2011: The Final Frontiers

THE TRAVELOMETER

The Odyssey Expedition

"We all dream about travelling the world. But some dreams are bigger than others."

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My name is Graham Hughes. I'm an adventurer, filmmaker, travel blogger and TV presenter from Liverpool, England. On January 1 2009 I crossed the River Plate into Uruguay and began The Odyssey Expedition: The first official Guinness World Record™ attempt to visit every sovereign state on Planet Earth without flying.

That's the 193 members of the United Nations plus Taiwan, Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara and the four home nations of The United Kingdom. A staggering 201 international borders crossed by foot, bus, taxi, train, ship or canoe. No planes, no helicopters and no hot-air balloons.

Along the way I shoot and present the TV show Graham's World for the National Geographic Adventure channel and raise funds for the registered charity WaterAid.


I travel alone, without any back-up and on a shoestring budget of less than $100 a week. I keep costs down by CouchSurfing and hitching rides on cargo ships whenever possible. It doesn't get any more real than this.



It has been an adventure of epic proportions. I spent four days crossing open ocean in a leaky wooden boat to reach Cape Verde, I was imprisoned for a week in Congo and was arrested whilst attempting to sneak into Russia.

I ran the blockade into Cuba, blagged my way into Eritrea, ran around Iraq with an AK-47, spent seven days in Tibet and warned schoolchildren in Afghanistan about the dangers of men with beards.

I met the Prime Minister of Tuvalu, rode on top of a 18-wheeler through the northern badlands of Kenya, hitched a ride on a cruise ship to The Dominican Republic, joined a Bwiti tribe in Gabon, screamed at the ocean in El Salvador and watched a space shuttle blast off in the USA.

I've fed the crocs in Australia, hunted the dragons of Komodo, befriended the orangutans in Borneo, played with the lemurs in Madagascar, washed the elephants in India and eaten live octopus in South Korea.

I tip-toed into North Korea, took the slow boat to Nauru, danced with the Highlanders of Papua New Guinea and was rescued from Muslim fundamentalists in The Philippines by a ladyboy called Jenn.

I also set the Guinness World Record™ for 'The Most Countries Visited in One Year by Scheduled Ground Transport'.


But it's not over yet!! Having completed the Pacific leg of the journey, I am now racing back to Liverpool, crossing the four "final frontiers" along the way: Sri Lanka, Maldives, Seychelles and finally South Sudan, the newest nation on Earth.

You can read my latest blog entries, follow me on Twitter, watch my videos on YouTube and look out for my TV show. Tell your friends, tell your family, shout it from the rooftops - I'M ALMOST THERE!!

The rules of The Odyssey Expedition, as set by the nice chaps at Guinness World Records™

• - I cannot fly


• - I may not drive


• - I must use scheduled ground transport


• - I must step foot on dry land

WaterAid

I'm raising money for the charity WaterAid, a UK-based registered charity fighting to alleviate the disease, misery and death caused by open sewers, contaminated drinking water and lousy sanitation in developing countries around the world. If you enjoy these blogs, then please give give give.



It's shocking that in 2012 millions of children are still dying unnecessarily from diarrhoea - one of the most preventable and cheaply treated diseases in the world. A donation of just one dollar would pay for a simple sugar-salt solution which could genuinely save a child's life.


The Odyssey Expedition's JustGiving account ensures that 100 percent of the money you donate goes directly to WaterAid.