Many of us harbour desires of setting off and travelling the world, seeing mountains and oceans and meeting people from a range of cultures.
Unfortunately, even those of us with the most distracting cases of wanderlust will struggle to squeeze in all our dream destinations, with financial constraints and adult commitments stopping us from dashing to the airport.
However, one extremely well-travelled and adventurous young woman has shown it can be done, and could officially become the youngest person ever to journey to every single country on Earth, subject to Guinness World Record verification.
As reported by Forbes, Lexie Alford has travelled to each of the world’s 196 sovereign nations by the age of just 21.
This would beat the Guinness World Record set by James Asquith, who, on July 8, 2013, managed the feat at the age of 24 years and 192 days old after landing in the Federated States of Micronesia.
Lexie smashed the record after touching down in the final country on her list, North Korea, writing the following celebratory caption on Instagram:
OFFICIALLY TRAVELED TO EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD.
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
It’s crazy to have years of hard work culminate into one single moment. I’m so grateful to everyone that’s helped me get here. The greatest chapter of my life is coming to a close. Cheers to a new beginning.
As a child, Lexie would travel widely with her family, with her parents keen on familiarising her with different ways of life.
According to Forbes, Lexie said:
My parents placed a lot of importance on exposing me to every way of life around the world and that had a very profound impact on the person I am today.
I’ve always had a curiosity about other people’s ways of life and how they find happiness.
Travels with her family took Lexie from Dubai to Cambodia, Egypt to Argentina. However, breaking records hadn’t initially been her focus, she had just wanted to travel.
Lexie told Forbes:
Honestly, in the beginning, I simply wanted to push the limits of what I thought I could do with my life and see as much of the world as possible in the process.
It wasn’t until things started getting really challenging that I realized I was inspiring people around me, especially young women.
Feeling that support meant that I couldn’t give up when things got tough. I was determined to show everyone that the world isn’t as scary as the media portrays it to be and that there’s kindness everywhere.
Well, my summer plans feel rather boring now…
If you have a story you want to tell send it to UNILAD via story@unilad.com
Jules studied English Literature with Creative Writing at Lancaster University before earning her masters in International Relations at Leiden University in The Netherlands (Hoi!). She then trained as a journalist through News Associates in Manchester. Jules has previously worked as a mental health blogger, copywriter and freelancer for various publications.