British man becomes first person to visit all 201 countries... WITHOUT using a plane

  • Graham Hughes, 33, used buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to travel 160,000 miles in exactly 1,426 days - all on a shoestring of just $100 a week
  • Yesterday he trudged into Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to end the epic journey that began in his hometown of Liverpool on New Year's Day 2009
  • Spent four days 'in a leaky boat' to reach Cape Verde, was jailed for a week in Congo, and was 'saved from Muslim fundamentalists by a Filipino ladyboy'
  • His lowest point was when his sister, Nicole, died of cancer two years ago
  • He says: 'I think I wanted to show that the world is not some big, scary place, but in fact is full of people who want to help you'

By Matt Blake

Published: 05:09 EST, 27 November 2012 | Updated: 04:09 EST, 10 December 2014

If anything can be said about record-breaking globetrotter Graham Hughes, it's that - throughout his travels - he's always kept his feet firmly on the ground.

The 33-year-old adventurer, from Liverpool, has become the first person to visit all 201 countries in the world - without using a plane.

Hughes used buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to travel 160,000 miles in exactly 1,426 days - all on a shoestring of just $100 a week.

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Finish line: Graham Hughes yesterday trudged into Juba, the capital of South Sudan, to end the epic four-year journey that began in his hometown of Liverpool on New Year's Day 2009

He spent four days 'crossing open ocean in a leaky boat' to reach Cape Verde, was jailed for a week in the Congo for being a 'spy', was arrested trying to 'sneak into' Russia and had to be 'rescued from Muslim fundamentalists by a Filipino ladyboy called Jenn'. 

And yesterday ended the epic four-year journey by crossing into Juba, the capital of South Sudan, which did not even exist when he set off from his hometown of Liverpool on New Year's Day 2009.

'I love travel, and I guess my reason for doing it was I wanted to see if this could be done, by one person traveling on a shoestring,' he told the Christian Science Monitor. 'I think I also wanted to show that the world is not some big, scary place, but in fact is full of people who want to help you even if you are a stranger.'

He has traversed the borders of all 193 members of the United Nations plus Taiwan, Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara and the four home nations of The United Kingdom - all without flying.

Guinness have now confirmed that Hughes, who filmed the expedition for a documentary and raised money for charity WaterAid, has achieved the world record for the 'Most countries visited in one year by scheduled ground transport'.

'The main feeling today is just one of intense gratitude to every person around the world who helped me get here, by giving me a lift, letting me stay on their couch, or pointing me in the right direction,' Hughes added.

His route: Beginning in Uruguay and ending in South Sudan, Graham Hughes traversed the borders of all 193 members of the United Nations plus Taiwan, Vatican City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara and the four home nations of The United Kingdom - all without flying

Feet on the ground: Hughes used buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to travel 160,000 miles in exactly 1,426 days - all on a shoestring of just $100 a week

Feet on the ground: Hughes used buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to travel 160,000 miles in exactly 1,426 days - all on a shoestring of just $100 a week

While all land transport had to have either wheels, hooves or sturdy rubber soles, he made the longer-haul voyages mostly by hitching lifts on cargo ships.

He even managed to blag a lift on a friendly cruise ship to the Dominican Republic.

Other highlights include dancing with the Highlanders of Papua New Guinea, befriending orangutans in Borneo, riding through the badlands of Kenya on an 18-wheel truck, meeting the Prime Minister of Tuvalu - and 'warning schoolchildren in Afghanistan about the dangers of men with beards'.

He says people tend to wonder how he got into the further-out countries like North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, but he says they were the easy ones.

Finally finished: Hughes says people tend to wonder how he got into the further-out countries like North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, but he says they were the easy ones

Finally finished: Hughes says people tend to wonder how he got into the further-out countries like North Korea, Iraq and Afghanistan, but he says they were the easy ones

Far tougher was negotiating routes into tiny island nations like Nauru, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the Maldives and the Seychelles 'where there were sometimes pirate threats'.

He says there were low points on the trip such as 'sitting in a bus station in Cambodia at one in the morning or riding some awful truck over bad roads' when he thought: 'Why am I doing this?'

