized he already had a considerable number under his belt. With some strategic financial planning (including a seemingly inexhaustible supply of Marriott Rewards points from his work trips) he could make it to all 193, sharing stories along the way on Instagram @SalLavallo .

It felt a waste to simply ask Sal for his travel tips when the man has seen so much. Instead, we asked him as many questions as there are countries. Enjoy.

1. How did this happen? I studied economic development, a path that brought me all around the world, first for research and then for my career. In January 2016 I decided to leave work for what I thought would be six months of travel, which became a year. At the end of that year I decided to go for it, and take one more year off to see them all.

2. Where did you start? My first trip was in 2004 to Japan and China with my father. I’ve since returned to China twice, but that’s still my only Japan trip! I want to go back.

3. And finish? I had my finale in Malta. It was the perfect spot—I was hosted by Le Meridien , and my parents and a handful of friends came along. We had the best time exploring, learning about the country, and celebrating!

4. Very important: What country has the best bread? German bread absolutely is the best. From dark to light, tough to fluffy, I love all types.

5. Ever intentionally miss your flight? I enjoyed my time in Iraqi Kurdistan so much that I stayed twice as long as I expected.

6. To quote an American author, a supposedly fun thing you’ll never do again? I loved some of my more epic long journeys by public transport in Africa, but if I never get on another 24- or 36-hour bus ride, I think I’ll be okay.

7. Best internet connection? It surprises a lot of people, but actually Kenyan data is faster than in the U.S.!

8. Where's your family based? My parents are in Indiana and my two sisters are in Texas, while my extended family is split among Germany, Italy, and Argentina.

Reunited with the parents in Malta, the final stop.

9. Were they supportive? They always said “Be careful,” but they never said, “Don’t go.”

10. Where were you saddest? Wherever the normal young guy stuff hit me—breakups, disappointments, perceived failures, etc.

11. Where could you really feel the political situation? Actually, it’s so charged in America right now that every time I come back it hits me. I was also in Israel when Palestine was requesting U.N. recognition, and in Venezuela during Chavez’s last campaign.

12. Where was the biggest food portions? Italy and Argentina. I have family in both, and always leave heavier.

13. How about the smallest? Northern European countries focused on healthy eating…

14. Favorite attraction no one knows about? Iskanderkul in Tajikistan—a stunning, calm mountain lake a few hours of gorgeous driving from Dushanbe.

15. How did you keep your money going? By always planning ahead.

16. Were you ever in a war zone? I’ve visited war-torn countries, but I always found the safest areas and ways to have a fulfilling time while being protected.

17. Best word you learned? "Tuko pamoja" is a Swahili word popularized in Tanzania that means “We are together,” and is often used to show solidarity and connection. When someone is providing help, they will say "tuko pamoja."

18. Best tap water? In Scandinavia—Norway and Iceland especially.

19. Packing tip? Always put each thing in the exact same spot. That way you’ll get used to what your finished case should look like, and quickly know if something is missing.

20. Were you ever in the middle of a news story? I was in Bagan, Myanmar , during the 6.8-magnitude earthquake there in 2016. Many of the temples we had just been visiting were damaged.

21. Celebrity sightings? I performed with Marina Abramovic in Norway at the opening of a piece in Oslo. We just happened to be there and after she and a few Norwegian artists performed, she walked up to me and asked me to as well!

All smiles at Turkmenistan's Darvaza gas crater, known also as the 'Door to Hell.'

Hannah Towey

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Jessica Puckett

Steph Koyfman

22. How has religion affected your travels? Faith is paramount in my life. Travel itself is important in Islam—it’s mentioned more than 25 times in the Quran. We are encouraged to seek out the divine wonders all around us in nature and in relationships with others. There’s almost no better way to explore these things than by exploring the world and its people.

23. Would you attend prayer ceremonies in different countries? Yes, prayer is inherent to my days and I always love seeing the ways that people around the world participate. I’ll seek out and observe any spiritual ceremony, and I’ll participate actively in Islamic prayers. I think I’ve prayed in mosques in nearly every Muslim-majority country, and many others as well.

24. Did religious requirements affect how you planned your days? I fast for the month of Ramadan, but it’s not meant to alter your routine, so I try to go about my days normally. However, if any of the struggles of fasting (hunger, thirst, clear-headedness) are overpowering I would just relax. If there’s exhaustive travel during Ramadan, you’re excused from the fast and can make it up at another time.

25. What’s an item of clothing you remember? I was on a small boat from Belize to Guatemala. There was an elderly man in front of me who insisted on standing for the entire bumpy ride. As he stood there, my eye level was at his waist and I noticed his belt had the name “Michelle” carved into it. I spent the trip wondering who Michelle might be.

26. Coldest place? I had a reservation at an Ice Hotel in Romania where even the beds are made of ice. We arrived but only made it a few hours before realizing we’d prefer warmth!

27. Hottest place? I live in the UAE and in the summer the average temperature is well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and will often get to 122 degrees Fahrenheit. We mostly just stay inside with the A/C on blast.

28. I didn’t know this country existed until I went: When I first heard about Kyrgyzstan I spent a whole day researching it and was blown away by the beauty. I vowed to go and it was one of my first 30 countries.

29. Best place to dance? I have a few: to soca music in Trinidad , in East Africa for line dances—or the nightclubs in Berlin or Paris.

30. Most interesting seat mate? In Tanzania I’ve been given random babies to hold while on overcrowded buses. They’re surprisingly unfussed to be held by a stranger.

Sal with one of the "unfussed" children in Tanzania.

31. Biggest travel screw up? The day before I moved to Mumbai, India for a whole summer I was told that it was monsoon season. I had no raincoat, and hate rain…

32. Something you could have never expected to see? While high on a mountain in Iraqi Kurdistan we saw smoke coming from the Battle of Mosul. It had just begun—we were praying for a quick end.

33. Something you’re sorry to have not seen? I was supposed to be in Juba, South Sudan in 2011 on the day they were granted independence, but the border shut and we were unable to enter.

34. Most memorable flight? Flying to Angel Falls in Venezuela , I had to go on a tiny four-person plane, where I was sat in the co-pilot’s seat. It was so cramped that my leg kept hitting the dashboard instruments. I was nervous I would mess something up!

35. Check or carry-on? Carry-on.

36. Biggest delay? I had to extend my trip in Algeria for three weeks while waiting for my Libyan visa.

37. Longest layover? I once couldn’t exit the airport in Abu Dhabi for 15 hours because I had brought the wrong passport (without my residency permit). I just slept in the lounge and watched movies.

38. New bands discovered along the way? During that delay in Algeria I learned a lot of French-Algerian rap by Damso, Algerino, and Mister You.

39. Some great art you saw? I went to the Arles Photo Festival in France in 2016 where one of my friends, Sarah Waiswa , was exhibiting and actually won the top prize.

40. A particularly memorable haircut? I once dyed the top of my head blond before a big trip. It was interesting how it was received in each place: In Ireland and France they thought it was cool, and asked if I was a footballer. In Algeria, I was told it was strange and made me instantly foreign, and before I even arrived in Libya I was told by my hosts to shave it off as it wouldn’t be well accepted there… It goes to show that there is not one “cool,” or even one “normal”!

