I traveled to every country in the world — without flights

Meet the new Mr. Worldwide!

A Danish man claimed that he has spent the last decade visiting every single 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 no one in history has gone to every country in the world completely without flying, and I was caught up in the idea that I might have my shot at doing something remarkable,” Pedersen told Kennedy News.

“The idea was to do it with public transport wherever possible, so that means hundreds of buses, trains and ferries, then you ask if you can get on someone’s fishing boat or a container ship.”

Pedersen, who said he needed 10 passports for his journey around the world, said the entire trip was paid for by an energy company as well as 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 an average of 17 days in a country while only spending a mere 24 hours when visiting Vatican City.

“I have to spend a minimum of 24 hours in a country. What I do isn’t tourism, it’s like running a marathon or going to the moon,” Pedersen said. “It’s an accomplishment. A lot of my time is spent on buses and trains.”

The globetrotter said that avoiding traveling the airways was “very complicated” and that in order 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 car 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 rather enjoyed 27 days on the ship, it gave me time to read and exercise, and we saw whales. It was a beautiful journey.”

According to the adventurer, traveling for several hours or days on the bus is not for the faint of heart.

“There was no way to be comfortable on the bus ride,” Pedersen said. “You’d have to have buns of steel, but people are fun, and you have good conversations with whoever is next to you.”

Before taking off on the spectacular journey, Pedersen and his wife, Le, calculated that the entire trip would take around four years to complete. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and a few passport problems, he was delayed two years in Hong Kong.

The newly wedded couple managed to see each other 27 times during the journey. However, even though Pedersen claimed she was a good sport about his travels, he said it was hard every time they said goodbye.

“My wife didn’t want to stand in the way of something I wanted to do, but she was conflicted, because she would rather be building a life with me, waking up next to me and holding my hand,” he explained to the outlet. “She’s been amazing, she’s a huge support, and we’ve had unique experiences together throughout the world.”

“It got harder every time she came to visit, dropping her off at the airport was getting my heart torn out every time,” continued Pedersen. “I hate coming back to a hotel where we stayed and being the only one in the room or walking down a street where we walked. It became really rough.”

Thankfully, the pair will be reunited in July when he returns from his sojourn.

Pedersen said that he also plans to start a family as soon as he gets back.

“There’s a decent risk it’s too late to start a family with the woman I love,” admitted Pedersen. “It’s not game over, but we’re pushing the limit of biology.”

“We feel like we have enough between the two of us to live a long and happy life, and we don’t need to start a family, but if Le became pregnant then that would be a bonus,” he added.

Pedersen said that out of the entire trip, the only regret he had was not being able to spend time with his family or friends.

“Before I left, my father was worried about my career,” recalled Pederson. “He didn’t think I’d ever work again or be taken seriously, but he got on board.”

“Telling my mom I was 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 instead will write a book about his experience.

“We’re all looking forward to me going home. I have to say Denmark is my favorite country, because it’s where I belong,” gushed the traveler. “I speak the language, my parents are there, and I know not to worry about spiders and snakes, and I know everything about it, which makes it a pretty good country for me.”