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In 2013, Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen, left everything behind to begin an epic journey with one goal in mind: To visit every country on the planet.

The ambitious traveler only had three rules for his seemingly crazy voyage. He’d spend at least 24 hours in each nation, live off a budget of roughly $20 (R370) a day and resist returning home until he finished.

It must have seemed an impossible task to his girlfriend and family, but on 23 May, after nearly ten years of travel, Pedersen successfully visited his 203rd country, the Maldives, and began his long-awaited voyage back to Denmark.

Instead of flying, the explorer took the somewhat romantic decision to head back by ship, a means of travel he believes harks back to the old days when people could see it on the horizon and stand and wave as they come down the gangway.

After celebrating in the Maldives, the 44-year-old backtracked to Malaysia via Sri Lanka to board the massive MV Milan Maersk for the 33-day voyage home. “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,” says Pedersen.

Among the cheering crowds who greeted him was his wife Le (Pedersen proposed to his girlfriend atop Mt Kenya in 2016 and they married in 2021), his father, siblings, friends, project partners, and many supporters who have been following his blog on social media.

 

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“I’ve seen many tearful eyes since I got back – people have come up to hug me sobbing,” says Pedersen. “I have also received a lot of gifts – Danish beer, milk, foods – and got to meet people who have been following my social media from Colombia, Australia, Norway… that was amazing.”

Before taking off in 2013, Pedersen worked in shipping and logistics, which turned out to be invaluable expertise when planning the complex route and adapting on the road.

In fact, he didn’t divert much from his original plan, aside from a few surprises.

For instance, he overlooked Equatorial Guinea, one of the world’s most difficult countries to enter. After four months and many failed attempts, Pedersen finally acquired a visa.

He had originally anticipated it would take four years to reach 203 countries (the UN recognizes 195 sovereign states, but Pedersen included partially recognized states, too), but the world had other plans.

Pedersen endured months-long visa delays in places like Syria, Iran, Nauru, and Angola and also overcame a severe bout of cerebral malaria in Ghana. He survived an intense four-day storm while crossing the Atlantic from Iceland to Canada, navigated shuttered land borders in conflict zones, and had to reschedule many trips due to broken-down ships or exhausting bureaucracy.

 

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The poor guy’s plans were even thrown astray by Covid when he got stuck in Hong Kong.

“I look back at Hong Kong, and it’s a bit of a paradox. It was the worst time of my life and the best time of my life, somehow. I had to cope with the situation – it was such a struggle to work out if I should abandon this project nine countries short of completion.”

On January 5, 2022, Pedersen was finally able to leave Hong Kong and continue across the Pacific.

From start to finish, Pedersen tallied up some incredible statistics during his travels:  3,576 days, 379 container ships, 158 trains, 351 buses, 219 taxis, 33 boats, and 43 rickshaws.

But it’s not about the numbers, says Pedersen. It’s about celebrating the kindness of people and sharing a positive outlook on the world.

“I set out on this journey with a motto, ‘A stranger is a friend you’ve never met before,’ and I have been shown time and time again that this is true,” he says. “If you engage with people, they’re usually all in.”

“Either I’m the luckiest man on the planet, or the world is in a much better place than most people are led to believe by the scary, dramatic news on social media and news channels.”

As he embarks on a new chapter, Pedersen is also working with Canadian filmmaker Mike Douglas to wrap up “The Impossible Journey,” a documentary on the project, and plans to write a book about the odyssey.

What an incredible achievement, and a testament to stubbornness. Whatever this guy is planning to take on next, we’re sure he will make a success of it.

You can read all about his amazing trip on his blog, Once Upon A Saga.

[source:cnn]