41. Best purchase? My Kindle. I love reading, but lugging around so many books would be awful.

42. Worst purchase? Umbrellas. They’re a pain to carry, rarely used, and always break.

43. Most unusual places you slept? In the Brazilian Amazon, I was working with the indigenous Wapixana tribe and slept in hammocks in the same room as the chief. I also camped by a huge gas crater in Turkmenistan, and on top of a volcano in the Congo…

44. Most comfortable? At the Sheraton in the Maldives, looking directly out at the sea from a water bungalow, curled up next to someone I loved, waiting for breakfast in bed.

45. A conversation you remember? While traveling on public transport in the forest region of Guinea, I shared the tiny front seat with a guy my age. He was from Liberia and was on his way to Libya, trying to get to Europe. He had no passport or papers, and at the borders he would get out and illegally sneak around. We bonded over the journey, complaining of discomfort in the tiny seat we shared, and the normal things guys anywhere discuss (Ronaldo vs. Messi, when we think we’ll marry…). For the 24 hours we were together doing the same thing, but in reality our situations couldn’t have been more different. It still blows my mind to how easy it is to connect with people who live totally divergent lives if you both have the right attitude.

46. A beautiful sunrise? Every day I was on Tuvalu in the Pacific, I would wake up and watch the sunrise across the huge flat expanse of the Pacific. True paradise.

47. A great friend you made? Flying into Nauru I befriended a man who worked there. It was near Christmas and I was traveling alone, so he invited me to his Christmas party, gave a worker the day off to guide me around the island, made sure every day I had a new person to enjoy dinner with, and even loaned me money to settle my hotel bill when all the ATMs stopped working!

Keeping fit in Nairobi, Kenya.

48. Default travel outfit? I’m almost always in a white T-shirt and Real Madrid soccer shorts.

49. What shoes did you wear the most? My Havaianas.

50. A good deed someone did for you? The Royal Omani Police saw at the land border that I was in need of help. They shooed away some conmen, gave me tea and local sweets, put a place out for me to sleep, bought me dinner, and found someone to drive me (for free) to a city three hours away.

51. A good deed you did for someone? I used to run a small NGO, Trail of Seeds, and am very proud of the grants we gave to promote Culturally Inclusive Development in farming communities in Tanzania, St. Kitts, Venezuela, and Brazil.

52. First story from your travels you’d tell on a date? I’d tell how I fell in love with a village in Tanzania, learned the language, bought a farm, and return every year.

53. A story you would never tell on a date: I never like to tell stories that reflect negatively on a place, so I would never talk about being in danger, even though some people find that exciting to hear.

54. Most interesting clothing you saw on strangers: The day I visited the harbor in Sierra Leone the men worked in the nude as they were dealing with boat grease and water and it made more sense than to ruin their clothing.

55. A great gift you received? Always food—because it only weighs down your luggage until you eat it.

56. A gift you gave? I gave my family an uncensored copy of my journal from my first year of full-time traveling, to more fully understand my thoughts along the way.

57. Where do you keep all the stuff you accumulate? At one point I had stuff at the houses of almost 10 friends spread out on four continents. Now it’s nearly all with my parents in Indiana. A few things are left in the UAE, though.

58. Hardest country to get into? I was shockingly lucky and never had a visa denied, transport canceled, or anything else preventing me from entering. Even traditionally hard ones (Angola, Turkmenistan, Libya) worked out for me. I did have to wait longer than expected for my Libyan visa, but I can be patient.

59. Tips for winning over tricky customs officials? Always have a big, genuine smile and never, ever lie. If you’re asked for a bribe, just involve as many people as possible and the shame will make them back down.

60. Something you always lose? Phone chargers. I’m always leaving them everywhere.

61. How many passports do you have? I’ve had six throughout my life, usually two at once—they’re all quite full.

62. Did you ever lose one? I thought I lost one for a few months once, but ends up my ex-girlfriend just hadn’t looked hard enough for it. Maybe on purpose…

63. The longest you went without sleep? Once I reached Malta, my final country, I think I slept 10 hours over five days. I was just so happy and excited to celebrate with family and friends!

64. What were the most satisfying meals? Nothing beats a home-cooked meal after arriving in a new country. In Nablus, my friend’s family greeted me with a huge spread that had all been grown in their garden. In Calabria, my aunt greeted us with a huge bowl of rigatoni and local tuna. In Argentina, I had five asado barbecues in three days as I was the “guest of honor” in each new place.

65. A skill you learned? Traveling is better if you can: ski or snowboard, ride a horse, scuba dive, or ride a bike well. The number of experiences these open up are endless.

66. A window view you won’t forget? I used to spend one night per week at the Four Points in Dubai, where the view of the skyline and the Burj Khalifa were amazing to wake up to.

67. How do you prepare for a new place? I’ll contact a friend from there and ask about places to eat, interesting art to see, and try to meet up with them or someone they know to get the local experience.

68. Best train station? The metros in Moscow are stunning with their art and cool being so deep into the ground. I also love the view of the cathedral pulling into Cologne central station in Germany, the city where my grandfather is from.

With friends at a yurt in Mongolia.

69. Biggest life event you missed out on back home? I didn’t go to my university graduation ceremony because I had graduated early and was already working. On the big day I was sitting in an office in Egypt.

70. Most artistic city? Berlin’s art scene is always evolving and never boring.

71. Friendliest people? Algerians, Timorese, Syrians, and Tanzanians jump to mind, but you can find friendly people everywhere!

72. Where were you happiest? On the farm I own in Tanzania, or while with loved ones at home in Abu Dhabi.

73. Can you tell us the story of the farm? The first project of Trail of Seeds, the NGO I ran, was in a village in Tanzania. We stayed most of the summer and quickly fell in love with the people and life there. I returned the next year to check on our grants, and once again felt a deep connection to the place. I wanted something tangible there, to show my love and keep me coming back, so I decided to buy a small farm. A dance-and-theatre cultural troupe I had been supporting does the farming, and uses any proceeds to fund their activities.

74. When were you the most sick? In India I got such bad food poisoning I thought I’d have to cut my two-plus-month visit short after only a few weeks. Luckily I got better before any decision had to be made.

75. When were you the most homesick? I left home at 16 but maintain daily contact with my family—being away is now the norm. Home can be anywhere there’s someone you love.

76. How did you choose the order of your trips? Mostly it was based on where I was working or doing research. Then, once I was traveling full time, I just picked where friends were having events or the places that most excited me.

77. Did you miss working? Definitely. I like suiting up and going into meetings and feeling like I’m having an impact.

78. Longest stay? I’ve lived in the UAE and used it as my base for the last 6 years. But I also spent more than two months in 15 of the countries!

79. Shortest stay? A few tiny spots in Europe where I didn’t sleep: Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Monaco.

80. The place that looks the most like it does on Instagram: I barely edit my shots, so anywhere that you see on @Sallavallo!

81. Where were you most at ease? The UAE is home, it’s safe, it’s comfortable—I always feel happy and calm there.

82. A local food spot you’d fly a friend to: To phenomenal camel barbecue in Chad.

83. Typical breakfast on the road? I’m platinum with SPG/Marriott Rewards, so I always get free huge buffet breakfasts….that means a big pot of green tea, a bowl of muesli, another full of fruit, a large egg-white omelette with mushroom, spinach, and tomato, and some potatoes.

84. A city you never made it to but wish you had: Some close by places that I’ve somehow not explored: I’ve never been to Mexico City, Montreal, or Toronto!

