World travelers an inspiration for us mere tourists

The other day I read a story about a United Airline employee who recently completed his goal of visiting every country in the world, and he isn’t a flight attendant, he’s a ground crew member.

He started his quest to visit every country in the world seven years ago after he had already visited 100 countries by the age of 41. That said, he still managed to visit the remaining 95 countries in the past seven years. That’s more than 13 countries a year during a period when the pandemic made travel nearly impossible for two of those seven years. Oh, and he also recently visited Antarctica which means he’s also visited every continent in the world.

Depending on which source you believe anywhere between 250 and 300 people have been to all 193 UN recognized countries in the world along with the two observer states – Vatican City and Palestine.

The youngest person in the world to travel to all 195 countries is American Lexi Alford, who accomplished the feat before her 22 birthday.

James Asquith, 24 from Britain is credited for being the youngest person to explore every country in the world, meaning he spent more than 48 hours in each country.