At 34, Torbjørn Pedersen embarked on a seemingly impossible journey that would take 10 years – and involve cerebral malaria and being held up at gunpoint. He reflects on the highs, the lows and the joy of getting married en route
Fascinating story of a Danish traveler who visited every country on Earth, only by land and boat.
He would be acting as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross, raising awareness of its work in 199 countries and encouraging people to give blood.
“I was born to do this.” Pedersen had lived in three countries by the age of seven – Denmark, Canada and the US – and spent holidays in a fourth, Finland (his father is Danish, his mother Finnish).
He started to work all over the world: in Bangladesh, Greenland, the Arctic Circle, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as Florida and a number of European countries.
Pedersen had to explain to him that this wasn’t an extended gap year; he would not be “sitting on a beach with long hair, playing a guitar and smoking something I shouldn’t”.
As he ticked off countries, moving into Central and South America and to the Caribbean, his “no flying home” rule began to bite.
But overland travel has become more difficult, he says, thanks to increased border security, stricter rules on container ships and disappearing ferries.
The original article contains 2,368 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 93%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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He would be acting as a goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross, raising awareness of its work in 199 countries and encouraging people to give blood.
“I was born to do this.” Pedersen had lived in three countries by the age of seven – Denmark, Canada and the US – and spent holidays in a fourth, Finland (his father is Danish, his mother Finnish).
He started to work all over the world: in Bangladesh, Greenland, the Arctic Circle, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, as well as Florida and a number of European countries.
Pedersen had to explain to him that this wasn’t an extended gap year; he would not be “sitting on a beach with long hair, playing a guitar and smoking something I shouldn’t”.
As he ticked off countries, moving into Central and South America and to the Caribbean, his “no flying home” rule began to bite.
But overland travel has become more difficult, he says, thanks to increased border security, stricter rules on container ships and disappearing ferries.
The original article contains 2,368 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 93%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!