Captain Cook, and Magellan’s crew and the ficdtional Phileas Fogg circled the globe, but their journeys pale a bit next to that of Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen who just returned from visiting every country in the world, without flying.
A Dane who spent ten years on the road, at least 24 hours in each country, and on a self-imposed budget of about $20 a day, Pedersen returned to Aarhus, Denmark on a huge container ship sailing from Malaysia to Denmark, a 33-day trip in itself.
In Pedersen’s words: “In my cabin, I looked out the porthole in Malaysia, and it dawned on me that every day the view would gradually change until it finally became Denmark. Even if I broke my leg at that point, I would make it home. There are no more snakes, wild dogs, malaria, or visas to secure—I just had to avoid falling overboard!”
He originally expected the trip to take four years, but found it stretched by long waits for visas, including a 7500-mile backtrack to cross a border before a visa expired, and by occasional illnesses. A big delay was two years stuck in Hong Kong waiting out pandemic restrictions.
His arrival was cheered by about 150 people, including his wife Le and his father, siblings, friends, project partners and many supporters who have been following his blog, Once Upon a Saga. Le joined him at a few points on his trip; he proposed on Mount Kenya in 2016 and they were married in 2021 in Vanuata.