85. A book that takes you back? Tim Butcher has a handful of fantastic memoirs from his adventures in Africa: Chasing the Devil about Sierra Leone and Liberia definitely bring me right back there.

86. Most rewarding walk? I got food poisoning halfway up the Nyiragongo Volcano in D.R Congo, but everyone helped and encouraged me and I made it to the astonishing view!

87. Perfect beach? On Grenada in the Caribbean I found beaches that I had entirely to myself.

88. Airline of choice? Etihad 100 percent—if I could, I would only fly with them.

89. Ever miss a flight? Never missed one, but it’s often been close, whether because of torrential downpours in Burkina Faso, Eid traffic in Syria, or my own laziness in Saudi Arabia.

90. An opinion you once had that's been changed by travel? My views on economic development have been entirely altered by my first-hand experiences. From small-scale community work to enormous projects with the largest foundations and government aid organizations, I’ve seen a huge amount of the social sector. I now think the best way to achieve my desired impact is through building good private sector firms.

91. Were you ever disappointed? I once had a two-week trip planned with my best friend around Southeast Asia (Myanmar, Bali, and East Timor) but bad weather prevented her from coming. That was disappointing, but it turned into a great solo trip with plenty of self-reflection and new friends made along the way.

92. Were you ever bored? There was always something new to see and learn.

Sal in Iraq.

93. Did you ever lose your bag? Once, flying back into New York, the airline lost my bag—but I got it back after a few days.

94. How did you keep in touch with friends? WhatsApp and Instagram!

95. What was the first thing you would do in a new place? Go for a long walk to explore the new location, see what life is like, and find some tasty local food.

96. Do you keep any routines while you travel? I pray and have some specific prayers each time I’m in transit. I always feel closest to God while I’m traveling since I have alone time to reflect and am connecting with the world and our humanity.

97. Plane drink order? Orange juice and water—I’m annoying.

98. If you could be back in one place tonight? It’s cold in New York, so I’m dreaming of Trinidadian beaches.

99. Favorite method of transport? I’ve entered over 100 countries at land borders. I love traveling by bus.

100. Weirdest method of transport? I took Shanghai’s Maglev train in 2004, the year it opened. It goes 270 mph!

101. Best nickname you were given? Sal is short for Salvatore and one of my best friends calls me Tore.

102. Ever steal anything? Only hearts 😉

103. Remember any jokes you were told? Sadly not—they too often get lost in translation.

104. Proudest stamp on your passport? Because my Libyan visa took so long, I was ecstatic when I finally got it.

105. Best airplane meal? I weirdly love airplane food and always eat everything I’m given. The best is Etihad.

106. Where are you going next? I’m looking for a good SPG/Marriott resort to stay for a few weeks and decompress after all this excitement! Ideally somewhere warm, maybe in North Africa.

107. Best swim? Midnight skinny dipping in Tel Aviv.

108. A great nightclub: I used to love White in Dubai, but haven’t been in years.

109. One tip that makes travel easier: Enroll in a loyalty program and take full advantage by getting their credit cards and using them exclusively. I use SPG/Marriott Rewards and have stayed in 60+ of their properties in 40 countries.

110. Greatest cheap meal? I love street food in East Africa. I will always go for some chicken, friend plantains, and some spicy pepper sauce.

111. Fanciest meal? SPG hosted a “Moment” for me at the Michelin-starred restaurant Operakällaren in Stockholm. I met the chef and had an incredible nine-course meal.

Sal at Operakällaren.

112. A chain you would visit in multiple countries: McDonald's fries are good everywhere. Sometimes it’s the best choice, especially around 3 a.m....

113. Worst jet lag? One trip to the Pacific I was never on the right time, but it was perfect because I would be up early to see every sunset and sleep a bit after sunset.

114. Best airport? Since it’s home and I’ve flown out of it the most, Abu Dhabi is my favorite. It also has hands-down the world’s best lounges.

115. So glad I splurged on: Making my first visit to Moscow phenomenal with a suite at the St. Regis, dinner at the White Rabbit, and dancing at the best clubs.

116. A hard place to leave: Every time I leave my farm in Tanzania I’m nervous to be reconnected to the world and sad to leave my friends.

117. Best fashion? I love the street wear in East Africa. It’s a unique vibe mixing modern high fashion with traditional colors and fabrics. They’re always innovative. My favorite is Moshions in Rwanda.

118. How did you pick where to stay? I’d first see if I had a friend who could host me; if not, I’d see if I could use points at an SPG/Marriott Rewards hotel, if not I’d find a comfortable and conveniently located spot.

119. Countries I spent my birthday in (and how I celebrated): I turned 24 and 27 at the Le Meridien in Al Aqah, UAE. This year they wrote "Happy Birthday Sal" in huge letters on the beach, gave me a free paragliding trip, made a video of the entire staff saying happy birthday, and made a delicious cake with some of my best Instagram photos printed onto the frosting!

120. Same toiletries always or see what you can find locally? Usually I stock up on toiletries when staying at SPG/Marriott hotels. Though my current toothpaste seems to have Cyrillic writing…

121. Best Christmas? German Christmas is the best. I have lots of family there and so I’ve gone twice for it in the past five years. There are real candles on the tree, carols sung while others play instruments, and an enormous spread of delicious food.

122. Do you plan to make travel your profession? Travel won’t be, but the world will. I’m really focused on helping economies to develop through good investments and sound strategy advice. I would love to continue being a part of the discussion of global events and share the perspectives I’ve learned.

123. What’s the typical reaction people have when you reveal what you’ve done? Usually they’re surprised and start asking me about my experience in their favorite places or ones they dream of visiting.

124. Is there a club for people who have been everywhere? There are a few internet groups of well-traveled people. Many of us know, or at least know of, each other.

125. Do you know the other people who have done this? I’ve met only a couple in real life, but have spoken online with many of them.

126. Were your parents big travelers also? My father was born in Italy and came to New York on a boat when he was young. My mom was born in the States but would go home to Germany many summers. When I was growing up we did big road trips and covered 44 U.S. states. They usually do a trip abroad every year or two, and have visited me while living in Abu Dhabi and Nairobi. They also came for the finale.

A man of many stamps.

127. Best host? I’ve been hosted in over 75 countries by former classmates from the United World College, a international boarding school I attended that has students from more than 90 countries. ’m so grateful to ALL of them. I especially love when they adore their countries and are excited to share that with me.

128. Climb any mountains? None of the major ones, but I loved going on day treks in the Andes in Argentina, Ourika Valley in Morocco, and the lower Rocky Mountains in New Mexico.

129. Is there a comfort food you turn to on the road? I always find myself craving pretzels.

130. The place you’ll honeymoon: That’s up to my future wife!

131. One thing you can’t travel without: A paper and a pencil to write down my thoughts.

132. Best language to know? English really is the international language and can be used almost anywhere. After that, it depends where you want to travel—Spanish for Latin America, Russian for the former Soviet states, French for parts of Africa, Arabic for the Middle East.

133. Would you tell people what you were doing when traveling? Usually not. I like the term ‘funemployed’ so normally I’d just say that.

134. What camera did you use? I have the entry level Nikon DSLR, the D3300.

135. Cleanest streets? Without a doubt Tokyo—so, so clean. And in Kigali, Rwanda they have a monthly mandatory community cleaning that everyone participates in.

