Travel
TRAVEL WELL with Kate Springer
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orbjørn “Thor” Pedersen is set to become the first person to visit every country in the world on a continuous journey without flying. Having left Denmark on October 10th, 2013, the 41-year-old has been to 194 countries so far, with just nine to go. He stopped in Hong Kong at the end of January to catch a cargo ship to Palau - just as COVID-19 rocked the region. Now he’s stuck in coronavirus limbo, waiting for the world to reopen. I met up with him in between ambitious hikes, motivational speaking gigs, updating his blog (Once Upon a Saga), and doing charity work as a Goodwill Ambassador of the Danish Red Cross. Here’s a snapshot of his story.
Q What inspired you in the first place? Thor Pedersen: I actually didn't even realise you could travel to every country in the world until my dad sent me an article about it. Once I discovered it had already been done many times, I wanted to push that barrier even farther. No one in history has ever gone to every country in the world completely without flying [on one continuous journey], so that became the mission. Q How did you prepare? TP: I had worked in the shipping and logistics industry for 12 years, so that experience and mindset prepared me well for the immense scale of this project. I’m used to having a lot of things in the air at the same time, finding solutions and making everything more efficient. 34
I spent 10 months planning every aspect of the trip, from deciding what to pack to defining the purpose, setting up the blog, approaching sponsors and, of course, plotting the route. I also set a few cardinal rules for myself: obviously, no flights. But also, I have to spend at least 24 hours in every country and I can’t go home until I’m finished. I set off on October 10th, 2013. I haven’t been home in six and a half years. Q What has been the scariest moment so far? TP: Cerebral malaria was pretty heavy. I most likely contracted it while sleeping in an abandoned gas station in Liberia. But the symptoms started a couple
