The Purpose of This Blog

I’m aiming to visit every country in the world and want to help you learn how to do the same… or at least have the best time in any country if you don’t want to visit every single one.

My ongoing journey has given me a lot of knowledge, particularly in travel safety and in travelling on a budget. I want to share what I’ve learnt so this blog can become an invaluable resource for keeping you safe, helping your money go further, and experiencing the best of what the world has to offer.

This blog is split between the following main sections:

–Destinations. These will be posts on each country which tell you exactly what can be experienced in each nation, as well as providing lots of useful information. What should tourists wear in notoriously strict Saudi Arabia? What are the safest countries in Latin America? How should you spend a few days in Budapest? All of this and much more can be found here.

–Travel Safety. Everything you need to know to stay safe in any country. Posts range from general travel safety advice to region or country-specific information. I will give you an honest overview on safety based on visiting places personally, getting a good feel for them and interacting with locals.

–Travel Tips. Useful travel advice to help make life on the road as easy as possible for you. Includes content such as a guide to overcoming language barriers on your travels for example.

–Everything Else. Miscellaneous posts that don’t fit into any of the above categories. Travel round-ups, stories from when things went wrong etc.

Introduction – Who Am I?

I’m Alex, a Brit on the wrong side of 30 who had a dream in 2017. Up until this point I had never considered it to be possible to visit every country.

I then spent weeks trawling through blogs, images and stories about how to visit every country, fascinated by this feat. By this point, I knew it would become my goal to achieve the same.

This is something only an approximate 400 people have ever achieved.

One day I want to join that number, although I’m in no hurry. The world is to be enjoyed, and it makes no sense to race through an airport, spend a day in the capital, and fly out the following day solely to “tick off” a country. I want to see far more than that.

From trekking through the mountains of Peru for several days to reach Machu Picchu, to staying with a nomadic family in a Mongolian ger, to biking through the plains of Myanmar’s spectacular ancient city of Bagan, travel is about adventures and experiences.

I realised over time that rotting away in an office working for 40 hours a week in the hope of one day living in an okay house and driving an okay car is no life to be living.

Life is about adventure, and I want every day to be exciting. I want a life where “work” is writing blog posts at whatever time I wish, and not submitting to a boss in a job I applied for purely so I could afford to get by.

I’m just a normal guy from southern England. So if I can live the dream, why can’t you too?

My Journey so Far on the Path to Visit Every Country

It was not until 2019 when I took my first major steps towards chasing all 197 countries. These are the 193 UN-recognised countries + Kosovo, Taiwan, Palestine and Vatican City. Many people dispute that number and believe there are anything from 193 to well over 200 countries, but we’ll save that debate for another day.

A trip to Sri Lanka was my first ever outside of the western world (Europe + USA). Immediately afterwards was my first ever solo trip – to Egypt for two weeks.

A three-month trip to Asia followed in the summer, hitting typical beginner backpacker spots such as Bali and Thailand, as well as some less-travelled places including the tiny nation of Brunei.

The plan was to push on in 2020. However we all know a little something happened and the world shut its borders. Gutting from a travel perspective. Fantastic from a money-making and saving perspective. You will need a lot of money to visit every country, therefore the lockdown period was not entirely disastrous.

Fast-forward almost two years to February 2022 and it was time to get going again after 2021 eased me back into travel with short visits to Gibraltar, Scotland and Ukraine.

With my country count standing at 21/197 I boarded a one-way flight to Mexico and never looked back. Eight wonderful months followed from Mexico to Brazil and almost every Central American country and South American country in between. You can follow my complete Central America itinerary here. Then came a few weeks in the Middle East (via the US). I took in Jordan, home to Petra, one of the Seven World Wonders to begin with. Then it was time to visit Saudi Arabia, home of Islam’s two holiest cities: Mecca and Medina. Next came my primary goal for visiting this region – the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Lastly I visited Bahrain and the Baltic states, with Finland tagged onto the end just before Christmas.

Then 2023 brought three months in Europe and two in Asia before settling in South Korea to teach English for the foreseeable future. This allows me to rebuild travel funds whilst also finding time to share detailed experiences through this blog. Although there was still time to squeeze in trips to wonderful Taiwan and Japan.

I left Korea 3 months early in May 2024, and enjoyed visits to Mongolia and China before heading home ahead of my next adventure, a year in Latin America with my girlfriend.

See how many countries I have currently visited here.

Who is this Blog for? (Spoiler: Not Just People Wanting to Visit Every Country)

This blog is for anyone interested in wanting to visit every country in the world. Hopefully it provides some valuable information that can help you in your own quest. I aim to talk about destinations and provide information with honest opinions on what to see and do, or whether a place is worth visiting at all as well as all-important safety and cost tips. You can read about what I experienced in each country I’ve visited and get an idea of what you may face in every nation. Of course, travel is a unique experience for every individual and whilst your trips may share some similarities with mine, you will encounter many more differences along the way.

This blog is also for anyone who may not be interested in going to visit every country but would like to know what it is like to travel to certain countries that may not attract many tourists. Yes, there will be posts on France and Spain eventually, but this blog will also give you trip ideas for Myanmar and El Salvador among other places. In other words, countries with negative reputations in the media which have plenty of positives to offer. And to be honest, those countries interest me far more.

And What Else Can You Expect?

This blog is for people who want to explore unique destinations. From Easter Island to Transnistria, I will be writing about some of the most interesting places on earth and you can decide if you want to visit each of these.

This is the blog for anyone looking for advice on how to navigate the trickier countries. How do you get a Myanmar visa, bypass internet censorship, stay safe and avoid trouble with the government? On this blog you will find out!

This blog is for anyone wanting to read about the negative experiences of travel as well as the positive ones. Yes, travel is about stunning beaches, incredible nature and amazing sunsets. But my travels to date have included fighting off a mugging attempt in Quito and narrowly avoiding arrest in Jordan. I want to be honest and realistic about what your journey may involve.