Disclaimer: This information usually does not escape the pages of a journal. I’ve always thought that people are only interested in curated content; words and images that have been preplanned and perfected. I’ve recently been encouraged to share the less picturesque side of what it takes to plan and prepare trips around the world. I’m going to share with you the mundane, the details behind my journey to becoming the youngest person to travel to every country.
As I write this I’ve been sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic for hours on my way to San Francisco from my small town in northern California. I’m heading to the city for appointments to obtain a new passport and a Chinese visa. This will be the fifth passport I’ve had in my life. I’m applying for a new, expedited passport because the passport I have currently has around 50 stamps from countries around the world. These stamps are the most significant evidence I have to submit to Guinness World Records. I am applying for a new one because I am terrified I would lose this important document on my upcoming Asia trip.
Losing this passport could potential compromise my entire record breaking mission. Passport stamps have been the source of so much anxiety throughout my mission because I technically need a passport stamp for every country. There are 24 passport stamps in my childhood passports that are ineligible. By this I mean that the customs officers in 24 countries were careless and did not have enough ink on their stamper to be able to make out words or a date… This is one of my biggest problems I’m facing and this could mean that I will have to return to countries that I have absolutely traveled to already in hopes of obtaining more significant evidence.
Anyways, I’m learning so much right now about what it takes to be properly prepared before leaving on an extremely complicated trip. I have spent almost every dollar I have ever made in my life on 45 airplane tickets… I’m all in and there’s no turning back now. I leave on December 30, 2017 for 29 countries in Asia and the South Pacific (not including transit through Guam and Australia).
Heres the list of countries:
- Indonesia 2. Malaysia 3. Singapore 4. Philippines 5. Brunei 6. Timor-Leste 7. Laos 8. Myanmar 9. Bangladesh 10. Bhutan 11. Nepal 12. Sri Lanka 13. Maldives 14. Qatar 15. China 16. Mongolia 17. South Korea 18. Taiwan 19. Palau 20. Papua New Guinea 21. Micronesia 22. Marshall Islands 23. Solomon Islands 24. Fiji 25. Vanuatu 26. Tuvalu 27. Samoa 28. Tonga 29. Nauru
I will need visas for China, Nauru, possibly Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Qatar and Myanmar with visa on arrival in most other countries. I have honestly fallen quite behind on my applications and trip planning in general. I waited to book my flights for almost two months trying to entice my friends to join me at some point. I was hoping to plan this trip around other people so I wouldn’t have to spend two months alone. I ended up screwing myself over doing this and now I have to try to get out of this hole I got myself into. Since I waited for too long the prices for the airline tickets have almost doubled. I did convince my amazing friend Eleni to join me for the first, dreamy two weeks starting in Bali for New Years and ending her portion of the trip in Palawan, Philippines.
I have to plan out everything from the 45 connecting flights to every hotel I will be staying at to make sure I don’t mess anything up along the way or end up without a place to stay. On top of all that, I want to make sure I see as many significant points of interest in these countries as possible. Wasting time = wasting money. This means hours and hours of research to orientate myself in each country and learn their transportation systems and plan out my time management in order to see how far I will be able to get into the country until I need to be back to the airport to catch my next flight.
One of the most helpful tools I use when planning a trip and looking for the most beautiful places to visit is Instagram’s “Collections” feature. I follow hundreds of travel accounts and whenever I see a beautiful photo with a location tag within a country that I’m traveling to I save it to my “Asia Trip” collection. Once I have found a ton of places I take the locations and mark them all on Google Maps. Then, when I know exactly how many days I have in the country I see how far away the locations are from the airport I will be flying into. Prioritize what you couldn’t live without seeing for yourself. Notice if there are groupings of interesting places and go to where you can see the most in the shortest amount of time.
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My mental state in a word: Nervous. Having to travel this quickly and with purpose has taken out a little of the fun, carefree aspect of traveling. Right now I’m so focused on making this trip happen I haven’t gotten excited about the experiences I'm about to have. I know all this will change when I get to the first destination, Bali, Indonesia. At least, that is, if there isn't a massive volcanic eruption that cancels that portion of trip. I also have anxiety about traveling alone for a month and a half. I see women doing this all the time without having any problems but not as much in these countries that are less visited. I am going to get to know myself in a way that I never have before and it will force me to grow exponentially as a person. I can feel the subconscious stereotypes and prejudices slip into my mind but I acknowledge them and keep pushing past them. I have already traveling to 96 countries on every continent and have yet to meet any scary or unforgiving situations. I know in my heart that these countries will be kind to me regardless of these intimidating US travel warnings…
This is what keeps me up at night. Its not thinking about who I’m going to meet or how nice the beaches and resorts are going to be. I worry about being raped and kidnapped every day. I’m exhausted from this trip (mentally) and I haven’t even left home yet. I question if breaking this world record is worth risking the incredible life I already have. I could have lived comfortably for at least a year without working with my savings but instead I spent literally all of it on this trip. Nonetheless, this is the path I have chosen to take and I will not be turning back now.
“ Successful people make important, life-changing decisions every day. To make these decisions, they gather facts and figures, they consult with experts, they check and recheck data. But in the end, they have to go with what their gut tells them is best. You have to be tuned into your natural instincts to know whats best for you. So if you want to play in the big league, you have to learn to trust your gut.”
The stakes are higher than they have ever been. My gut is telling me its time to pack my bag and get on the plane in 19 days.