The lowest point came when his sister, Nicole, died of cancer two years ago aged just 39. He broke the trip to hurry home to see her.

'I’d done 184 countries and had only 17 to go and I thought why not leave it there? (...but) she told me not to stop,' he added.

But having finished his journey, he has no intention of buying a plane ticket any time soon and says he now plans to 'keep in the spirit of the adventure' and travel through Africa some more before getting the ferry home from Ireland just in time for Christmas.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 1,426 DAYS: GRAHAM HUGHES' TRIP... IN ORDER!

Bolivia: The Death road from La Paz to Coroico

Bolivia: The Death road from La Paz to Coroico

SOUTH AMERICA

1. Uruguay

2. Argentina

3. Paraguay

4. Bolivia

5. Chile

6. Peru

7. Ecuador

8. Colombia

9. Venezuela

10. Brazil

11. Guyana

12.Suriname


THE CARIBBEAN

13. Trinidad & Tobago

14. Grenada

15. St. Vincent & The Grenadines

16. Barbados

17. St. Lucia - Martinique**

18. Dominica

19. St. Kitts & Nevis

20. Antigua & Barbuda

Antigua: He visited palm fringed beaches in The Caribbean

Antigua: He visited palm fringed beaches in The Caribbean

St. Martin/Sint Maarten

British Virgin Islands

US Virgin Islands

21. Dominican Republic

22. Haiti

23. Jamaica


CENTRAL AND NORTH AMERICA

24 Mexico

25 Guatemala

26 El Salvador

27 Nicaragua

28 Honduras

29 Costa Rica

30 Panama

31 Belize

32 The United States of America

33 The Bahamas - The Conch Republic**

34 Cuba

35 Canada


EUROPE

36 Iceland - The Faroe Islands**

37 The Netherlands

38 Belgium

Cape Verde: He spent four days on a 'leaky fishing boat' getting to this Atlantic isle

Cape Verde: He spent four days on a 'leaky fishing boat' getting to this Atlantic isle

39 France

40 England*

41 Wales*

42 Ireland

43 Northern Ireland*

44 Scotland*

45 Luxembourg

46 Germany

47 Denmark

48 Sweden

49 Norway

50 Finland

51 Estonia

52 Russia

53 Latvia

54 Lithuania

55 Belarus

56 Poland

57 The Czech Republic

58 Slovakia

59 Hungary

60 Romania

61 Moldova

62 Ukraine

63 Bulgaria

USA: He saw a space shuttle take off in America

USA: He saw a space shuttle take off in America

64 Greece

65 Macedonia

66 Kosovo*

67 Montenegro

68 Serbia

69 Albania

70 Croatia

71 Bosnia & Herzegovina

72 Slovenia

73 Austria

74 Liechtenstein

75 Switzerland

76 Italy

77 Vatican City*

78 Malta

79 Tunisia (Africa)

80 San Marino

81 Monaco

82 Andorra

83 Spain

84 Portugal


AFRICA

85 Morocco

Estonia: Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the most northern of the Baltic states

Estonia: Tallinn is the capital of Estonia, the most northern of the Baltic states

86 Western Sahara*

87 Mauritania

88 Senegal

89 Cape Verde

90 The Gambia

91 Guinea-Bissau

92 Mali

93 Guinea

94 Sierra Leone

95 Liberia

96 Côte D’Ivoire

97 Ghana

98 Togo

99 Benin

100 Burkina Faso

101 Niger

102 Nigeria

103 Cameroon

104 Chad

105 Central African Republic

106 Equatorial Guinea

107 Gabon

108 Saõ Tomé & Principé

109 Congo

110 Democratic Republic of Congo

Kenya: Masai Warrior in red standing near Acacia tree

Kenya: Masai Warrior in red standing near Acacia tree

111 Angola

112 Namibia

113 South Africa

114 Botswana

115 Lesotho

116 Swaziland

117 Mozambique

118 Zimbabwe

119 Malawi

120 Zambia

121 Tanzania

122 Comoros

123 Madagascar - Reunion**

124 Mauritius

125 Rwanda

126 Burundi

127 Uganda

128 Kenya

129 Ethiopia - Somaliland**

130 Somalia

131 Djibouti


MIDDLE EAST AND ASIA

132 Saudi Arabia

Afghanistan: He warned Afghan children 'of the dangers of men with beards'

