After 1,458 flights and 1,117 buses and trains, one man has done what many can only dream of – travelling to every country in the world. By the age of 30, Drew Binsky had travelled to all 197 countries, with the incredible journey taking just under 10 years.
The 33-year-old, who hails from Dallas, Texas, defined countries by the UN’s official list – which is 193 recognised sovereign states, as well as four he had added on, Kosovo, Palestine, Taiwan and Vatican. The additional four are the “most recognised” of unrecognised country, he told CNBC.
Binsky – whose real name is Drew Goldberg – is about the 250th person to complete this impressive task. The well-travelled community refer to themselves as the “every country” club, and he is friends with a portion of them.
The final country Drew travelled to was Saudi Arabia, where he spent two weeks. However, he spent a varying period of time in each country he visited.
“The average is about a week,” he shared in an interview with CNBC, as he touched down in his last destination.
“There are about 10 countries that I spent more than three months in, and I spent more than six months in Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Czech Republic.
“But some of them — Luxembourg, Monaco, Liechtenstein, and there’s a couple of countries in the middle of South Africa — you can go in and do everything you want to do in 24 hours. In the future, I plan to stay a minimum of two weeks because you can really soak it in.”
However, out of all of the incredible countries he visited over the decade, one stuck out in particular, naming this Asian country as his favourite. “I would say the Philippines,” he told UNILad.
“I think it’s the most beautiful country in the world, super safe and full of nice people. It’s like everything you could want in one country.”
Drew’s favourite part of his travels was engaging with local people, and learning about different cultures. “I really like visiting indigenous tribes, because it shows a different side of the world is not so consumed in technology and electronics,” he continued.
“It’s humbling to meet people and see how they’re living in faraway places; I plan to keep visiting them [indigenous tribes] mostly in Africa, but also in South America and India.”