196 Nations, 1426 Days, 160000 Miles, ZERO Flights… Meet Graham Hughes

Travelling for Graham Hughes is above our usual definition of two or three or five trips a year. Way above. While we count travels in a year, he counts years in a travel. The 34 year old resident of Liverpool has visited 196 countries in the world. This unimaginable distance of one lakh sixty thousand kilometers was covered hitching rides on cars, rails, cargo ships, cruise ships, a leaky fishing boat (for 4 days en route Cape Verde) and of course, on his two fortunate feet. Here's the happy tripper...

While we can talk for years about this extraordinary jaunt, here are the 10 highlights worth knowing from Graham’s journey:

10. Graham visited 196 countries, including all 193 members of United Nations, plus Vatican City, Kosovo, Western Sahara and Taiwan.

9. He was on a resolute weekly budget of $100.

8. Graham managed all cross continent commute by hitching rides on Cargo Ships. One friendly cruise ship even took him to Dominican Republic, on the house.

7. He has made the Guinness world record for ‘Most countries visited in one year by scheduled ground transport'.

Graham records the first week of his journey, from Uruguay to Peru

6. While in Congo, Graham was jailed for a week. Authorities thought him to be a spy.

5. In Philippines, Graham was rescued from Muslim Fundamentalists. His rescuer was a Filipino ladyboy called Jenn.

4. Some experiences that Graham recalls include making friends with orangutans in the jungles of Borneo, dancing with the highlanders of Papua New Guinea, warning the school kids in Afghanistan about men with beards and meeting the Prime Minister of Tuvalu (a Polynesian Island nation).

3. Contrary to our preconceived notions, Graham says entering North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan was easier than making it to nations like Maldives, Seychelles and Nauru.

2. The lowest point of Graham’s trip was when his 39-year-old sister Nicole died of cancer. He had to break his trip to see her.

1. Graham ended his four-year journey in Juba, the capital city of Southern Sudan, a country which didn’t exist when he started from home (1^st January 2009).

Graham in Juba, truly deserving this toast

Graham's exploits and a lot more about him can be seen on his website. Follow him on Twitter to see other interesting things he’s doing in life.