Meet the brand new Mr. Worldwide!
A Danish man claimed that he has spent the last decade visiting each country without ever boarding a flight.
Thor Pedersen, 44, began his 223,072-mile adventure after kissing his wife and his shipping-and-logistics job goodbye in October 2013, leaving his country for neighboring Germany.
“I got wind that nobody in history has gone to each country on this planet completely without flying, and I used to be caught up in the concept I might need my shot at doing something remarkable,” Pedersen told Kennedy News.
“The concept was to do it with public transport wherever possible, so which means lots of of buses, trains and ferries, you then ask if you happen to can get on someone’s fishing boat or a container ship.”
Pedersen, who said he needed 10 passports for his journey around the globe, said the whole trip was paid for by an energy company in addition to his own crowdfunding.
Also in an effort to conserve money, he limited his spending to $20 a day.
The traveler revealed that he spent about a median of 17 days in a rustic while only spending a mere 24 hours when visiting Vatican City.
“I even have to spend a minimum of 24 hours in a rustic. What I do isn’t tourism, it’s like running a marathon or going to the moon,” Pedersen said. “It’s an accomplishment. Lots of my time is spent on buses and trains.”
The globetrotter said that avoiding traveling the airways was “very complicated” and that so as to complete his goal, he took 351 buses, 158 trains, 43 tuk-tuks, 37 container ships, 33 boats, nine trucks, three sailboats, two cruise ships, one horse carriage, one police automotive and one yacht.
Pedersen also said that he rode motorbikes, taxis, subways, minibuses and trams.
“The longest bus ride has been 54 hours on one bus in Brazil. The sun set on me twice,” commented the traveling man. “The longest train ride was five days in Russia. I moderately enjoyed 27 days on the ship, it gave me time to read and exercise, and we saw whales. It was a wonderful journey.”
Based on the adventurer, traveling for several hours or days on the bus just isn’t for the faint of heart.
“There was no technique to be comfortable on the bus ride,” Pedersen said. “You’d need to have buns of steel, but persons are fun, and you will have good conversations with whoever is next to you.”
Before taking off on the spectacular journey, Pedersen and his wife, Le, calculated that the whole trip would take around 4 years to finish. Nevertheless, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and just a few passport problems, he was delayed two years in Hong Kong.
The newly wedded couple managed to see one another 27 times in the course of the journey. Nevertheless, though Pedersen claimed she was a great sport about his travels, he said it was hard each time they said goodbye.
“My wife didn’t need to stand in the way in which of something I desired to do, but she was conflicted, because she would moderately be constructing a life with me, waking up next to me and holding my hand,” he explained to the outlet. “She’s been amazing, she’s an enormous support, and we’ve had unique experiences together throughout the world.”
“It got harder each time she came around, dropping her off on the airport was getting my heart torn out each time,” continued Pedersen. “I hate coming back to a hotel where we stayed and being the just one within the room or walking down a street where we walked. It became really rough.”
Thankfully, the pair will likely be reunited in July when he returns from his sojourn.
Pedersen said that he also plans to start out a family as soon as he gets back.
“There’s an honest risk it’s too late to start out a family with the girl I like,” admitted Pedersen. “It’s not game over, but we’re pushing the limit of biology.”
“We feel like we now have enough between the 2 of us to live an extended and blissful life, and we don’t need to start out a family, but when Le became pregnant then that might be a bonus,” he added.
Pedersen said that out of the whole trip, the one regret he had was not having the ability to spend time together with his family or friends.
“Before I left, my father was fearful about my profession,” recalled Pederson. “He didn’t think I’d ever work again or be taken seriously, but he got on board.”
“Telling my mom I used to be going was like telling her I’m going to the dentist. She’s very proud,” he said.
Now an adventurer, Pedersen revealed that he doesn’t plan on returning to his old job and as a substitute will write a book about his experience.
“We’re all looking forward to me going home. I even have to say Denmark is my favorite country, since it’s where I belong,” gushed the traveler. “I speak the language, my parents are there, and I do know not to fret about spiders and snakes, and I do know all the pieces about it, which makes it a fairly good country for me.”
