The most travelled people on Earth

Whilst reading through a few blogs this morning I managed to stumble upon a website called mosttravelledpeople.com, essentially a worldwide ranking of the most travelled people who had signed up to the site. Participants of this website have agreed upon 872 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups, and major states and provinces and to have visited all 872 would mean that you have travelled the entire world. There are around 206 sovereign states that comprise the world, although this number is hotly disputed. The UN has 193 member states, the Olympic Games allow 204 nations to compete, the US State Department recognises 195 countries and the Traveler’s Century Club counts 321 destinations that are ‘politically, ethnologically or geographically different’. The 872 number includes destinations that even the most knowledgeable geographer wouldn’t have heard of. Ever hear of the Kuril Islands, Desecheo Island, Bjornoya and Ogasawara before? Probably not. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, no single person (they would have to be alone. Try finding someone to visit Guantanamo Bay with you…) has ever visited all 872 places listed by MTP.

Charles veley

The closest person to visiting all 872, and surprise, surprise the founder of MTP is an American man by the name of Charles Veley. He is currently, according to his own website, 45 stops from completing the definite list of every place on Earth. He still has yet to visit the Northern Cape of South Africa, the Punjab region of India and the island of Principe. All lovely, if rather obscure, destinations for a holiday. However, on the downside, he still needs to tick off (and run for his life from) Iraqi Kurdistan, Darfur and (now this really doesn’t sound fun) the Federally Administered Tribal Areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Call me unadventurous, but this doesn’t really sound like a place to go wandering around. However, with 827 countries, regions and islands crossed off the long list already, I’m sure he’s seen a few things in his time on the road.

Now I know what you’re thinking: ‘the man must be a millionaire to travel to so many places’. And yes, he is. Owner of a dot.com company, he set off to discover the world after making his millions and averaged 100 countries a year at one point. Despite slowing down his travelling lifestyle, he is still regarded as the world’s ‘Most Travelled Man’.

But why does it matter? Why go to some of the most desolate places on Earth, places that are uninhabited, just so you can ‘tick off’ a name? What is the motivation behind competitive travelling?

It is arguable that travel has always been competitive. The voyages of the Age of Discovery, Cook’s resolution to go ‘further than any man has ever been before’, Amundsen’s and Scott’s race to reach the South Pole, even the US and Russian race to land a man on the moon. Being the first to discover something or to do something ensures that your name is inked into the history books for ever more. In today’s world, after centuries of human development and with a population of 7 billion, it is almost impossible to do something that makes you the first. The world has been traversed in all possible formats and every little scarp of land has been trampled on. Think of a unique way to circumnavigate the world or to visit every country on earth and guaranteed when you ‘Google’ it somebody else will have done it.

The BBC News website magazine (which is brilliant, by the way) recently ran an article asking ‘What adventures are actually left?’

‘But genuine firsts in exploration are getting hard to find. The world’s greatest peaks have all been climbed.

The earth has been circumnavigated many times by plane, foot, bicycle and balloon, among other means of conveyance. Many of the major rivers, lakes and seas have been swum or canoed.

There are few genuine unknowns. Satellite navigation technology allows mankind to see almost every river, copse and hill.

So is there anything left to do? Something combining that potent mix of danger, novelty and a clearly defined natural barrier to overcome.’

 

As the article bemoans, many adventures have already been done. Swimming challenges still remain. Nobody has ever swum the Nile or the Congo. A Frenchman called Benoit Lecomte is planning to swim the Pacific Ocean (if there was ever a challenge, this would be it). However, there is a real difference between adventure and exploration. The Nile, the Congo and the Pacific have all been discovered and explored. By swimming these unimaginably large amounts of water you are not discovering anything new (although you may encounter a whole concoction of new diseases by swimming the Nile). Although, the pride of doing something that has never been done before remains an unquenchable desire. You are the first. Number one. Undeniably (although the validity of many adventures are denied by somebody) the person who will forever be remembered as the original conqueror of a particular challenge. This, understandably, holds a glamour to it. Like a journalist getting their name in print, adventurers lust after having their name printed after the words ‘The first person to…’ in the record books.

Graham Hughes

It’s something that can become an obsession. I’d like to name it Obsessive Compulsive Travelling Disorder. Similar to dromomania and commonly known as the travel bug or itchy feet, OCT is an incurable condition. The signs are clear in travellers just like Charles Veley. Where else could the determination to set foot on every conceivable region of land come from? Pointless as it may seem to some and inspiring as it may seem to others, a few people have embarked on missions to enter every country in the world. One I came across a while ago is Graham Hughes. Three countries to go, he’s in a bit of a pickle. But I’ll let him tell the story…