Afghanistan: He warned Afghan children 'of the dangers of men with beards'

133 Egypt (Africa)

134 Sudan (Africa)

135 Jordan

136 Palestine*

137 Israel

138 Syria

139 Lebanon

140 Turkey

Iraqi Kurdistan**

141 Iraq

142 Cyprus (Europe)

Northern Cyprus**

143 Libya (Africa)

144 Algeria (Africa)

145 Georgia

146 Armenia

147 Azerbaijan

148 Kazakhstan

Karakalpakstan**

149 Uzbekistan

150 Kyrgyzstan

151 Tajikistan

152 Turkmenistan

Papua New Guinea: He danced with highlanders from Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea: He danced with highlanders from Papua New Guinea

153 Afghanistan

154 Iran

155 Kuwait

156 Bahrain

157 Qatar

158 United Arab Emirates

159 Oman

160 Yemen

161 Eritrea (Africa)

162 Pakistan

163 India

164 Bangladesh

165 Bhutan

166 Nepal

Tibet**

167 China

168 Mongolia

169 South Korea

170 North Korea

171 Japan

172 Taiwan*

173 Vietnam

174 Cambodia

Borneo: He befriended orangutans in the jungle

Borneo: He befriended orangutans in the jungle

175 Thailand

176 Laos

177 Burma

178 Malaysia

179 Singapore

180 Indonesia

181 Brunei

182 The Philippines

183 East Timor

West Papua**


OCEANIA

184 Papua New Guinea

185 Solomon Islands

186 Australia

New Caledonia**

187 Vanuatu

188 Fiji

Wallis & Futuna**

189 Tuvalu

190 Kiribati

191 Marshall Islands

192 Samoa

Hong Kong: He also saw some of the world's biggest and brightest cities

Hong Kong: He also saw some of the world's biggest and brightest cities

American Samoa**

193 Tonga

194 New Zealand

195 Nauru

Northern Mariana Islands**

Guam**

196 Micronesia

197 Palau

Hong Kong**

Macau**


THE FINAL FRONTIER

198 Sri Lanka

199 The Maldives

200 The Seychelles

201 South Sudan

* Not a member of the UN, but still counts towards The Odyssey 201.

** Dependency, Territory, Semi-Autonomous Region or Largely Unrecognised De-Facto State. Does not count towards The Odyssey 201.

(Source: Hughes' website The Odyssey Expedition)

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Well-Done & CONGRATS, Hughes 'My-Man!' A one of a-kind Champion U-are indeed. U-Done-it! :: What many would have said could not be done... What Admirable Zeal & Persistence, is Yours... An Example For Us-All! "For He's a Jolly-Good Fellow, and so say All Of Us!!" My Heart-Deep CONDOLENCES, Re: Ur Sister's Passing (Oh So Young!). We certainly hope She had Her "HEAVEN'S PASSPORT," According to THE ETERNAL WORD, Ready ( 2Corinthians 1:3,4; St John 3:16 & 14:6). My Prayers For Our CREATOR-FATHER'S LASTING PEACE & COMFORT, To Saturate Each Family Member & Friend! One Naturally Wonders: What Will Your Next Adventure Be? May Victory Be Yours Always! B-BLESSED!

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Live life to the extreme end of fullest life. But he needs to be careful of the Lawrence of Arabia syndrome Reminds me of Magellan, and his aide, the mysterious Enrique de Malacca

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In reply to "whatever happened to Gibaltar & Greenland" , they are not countries but part of Britain & Denmark respectively.

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Love to do this, however I am not brave enough.

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cannot see Greenland or the artic continents and maybe more.

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cannot see Greenland or the artic continents and maybe more.

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Now that's what you call a traveller!

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A true inspiration to all those boring farts who win millions on the lottery and don't travel!

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Is he any relation to Forrest Gump?

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you've got to take your hat off to him

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