Cassandra De Pecol just became the first woman to travel to every country in the world
She’s also the fastest woman to travel the globe after breaking the previous record in over half the time!
Her epic adventure, which was called Expedition196, took a total of 18 months and 26 days
Cassie set out on July 24th, 2015, and she finished on February 2nd, 2017
She visited 193 sovereign states plus Kosovo, Taiwan, and Palestine
She was inspired to undertake her epic journey after backpacking through 26 countries in her late teens and early 20s
When she came home she ended up burning herself out working two jobs and 85-hour weeks
One day she drove to the office supply store and bought a large map of the world, which she pinned to her wall
“After staring at it…with a childlike sense of wonder, I decided to quit one of my jobs and start drawing lines connecting every country in the world to one another”
During the planning of her around-the-world trip, she received an endorsement from the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism
She became their Ambassador for Peace and promoted the institute during her travels
Although she only spent a few days in each country, sightseeing wasn’t a primary objective of Cassie’s trip
Much of her time was spent meeting tourism officials and politicians and speaking with university students
The institute’s goal is to mobilize the travel and tourism industry as a leading force for poverty reduction
Her journey cost her an estimated $198,000 USD (£160,000), a sum which was largely covered by sponsors
“As a young woman, I’d always dreamed to travel to as many countries as possible and make our world a better place,” she wrote on her website
“It bothered me though, that I could never figure out how to ignite this inner fire and make it happen”
“I became terrified as I envisioned myself at 80 years old, having not lead the life that I wanted while working towards making someone else’s dream a reality”
“Through a great deal of work, I was able to make this dream a reality”
“Despite what you may think, this Expedition has not been easy,” she wrote on Facebook
She’ll soon be launching a course to teach people how to find the funding to pursue your own dreams of traveling the world
Watch the video below for more info:
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