136. Rudest waiters? European service could definitely improve.

137. How do you relax after a day of travel? I love baths, saunas, steam-rooms, etc.

138. Did you learn to cook anything new? I don’t get to do it too often, but I love cooking with spices from all around the world. Especially Moroccan cumin and Indian turmeric.

139. How did you record it all? I’ve kept a daily journal for most of the past two years.

140. Did you have a movie that put you at ease on the road? I do more reading than movie watching. I can escape into anything by Clarice Lispector, G.K Chesterton, or F. Scott Fitzgerald.

141. Do you associate any songs with any country? P-Square with West Africa, Diamond Platnumz with Tanzania, Destra for Trinidad, Aicha for the Middle East—so many!

142. The song you would play over a montage of the trip? "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman, Fleetwood Mac’s "Landslide," or Jasmine Thompson’s "Great Escape." And for the party scenes maybe Kehlani’s chorus on "Good Life"…

143. Best room you stayed in? I used my points to stay in this awesome two-story suite at the Hotel Imperial in Vienna.

144. A room you wouldn’t want to stay in again: I stayed at a budget hotel near the airport in the Solomon Islands, and in the morning, I went to grab a bag of peanuts and a mouse ran out of it.

Celebrating the end of the day in a nicer hotel than the one mentioned above.

145. Most amazing nature you saw? I love the rolling hills of Rwanda and Burundi. The brown earth, the green brush, the bright blue sky. It’s perfect.

146. Most amazing animal? I’ve seen large sea turtles a few times while scuba diving and they’re so majestic.

147. A classic question you get? Often I’ll get messages on Instagram where people say, “Wow you’ve been to every country! Did you go to India?”

148. Do you prefer to travel solo or in a group? I like to combine both. I can be quite introverted so enjoy time alone, but I have such awesome friends so I love to travel with them, too.

149. Somewhere your first impression was accurate? The second I landed in the UAE for the first time I knew it was somewhere I could be happy. I’ve now lived there for six years and am learning every day.

150. Somewhere your first impression wasn’t accurate: I got asked for a handful of bribes immediately after entering Mozambique and that made me want to turn around, but it ended up being one of the most beautiful countries I’ve ever seen with so many lovely people.

151. When it helps to dress like a local: If there are safety concerns it can be better to blend in. I dressed in local Yemeni clothes while there last.

152. Where was the most difficult physical climate? Monsoon season in Mumbai was intense. It’s hard to go out and do anything when it is days upon days of downpour.

153. Where are you currently based? Not really anywhere at the moment. I do often pass through New York, Abu Dhabi, and Nairobi—but never for long enough.

154. Do you feel pressure to understand the history and politics of somewhere you go? I’m very curious, so I naturally ask a hundred questions to understand a place as intimately as I can once I’m there.

155. Did you go anywhere twice during the trip? Fifty countries! I also lived for more than two months in 15 of them.

156. Did you ever see someone by coincidence? I ran into an old colleague from New York at the airport in London. I’ve also had Instagram followers approach me.

157. Ever get scammed? I’ve been tricked a few times by money exchangers—it’s never a nice feeling.

158. How did you know who to trust in tough situations? It’s a gut reaction. After spending so much of my time with strangers in foreign places, I think I can quickly judge a person, though you can never be entirely sure.

159. Craziest weather conditions: Growing up in Indiana we often had tornado warnings where the sky would turn green and pink followed by epic storms.

160. Worst sunburn? I’m lucky to have pretty tanned Sicilian skin naturally, so I don’t get burned much more than occasionally on my nose.

161. How is America discussed from far away? People all over view America as a land of opportunity, but our many problems are now seeping into our reputation.

162. A feeling you consistently had during your travels? Gratitude. I am always so thankful because people so often go out of their way to help me learn and stay safe. I thank God every single day for it.

A 'King of the World' moment in Algeria.

163. Best architectural site: Petra in Jordan really is astonishing, as are the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. In terms of modern architecture, the UAE has the best: beautiful mosques, leaning buildings, and more.

164. Phone with the best battery life? Definitely not the one I have.

165. Best way to travel in your own city: Get lost. Walk down a street you’ve never visited. Go to a restaurant that has food from a new country. Travel is really about learning, so you can always be traveling.

166. A country you wish was on more people’s radar: Algeria. It has this negative reputation that doesn’t match the more recent decade of stability. It has diversity with gorgeous cities, high mountains, endless beaches, and an enormous swatch of desert.

167. What’s the longest you can be somewhere before getting restless? I’m not sure! Nearly the past 10 years I’ve never gone more than a couple months without getting on a plane.

168. So, no fear of flying? No. Turbulence can give me some anxiety, but I know at the end of the day that planes are safer than cars.

169. What do you think people lose by living in major cities, having seen so much more? In cities you can lose yourself in the rush. There’s so much to be gained from escaping into nature and solitude, to take a moment and relax your mind and soul.

170. What do you think people lose by living far from a city? Cities give you so many opportunities to live a dynamic life that’s different every single day. It’s never boring.

171. Nicest place to shop? Really nothing beats New York and the U.S., where if you can’t get it in stores you can buy it online and have it almost immediately.

172. If distance wasn’t a question, where would you keep a second home? I don’t even have one home, but I’d love to have spots in NYC, Abu Dhabi, Tanzania, and on some island…

172. Did you ever take a partner anywhere? One of my ex’s and I traveled to 25 countries together!

173. How did your education inform your travel? My education in economic development and identity shaped the way that I look at the world, how I analyze each new spot. My education at the United World College specifically showed me just how interconnected the world can be.

174. How did you celebrate at the final destination? My parents and a few friends came with me to Malta and Le Meridien. They had these awesome big 193 balloons and greeted me with everyone applauding and cutting a cake that had a big globe on it.

175. How do you hope what you’ve learned will inform your future work? I’ve learned so much about the diversity of the world and the way that different societies function. I hope to use this to help economies grow by working on investments.

176. What country made you the most self-conscious? I’ve learned that there will always be people who think you’re cool and there will always be people who think you’re not—so focusing on how you feel about yourself is the most important.

177. Where was the most satisfying coffee? I’m a tea over coffee guy and I loved visiting Kiambethu Tea Plantation near Nairobi, Kenya and learning all about the process.

178. Generally speaking: street food over restaurant meals? Absolutely street food. Always more exciting. That's usually where the local things are, and it’s a fun way to interact.

179. Do you send postcards from the road? I often will send postcards to my nieces and nephew in Texas. Postcards aren’t always easy to find however—and post offices are difficult to get to!

180. The plane of my dreams would have: Super-fast boarding.

181. What was your inspiration to keep going? I would keep learning new things, and wonder what I’d get from the next spot.

182. Something you had to be convinced to do: I’ll try anything once, so I’m usually the one doing the convincing.

183. What was the longest period you went without speaking to anyone else? I did this six-week road trip in West Africa and within that time very rarely had someone I could interact with in fluent English. It was surprisingly great to reflect and focus.

184. Did you ever cut time in a destination short? When my grandmother’s long, wonderful life ended this year I had to cut trips in Portugal and Guatemala down significantly in order to make the funeral. Of course, I have no regrets about that.

