There are more than 190 countries in the world, and Cassandra De Pecol wants to visit all of them in record time. As Teen Vogue reports, the 27-year-old from Connecticut is attempting to become the first documented woman—and the fastest person—to accomplish the feat.
In 2010, Yili Liu from Ann Arbor, Michigan, completed the around-the-world journey in three years, three months, and six days, setting a Guinness World Record for “fastest time to visit all sovereign countries.” Now, De Pecol wants to break his record. She has visited 180 countries since July 2015, and is currently slated to finish her voyage—which she’s dubbed Expedition 196—in the next month or so.
How much does it cost to visit all of the world’s sovereign nations, along with Taiwan, Kosovo, and Palestine? According to The Daily Mail, Expedition 196 has cost De Pecol nearly $200,000. Hotel chains help her foot part of the bill, offering the traveler free lodging in exchange for promotion on her Instagram account. De Pecol is also filming a documentary of her voyage, which received funding from private contributors.
De Pecol isn’t just lounging on beaches, though. She’s serving as the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism’s Ambassador for Peace, and she’s teamed up with the Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation to gather samples from remote regions of the world. The traveler also tries to spend two to five days in each country, so she gets a sense of its culture and natural surroundings.
Follow De Pecol’s travels on Instagram, or visit her trip’s official website to keep track of her global adventures.
[h/t Teen Vogue]
November 10, 2016 – 2:30pm