Of all the travelers I’ve interviewed, Thor Pedersen tops the list with the longest trip at a whopping 3,512 days. Along the way, Pedersen became the first person to visit every country without ever flying.

Prior to the incredible trip, Pedersen was already a world traveler, having been to more than 50 countries. Although he enjoyed travel, his goal for the big journey was doing something nobody has ever done. His decision to travel to every country on one continuous trip was more about the challenge than the actual travel, but that line blurred along the way.

Pedersen left Denmark in October 2013 and ended his journey nearly 10 years later in Copenhagen. Although he never returned home during the trip, one of his self-imposed rules, he had an extended stay in Hong Kong due to the pandemic. He even married his wife away from home three times in different locations, which added another interesting twist to his story.

Pedersen’s other travel rules included staying at least 24 hours in each country and a $20-a-day budget. These rules allowed Pedersen to experience a bit of each area. His budget made him focus on local food. This was all part of making him feel more like a local as opposed to a foreigner. Connecting and relating to the people was important to him.

In his memoir, The Impossible Journey, Pedersen shares his adventure. In our interview, he was quick to point out the book could never detail the journey, but it contains plenty of stories, pictures and lessons from the trip.

Although he naturally was physically and mentally exhausted at the conclusion of his trip, he fondly recalls the knowledge, beauty and care. One of his biggest takeaways is encountering help and kindness in every country. What started as a challenge finished with a new level of appreciation of travel and people around the world.

Talking Travel is an interview series on Global Traveler. Subscribe to the GT YouTube channel to be notified of all future interviews and other travel-related videos.

— John Wroblewski, podcaster