185. What is the food you miss the most on the road? I always crave Middle Eastern food, especially falafel and hummus.

186. How do you deal with friends wanting to hear about everything at once? I hope that they've been following my Instagram! When I'm reunited with friends I just want to hear about them.

187. Did you connect with anyone you knew as you went? I often stayed with friends from the United World College. It's always more fun to see a place through the eyes of a local.

188. Do people ever do this twice? As far as I know, no one ever has! But a couple people are thinking of it.

Celebrating in Malta at the completion of a ridiculous achievement.

189. What alarm clock do you use? Just the one on my phone.

190. Favorite hotel? I love the Le Meridien Al Aqah resort in the UAE. It’s this tall building in between the Indian Ocean and the mountains, and the suites have almost 180-degree balconies to see all around. It’s stunning.

191. Should everyone take a year off tomorrow? Everyone should do what fulfills them the most, what they can learn from, and be excited by. Taking time off definitely allows freedom to explore these things, but it’s also great if it can fit into a more traditional way of living.

192. Did your friends ever try to convince you not to do it? Not even once. I’ve been so incredibly supported.

193. Are you nervous to potentially go into a 9 to 5? I’m excited to get back to work.

Keep up to date with Sal on all of his future travels via his Instagram, @SalLavallo .

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The British adventurer who holds the world record for visiting nearly every country in the world without flying has spoken of his experience - saying Iran has the “nicest people” and the Seychelles was the hardest country to get into.

Answering questions from the users of website Reddit , Graham Hughes recounted how he spent four years and 31 days on his “Odyssey Expedition” - travelling all over the world to raise money for WaterAid.

He completed the feat on 26 November 2012, when he entered the newly formed South Sudan before travelling back to his native Liverpool over land and sea so he could visit any new countries that may be declared in the meantime.

Setting himself a budget of £100 a week, during his journey he “watched one of the last space shuttles take off, ran the US blockade to get into Cuba, joined a Bwiti tribe in Gabon, was helped by Maoist rebels in Nepal, danced with the Highlanders of Papua New Guinea, swam in the famous jellyfish lake of Palau and climbed to the top of the Great Pyramid of Giza.”

He was arrested several times and even went to jail in Cape Verde - where they “thought [he] was a people smuggler” - and in Congo, where they “just didn’t like the look of [him]”.

Detailing his experience of Iran's friendliness, he recounted taking an overnight bus from Shiraz to Khorramshahr, sitting next to an elderly lady who talking in Farsi on the phone.

Suddenly she passed him her phone. Her English speaking grandson was on the line and inviting him to breakfast at her house because she was worried he wouldn’t “have anyone to make him breakfast”.

He said he went to her house and “she laid out a thick tablecloth on the floor, we sat on cushions. Breakfast consisted of flatbread, eggs, jam and spices”.

In terms of logistics, he said the Seychelles was the “hardest, hardest, hardest” place for him to get to because it was both an island and “slap-bang in the middle of the high-risk area for Somali pirates”, meaning no one would take him.

He said he attempted the crossing three times from three different countries before finally making it across on 26 October 2012 - after getting a ride on a cruise ship from India that was heading south for the winter.

Mr Hughes world record was declared by Guinness World Records in February 2014 after a lengthy authentication process.

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• Smart Living

Meet the Man Who Has Visited Every Country in the World

Henrik Jeppesen has seen it all. After devoting seven years of his life to traveling the world by himself full-time, Jeppesen has visited every country on Earth and 98 out of the 132 territories . And he did it all before the age of 28.

Jeppesen's journey wasn't a vacation. Funding his travels with sponsorships from hotels and airlines and revenue from his blogging , Jeppesen lived on an average of $20 per day, much of which went to fees to acquire visas. He would often travel without any bags or luggage, fitting his iPhone, charger, passport, credit card, and extra underwear in his pockets. Jeppesen would rely on the kindness of people, often sleeping as a guest in locals' homes and getting rides from strangers. He estimates that he's hitchhiked over 1,000 times in his life. "[While] hitchhiking, I encountered a lot of people who were really strange. I didn't know if they were going to do me harm. In those situations, I try to win their trust by being as friendly as possible," Henrik tells POPSUGAR.

"My number one goal for the rest of my life is never to have a 'normal life.'"

But despite the risks of traveling the entire globe alone, Henrik feels the world is an overall "welcoming and friendly place." Henrik adds that, of course, "It's safer traveling the world as a white man." Some of his favorite countries to visit were South Africa, Italy, and New Zealand.

Jeppesen, who has settled in his home of Denmark for the time being, spoke with POPSUGAR to discuss life lessons from his journey, countries he never wants to visit again, and his plans to visit every territory in the world.

POPSUGAR: After visiting all 193 UN-recognized countries in the world, have you noticed ways in which people are similar everywhere?

Henrik Jeppesen: Yeah, I think it's the humor. Just sitting at home, you wouldn't think that you could make a joke with almost anyone in the world. People everywhere talk about getting a beer, with the exception of a few countries. People are generally interested in travel and are welcoming. When I was younger, I expected this dangerous world, but people everywhere are surprisingly friendly.

PS: Why do you think that your trip to North Korea was one of the most interesting experiences you've had?

HJ: It was a completely surreal experience. You can't move around freely, and some of the things I experienced there felt staged. It's bizarre. What's happening in North Korea is horrible, but purely from a travel perspective it was a wonderful experience. There's nothing else in the world like North Korea. It's so unique. I did 98 percent of my travels alone, but for North Korea I brought a friend.

PS: Are there countries that you've been to in the past that you wouldn't be able to travel to today?

HJ: Yeah, Yemen. I visited Yemen just before the civil war broke out. But now it's almost impossible to go. Only a few travelers have been able to. For a lot of these countries that are unstable, you need to visit at the right time. Syria I visited during the war. That trip took a lot of planning.

PS: How do you define visiting a country? Do you count walking in an airport as visiting?

HJ: I'm not one of the travelers who counts airport stopovers. For me, I must experience something in a country for it to count. I must get my passport stamped and go inside the country. But I don't need to spend a week in a country to count it. Some, like the capital of Liechtenstein, you can walk in 10-15 minutes. But I have spent months in quite a few countries. If you have any experience in a country, then it counts as a visit.

PS: What are some cities at the top of your list to visit next?

HJ: Pitcairn Islands and Tristan da Cunha , the remotest island in the world. I've actually flown around Tristan da Cunha but couldn't land because of weather conditions. I'd also like to visit the South Pole at some point. But trips there are expensive, so I guess I'll need a really good sponsorship to be able to go there. I'm looking forward to some faraway places that are more time-consuming to visit. There are some that I'm not sure I'll be able to visit, like Wake Island in the Pacific, which is administered by the US Air Force. I take a relaxed approach to travel now. I've achieved my goal of seeing every country, but it would be a nice bonus to see every territory now.

PS: Would you be the first person to visit every country and territory?

HJ: A few people have visited every country and territory, but the list of places is always getting updated. There's a new territory added every two years, on average. There was one guy who did it about 15 years ago when there were 318 countries and territories on the list. Now there are 325.

PS: Do you have a moment in your travels that sticks out as the scariest experience you faced?

HJ: When my passport was stolen in Gambia. You don't want to lose your passport in a small African country. But I got it back again by screaming and crying in front of hundreds of people at a ferry station. Then they found the thief, and I got it back. It went from being the most horrible moment to maybe the single best moment in my travels. But that was the most frightening experience I've had.

