Lynn in Leptis Magna, Libya. (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
Lynn Stephenson swapped her two-bed city home for hotels and hostels around the world after she got the travelling bug.
The 61-year-old has visited 168 countries so far but hopes to chalk the remaining 27 off of her list within the following year.
Lynn worked in admin at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court while also juggling a part-time fitness instructor role but gave it all up in 2022.
She sold her semi-detached town house in Carlton, Nottingham, and pocketed £136,000 after her mortgage was paid off – using the profit to fund her travels.
Now Lynn’s amassed a small following as she documents her travels – with over 12,000 people following her across Facebook and Instagram.
Most recently she’s been island hopping around the South Pacific, where she claims to be the only white tourist.
She has also swam with manta rays and sharks, visited a leprosy camp and spent time with a tribe in Vanuatu who are “obsessed with Prince Philip”.
Lynn in Vanuatu. (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
Lynn, who only has brothers back in the UK, said: “I lived in Carlton for 40 years, I’m originally from the North East but moved to Nottingham at 19.
“I did my first round the world trip in 1992, it was a whole different world then without internet and mobile phones.
“You had a guide book and tried to find yourself somewhere to sleep.
“After I sometimes go off for bits and bobs. I did an around the world trip in 2003 too.
“But it was in November 2022 that I decided to sell up. It was always on the radar and what I wanted to do.
“It was a case of lets just spend this money before I get old.
“Covid gave me the complete push that I needed to do it, I had never believed that you could lockdown the entire world.
“When lockdown was lifted on July 3, 2020, I was on a plane to Italy on July 5.
“I absolutely love it, every day is an adventure. It’s not all fun and games, things can go wrong.
“It makes me very calm travelling. I’ve had to replace passports and credit cards.
“I sold the house in Carlton. I already had the flight booked for the day of completion, I had everything in storage and I was flying that day.
“The house sale was £136,000. That’s all I’ve used it for.
“I’ve got £30,000 of it left, and I’ve got 27 countries left, so hopefully that’s going to last me.”
Lynn in Angola. (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
Lynn manages to visit roughly 30 countries a year and says she can make do with as little as £20-a-day.
Since she began her journey in 2022, Lynn has ticked off Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan.
Her most recent adventure has been on the remote island of Nauru where hotel rooms can fetch up to £130 a night due to scarcity.
Lynn added: “I’m in the South Pacific now and it’s expensive. Whereas in Asia it would be really cheap, it’s swings and roundabouts really.
“Some places in the South Pacific you haven’t got a choice. There’s three hotels here and you haven’t got a choice. You can pay £130 a night.
“The equivalent in Asia is £20-a-night, or even less.
‘The world is full of really kind, hospitable people’ (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
“My favourite thing about travelling is just realising the world is full of really kind, hospitable people.
“Despite what media tell you, it’s a safe place. Iran is my favourite country. You have to separate the government from the people.
“Everyone on the street wanted to chat to me and openly criticise the government, even though there’s secret police.
“The country is full of the nicest people.
“The Galapagos Islands are amazing, too, definitely. I went for eight days and stayed for 16.
“Where in the world can you swim in the same day with penguins, sharks and sea lions. They have the giant tortoises and I saw a seahorse.
Swimming with sharks in Maldives. (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
“I think it’s really difficult to pick your favourite country. How can you compare Papua New Guinea to Italy? They’re completely different.
“The ones that got me were north Pakistan because it was spectacular, and actually Moldova, too.”
Lynn has only returned to the UK on a handful of occasions where her planning has allowed and says her next stop is Australia before tackling most of central Africa.
Lynn added: “My brothers are used to it, I’ve been doing it for 40 years, so they’re used to me taking off to some country they haven’t heard of.
“I don’t get frightened very quickly. In Bosnia in the 1990s I had machine guns pointed at me and I had a wee in a minefield.
“There’s going to be a couple of countries I’m going to struggle getting to, like Haiti and North Korea, which hasn’t opened back up. I have walked in the DMZ but I need to go into it.
Posing at Easter Island. (Image: Lynn Stephenson / SWNS)
“There’s a couple in the Central African Republic which are a bit dodgy. I’m off to go to Australia to see some friends that I met on my travels. I’m there for a couple of weeks.
“I’m going to do Bangladesh and Brunei. Then in February I’m going back to Africa. I’m off to South Sudan and tick off as many as possible.
“I’m hoping I can finish it in the year. I average 30 countries a year. That’s doing it quite slowly as well.
“Some of it is easier, but some of it requires lots of planning.”
Lynn hopes to carry on travelling after she completes her epic world tour by revisiting some of her favourite places.