PS: Do you think your experience was easier as a man traveling the world alone as opposed to the experience a woman traveling alone might encounter?

HJ: Yeah, definitely. It's easier. I know one woman who's visited every country, and she's had harassment, especially at borders of remote countries. Women traveling alone can face general harassment. It's a much bigger risk as a woman. White men have the easiest time traveling alone and visiting every country safely. One thing you can do traveling alone as a woman is to create local contacts you can trust.

PS: What else is on your bucket list that you want to accomplish in your life?

HJ: I would like to get married and have kids. I'd like to have more of a social life, because I have not had much of that traveling alone around the world. I have a lot of things I'd like to accomplish. The next chapter of my life is to tell my story and inspire more young people to travel. But I could never have a typical 9-to-5 job. My number one goal for the rest of my life is never to have a "normal life."

You can see more of Henrik's travels on his Instagram and website .

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The First Man to Visit Every Country without Flying

Our world is awesome - you already know that’s the whole reason why we’re celebrating it with our awesome maps. But, it’s also home to so many awesome people. Adventurers who push themselves every day, through sport, through travel, through following their passion or making an impact in their community. That’s why we’ve started the #AwesomePeople  series, to celebrate their achievements and inspire all of us with their journeys! This is the first story in a series of more to come. Come along and meet Thor…

Torbjørn Pedersen (who goes by Thor!) is a Danish man with ambition. Five and a half years ago, he set off from his northern viking land with one mission in mind: travel to every country in the world without taking a single flight. And not return home until the journey’s over! Point in case, he’s now travelled more than 265,000 km over land and sea and, on top of it all, on a $20/day budget - no small feat! We caught up with him while in country #178, Japan.

You’ve named your project “Once upon a saga”. Why?

It was hard to come up with a good project name. I felt that “expedition” had been overused. I come from Denmark, which is sort of a fairy tale country. It’s the world’s oldest monarchy, with a history of princes and princesses and it’s also home to author HC Andersen (of ‘The Little Mermaid’!). We all know that fairy tales often start with “Once upon a time...”

Denmark also has a Viking heritage. When the Vikings returned from exploring the seas in their wooden ships, they would write down stories of discovery and adventure in what was called a “saga”. So, “Once Upon A Saga” is a direct reference to my home!

That’s really interesting! So where did the inspiration for your trip come from?

In 2013, I discovered that nobody in history had ever reached every country in the world completely without flying. In our time, it’s pretty hard to find anything that hadn’t already been done. I’ve always been intrigued by great adventures, like reaching the South Pole for the first time in 1911. Yes, airplanes exist and every country has definitely already been visited - but it’s a momentous task and a challenge of proportion!

Thor in Ivory Coast in 2015, country #87

This can’t be your first adventure, though. Tell us a bit more about your background and previous travel?

I had a number of minor adventures as a child and often ran away from home, although I was usually back for supper. On one occasion, though, I had made it so far that my dad had to come get me in a car. I finished business school before the military drafted me and I eventually ended up spending 3 years serving as a UN peacekeeper in Eritrea and Ethiopia. I then became a shipping trainee and worked 12 years within shipping and logistics, which took me to Libya, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, the Arctic Circle and a number of other interesting destinations. Alongside my work, I began kayaking, hiking and motor biking. I once went on a 7-day kayak trip around an island and I’ve completed a 4-month motorcycle journey from Asia to Europe. I’ve also made it to the summit of both Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya and I have hiked up to the Mt. Everest base camp.

Yep, definitely a convinced adventurer then! How do you keep track of your travels?

I take a lot of pictures and I blog about the Saga every Friday . I also log down the amount of transportation, distance and my location day by day.

What’s the first thing you do when you get to a new country?

I smile! At this point, it’s been hard earned. Then, I get to work. I have social media which needs updating and care. I meet with the Red Cross in every country. I’m often invited to make motivational speeches at companies. I often need to apply for a visa and secure onward transportation. There’s plenty of research which needs to be done and somewhere in between, I also need to eat, sleep and experience something.

That sounds like a lot. What’s the most interesting fact you’ve come across about a place you visited?

Sudan has more pyramids than Egypt. And to go once around Africa is equal to the distance around the equator.

I really like the quote you use “A stranger is a friend you've never met before” - did the inspiration for that come from a particular story or is it just what you live by?

It comes from a Danish song called “Rejsegramofonen”, which can be translated to “the travel gramophone”. It was performed by Peter AG from the Danish band Gnags. They sing: “en fremmed er en ven du bare ikke har mødt endnu”. I thought it sounded nice, so I translated it to English and made it the project motto. A few weeks after leaving home I knew it was true!

What’s the most touching interaction you’ve had?

I made friends with Adel in Yemen. It’s a magnificent country, which is going through really trying times. On the day I left, Adel accompanied me in the taxi to the border. Not long before I crossed the border back into Oman, we discovered that Adel and I were born within days of each other. We had a moment of realization: I was born in Denmark and he was born in Yemen. The lottery of life.

One of your project requirements is to be in every country for at least 24h. Do you find that difficult? Or in general moving around, maybe after you’ve just made a connection with someone and already need to leave?

My shortest stay was in the Vatican. I was there for 24 hours and 17 minutes and I was happy to leave. My average time per country is 11.4 days. My longest stay in any country has been 102 days. One of the hardest parts of this project is always meeting people and few days later having to say goodbye. It’s very tiring constantly being on the move.

I’m sure not every part of your journey is always as idyllic as it seems. Do you have any nightmare travel stories?

For the first year, this project was 80% adventure and 20% work. Today it’s the opposite. What I do is highly demanding and often not appreciated. The greatest challenges lie within solving logistical and bureaucratic challenges that often seem impossible. The risk calculations are not always in my favor. I’ve had some hostile encounters, which I thought could have been the end. But, If I had to choose, a nightmare story was reaching Mongolia from Russia at the end of last year.. I had my visa for Pakistan, which is not an easy one to get while on the road. The Karakoram Highway had not closed with snow yet and all I needed was a Chinese visa, so that I could quickly cross China, pass the Karakoram and reach Pakistan before the visa expired. Then the Chinese didn’t give me the visa, but told me to wait for a month without providing any further reason. I was devastated and at first did not know what to do?! Then, I quickly reorganized myself and made the arrangements to travel back across Russia, into Ukraine, across to Georgia, into Armenia, through Iran and made it to Pakistan after 14 days and a detour of 12,000 km through countries I’d already been to before. That’s as much as going a quarter around the planet!!

What’s your most valuable possession, seeing as you’re living your life on the road?

My passport is always with me. I always have a pen in my pocket. I carry a scarf wherever I go and my smartphone is essential. Basically I could do with my passport alone.

Thor speaking at a school in England in 2013, country #7

Other than for your own personal learning and experience, what else do you hope your project will achieve or contribute to others?

People say they get inspired, educated and entertained from the project. Some feel a strong sense of motivation because I haven’t given up and gone home at any point and I’ve had plenty of reason to do so! I really hope that people will learn that the difference between failure and success is often the point where you either give up or not. And I really hope that people will see that the world is far safer, a lot more normal and in many ways doing better than what we are led to believe.

You’re now reaching the end of your journey, it’s likely that you’ll be returning next year (2020) - are you looking forward to it? What’s the biggest learning you’re taking with you?

I’m very much looking forward to it!! I suppose my biggest learning is that humans around the world truly have far more in common than what separates us.

Do you plan to do anything with the project once you’ve returned? Perhaps publish a book?

It is my intention to write a book and maybe several! I hope that I can live a life as a public speaker and motivate and inspire people in life. I have already spoken on 86 occasions across this project and it has been well received.

Follow Thor's journey on his website  and on Instagram .

This is what Thor's A-Z World Map looks like based on his travels. Pretty impressive, right?  Check out the map here  if you want to start scratching off your travels.

Thor (Thorbjørn) is my friend, my former colleague, my Inspirator, my leading star on the horizon. I hear often that Thor gets asked; what comes after The Saga, – since it’s beyond what any man ever have done before I suppose the question “what comes after the journey” likewise will be unimaginable, but successful he will be. Thanks Thor for sharing for free that anything you can think is possible but it comes with a timeline…….

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Man visits every country without flying

Kate Springer, CNN

(CNN) — On October 10, 2013, Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen left his job, girlfriend, and family behind in Denmark to embark on an epic journey.

His goal? To visit every country in the world without flying.

Pedersen set a couple of rules for himself. He’d spend at least 24 hours in each nation and resist returning home until he finished.

He’d also do his best to keep costs low and live off a budget of roughly US$20 a day.

On May 24, that day finally came. After nearly 10 years of travel, Pedersen successfully visited his 203rd and final country, the Maldives, and began his long-awaited voyage back to Denmark.

It would have been easier to fly, of course, but Pedersen wanted to bring the project full circle.

“There’s a historical sense of returning home by ship – people can see it on the horizon and stand and wave as I come down the gangway,” Pedersen, who has been traveling as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross, tells CNN Travel. “And that seems like an appropriate way to complete the project.”

After celebrating in the Maldives, the 44-year-old backtracked to Malaysia via Sri Lanka to board the massive MV Milan Maersk – a container ship stretching roughly 1,310 feet long, or about the size of 3.6 soccer fields – for the 33-day voyage home.

“In my cabin, I looked out the porthole in Malaysia, and it dawned on me that every day the view would gradually change until it finally became Denmark,” says Pedersen.

“Even if I broke my leg at that point, I would make it home. There are no more snakes, wild dogs, malaria, or visas to secure – I just had to avoid falling overboard!”

An emotional homecoming

On July 26, Pedersen walked down the gangway at the Port of Aarhus, on Denmark’s eastern coast, where roughly 150 people were waiting for him to celebrate.

Among the cheering crowds were his wife Le (Pedersen proposed to his girlfriend atop Mt Kenya in 2016 and they married in 2021), father, siblings, friends, project partners and many supporters who have been following his blog, Once Upon a Saga , and social media channels.

“I’ve seen many tearful eyes since I got back – people have come up to hug me sobbing,” says Pedersen. “I have also received a lot of gifts – Danish beer, milk, foods – and got to meet people who have been following my social media from Colombia, Australia, Norway … that was amazing.”

While fielding a deluge of calls, messages, and interview requests, Pedersen has been catching up with family at his father’s house.

He’s also savoring all little things – like the clean and cool Danish air, morning runs with Le, and ice-cold Danish milk at every opportunity.

“My family is really proud. There’s a lot of love,” he says. “Coming home is something I’ve been focusing on – something I’ve wanted to materialize for the longest time. But I am still processing that the journey is over and figuring out what comes next.”

Ten years of travel

Before taking off in 2013, Pedersen worked in shipping and logistics, which turned out to be invaluable expertise when planning the complex route and adapting on the road.

In fact, he didn’t veer much from his original plan, aside from a few surprises. For instance, he overlooked Equatorial Guinea, one of the world’s most difficult countries to access. After four months and many failed attempts, Pedersen finally acquired a visa. Even though land borders were closed at the time, he was able to cross thanks to a serendipitous encounter with a stranger who worked in Equatorial Guinea and offered him a ride.

Later, Pedersen thought he could acquire a Chinese visa at the border with Mongolia and then travel to Pakistan. But due to the long processing time, he had to backtrack nearly 7,500 miles through several countries to get to Pakistan before his visa expired.

All the while, time started to add up. He had originally anticipated it would take four years to reach 203 countries (the UN recognizes 195 sovereign states, but Pedersen included partially recognized states, too), but the world had other plans.

During his years on the road, Pedersen endured months-long visa delays in places like Syria, Iran, Nauru, and Angola.

He also overcame a severe bout of cerebral malaria in Ghana, survived an intense four-day storm while crossing the Atlantic from Iceland to Canada, navigated shuttered land borders in conflict zones, and had to reschedule many sailings due to broken-down ships or exhausting bureaucracy.

The most significant delay was the COVID-19 pandemic.

In early 2020, the intrepid traveler suddenly found himself stuck in Hong Kong for two years with just nine countries left.

“I look back at Hong Kong, and it’s a bit of a paradox. It was the worst time of my life and the best time of my life, somehow. I had to cope with the situation – it was such a struggle to work out if I should abandon this project nine countries short of completion,” Pedersen recalls.

“I had to ask myself: How much of my life will I give to this? But while waiting for the world to open, I made a life in Hong Kong and forged so many special relationships.”

Pedersen stayed sane by cooking dinner with friends, hiking the city’s many trails, working with the Red Cross, giving motivational speeches, and working at the Danish Seamen’s Church.

Having acquired an employment visa and Hong Kong residency, Pedersen married his fiancé, Le, who was back in Denmark, via a US-based virtual wedding service.

It wasn’t how the couple envisioned their big day, but the decision enabled Le to become a resident and visit Pedersen. (Hong Kong prohibited foreign travelers at the time).

“We spent 100 days together, which was wonderful,” he recalls, adding that it was their longest stretch of time together since Pedersen left Denmark in 2013. “She got to meet my friends and understand my life. We love hiking in Hong Kong and did the MacLehose Trail, which is 62 miles long at more than half the elevation of Mount Everest, side by side in one go.”

The journey resumes

On January 5, 2022, Pedersen was finally able to leave Hong Kong and continue across the Pacific.

His first stop was Palau. Behind the scenes, it took six months of negotiation with the Palau government to let him arrive via container ship, he says.

After 15 days at sea, Pedersen spent eight of his 14 days in Palau in hotel quarantine due to an outbreak on the island.

Next came a 16-day journey back to Hong Kong, where he returned to hotel quarantine for another two weeks.

About a month later, he continued on to Australia, then New Zealand, Samoa, and Tonga – but not without immense effort.

“I had to plead with almost every government. For Tonga, we were in touch with the health ministry, navy, and military. No one wanted to say yes and go against the prime minister [because the country was in a state of emergency due to COVID],” says Pedersen.

“Finally, one night, I got an email from the prime minister that simply said, ‘It’s OK, let him in.’”

After Tonga, Pedersen went to Vanuatu, where Le joined him again so they could marry in person.

Their wedding planner invited all the resort guests and staff, who made incredible decorations from palm leaves and drew huge hearts adorned with seashells in the sand.

“It was just beautiful – the staff was sweet and giddy, and they made it really special,” says Pedersen.

The final three

Pedersen set off for the last country in the Pacific, Tuvalu, wary of the logistics.

Home to nine islands and just 11,600 people, Tuvalu is one of the world’s smallest and most remote nations, so it can be tough to get spare parts for boats.

“It is gorgeous. The surf is amazing, the sky is beautiful, and the people were so kind and helpful,” he says. “But I didn’t expect to be there for two months.”

“The ships kept breaking down. One of them had a leaking hole in the hull. I tried to get on another ship, but it just never set off.”

Finally, Pedersen managed to return to Fiji on a tugboat. From there, a 24-day journey on a container ship took him to Singapore, where Le joined him to devour food at hawker centers, explore the National Museum, hike the MacRitchie Nature Trail, and run along the Singapore River.

After she returned to Denmark, Pedersen crossed the land border to Malaysia and caught a ship to Sri Lanka before setting sail to the final country: the Maldives.

When Pedersen arrived at the port in Malé, the capital, he spotted a group of people waving small Danish flags alongside one of his sponsors, Ross Energy, and friends like record-setting Norwegian traveler Gunnar Garfors (the first person to visit every country in the world twice), who came to help him celebrate.

“When I was in the Maldives, it was enormously hectic, and I had no real time for reflection,” he says. “I was mentally exhausted – it has been a roller-coaster of emotions.

“There’s uncertainty while I am traveling, but I have been in operational mode for so long now that it feels somewhat safe to me. There’s a different kind of uncertainty when I get home. I will be free to do whatever I want, go anywhere, or go nowhere.”

Traveling with purpose

From start to finish, Pedersen tallied up some incredible statistics during his travels: 3,576 days, 37 container ships, 158 trains, 351 buses, 219 taxis, 33 boats and 43 rickshaws.

He crossed 223,000 miles, or the equivalent of nine journeys around the Earth – and that’s not including the long voyage home.

But it’s not about the numbers, says Pedersen.

It’s about celebrating the kindness of people and sharing a positive outlook on the world.

“I set out on this journey with a motto, ‘A stranger is a friend you’ve never met before,’ and I have been shown time and time again that this is true,” he says. “If you engage with people, they’re usually all in.”

Pedersen says he’s met warm, friendly, helpful people all around the world, many of whom offered him tea, meals, introductions, translation support, or simply provided directions.

“I stayed in the homes of many, many strangers during my travels, and I made it through every country in the world – the ones with armed conflict, the ones with virus outbreaks – unharmed,” he exclaims.

“Either I’m the luckiest man on the planet, or the world is in a much better place than most people are led to believe by the scary, dramatic news on social media and news channels.”

The journey is also a testament to Pedersen’s perseverance. He came close to quitting a few times but refused to throw in the towel.

“Someone wrote me today that I won first, second and third prize in stubbornness,” laughs Pedersen. “There’s always been a solution. I just had to look really hard for it sometimes.”

His dogged determination mentality comes from a desire to show supporters they can do anything they put their minds to.

“I had the craziest of goals. And if I could do this, you can lose weight or learn to play an instrument, learn a language, get an education, get a job … whatever you want.”

What’s next?

His final sail aboard the MV Milan Maersk journeyed across the Indian Ocean to the Red Sea, across the Suez Canal, into the Mediterranean, up the English Channel, over to Germany, and finally, to Denmark.

“I haven’t processed that this project has ended yet. They say that if you want to incorporate a new habit in life, you must repeat it for 30 days. I’ve been doing this for more than 3,500 days. So, this is very much who I am now,” says Pedersen.

After he’s had time to rest and regain his footing, Pedersen plans to trade in his life of perpetual travel and move forward in other ways.

For starters, he looks forward to spending more time with his wife and starting a family together.

“We have a lot of things to celebrate. While I was traveling, she accomplished so many things – she completed a medical degree, finished her PhD, started working at a pharmaceutical company, got a promotion, completed two full Ironman [triathlons] … she’s a superwoman.”

As he embarks on a new chapter, Pedersen is also working with Canadian filmmaker Mike Douglas to wrap up “The Impossible Journey,” a documentary on the project, and plans to write a book about the journey.

Looking ahead, he hopes to channel his experiences into speaking engagements – a skill he’s honed over the past 10 years.

“It dawned on me that I wasn’t comfortable going on the stage when I left home. But now, I can walk on a stage in front of 300 people smiling,” he says.

“The journey helped me identify my strengths – and engaging with people is one of them. Hopefully, through speaking engagements, I can make a living by out of making people laugh, learn, and inspiring them to never give up.”

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May 3, 2024

Real News, Told Simply.™

Danish Man Visits Every Country Without Flying

Torbjorn (“Thor”) Pedersen is a Danish traveler who recently finished a trip around the world. But this wasn’t just any trip. Mr. Pedersen spent nearly 10 years visiting every country in the world – and he did it all without flying.

Mr. Pedersen had already traveled and worked in many different countries. But in 2013, he read an article about someone who had visited all the countries of the world. Mr. Pedersen realized he could set a record by doing the same thing, but without flying.

As he began to plan his trip, he made a few rules: no flying, no visiting home, and spend at least 24 hours in every country. He hoped that he could live on about $20 a day, and finish his trip in about four years.

It took him far longer.

The first part of his trip was pretty easy, though he did have to quit his job and leave his parents and girlfriend behind. He traveled across Europe and North America, where his biggest challenge was not spending too much money.

But as he moved on to other parts of the world, things began to get much harder.

To cross large bodies of water, Mr. Pedersen took boats. Sometimes it was hard to find a boat. At other times, Mr. Pedersen was on a boat for days, being tossed by strong waves during a storm.

He traveled by taxi, bus, train, and even walking. He traveled in cargo containers, and in the back of trucks with 50 other people.

Sometimes he paid for a place to stay; sometimes people invited him into their homes. At other times, he had to sleep outside.

Mr. Pedersen says he had many difficult experiences. He was once held at gunpoint and thought he might be killed. He also became severely ill with malaria.

But he also had many good experiences. Mr. Pedersen says that one reason he didn’t give up was the help he got from people all over the world.

“You might have to try 1,000 closed doors,” he says, “But there is always an open door somewhere. Never, ever give up.”

Mr. Pedersen’s girlfriend visited him several times as he traveled. When she visited him in Kenya, he asked her to marry him.

But before they could get married, the coronavirus   pandemic began. Mr. Pedersen got stuck in Hong Kong for two years. Luckily, after getting married online, his wife was able to join him for part of that time.

Finally, in May, Mr. Pedersen arrived in Maldives, the last country on his list.

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On July 26, Mr. Pedersen arrived back in Denmark after a 33-day boat ride (above). He was met by about 150 people, including friends and family members. In the last 10 years, he’s covered around 260,000 miles (418,000 kilometers) – roughly 10 times the distance around the Earth.

On July 26, Mr. Pedersen arrived back in Denmark after a 33-day boat ride. He was met by about 150 people, including friends and family members.

In the last 10 years, he’s covered around 260,000 miles (418,000 kilometers) – roughly 10 times the distance around the Earth.

Mr. Pedersen says he’s looking forward to some quiet time to think about his trip. After that, he plans to write a book and share what he learned in his travels around the world.

Did You Know…? Officially, the United Nations (UN) says there are 195 countries. Mr. Pedersen visited all of these, plus several that aren’t recognized by the UN, such as Taiwan. In all, he visited 203 countries.

www.washingtonpost.com www.theguardian.com www.cnn.com www.abc.net.au people.com

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