A lot of people would do basically anything so they could travel to their dream destination. There are people who want to visit Paris, France, so they could get a glimpse of the very romantic tourist spot, the Eiffel Tower. There are people who want to visit Japan, because of their rich culture and amazing extraordinary food.
There are people who want to visit Australia, because of their breath-taking beaches, amazing weather, and of course their incredible wild life. Every person has their own reason for wanting to go to a certain place, but would you believe that there is actually someone, a woman in particular, actually managed to travel every country in the world, and she is only twenty-seven years old. Let's find out more about her, shall we?
[su_quote class="cust-pagination"]“I choose to live my life in a unique way. To live an iconic, low key lifestyle where I do what I want, when I want, and inspire those long the way.” – Cassandra De Pecol, activist, blogger, speaker, explorer[/su_quote]
CASSANDRA DE PECOL
This young woman from Connecticut, United States, is the world’s very first person to actually visit every sovereign nation in the world from July 24, 2015, to February 2, 2017, which makes her a Guinness World Record’s fastest time to visit all sovereign nations, as well as the fastest female to visit all sovereign nations.
At the age of twenty-seven, she also became the youngest American and the youngest American woman to actually made to every sovereign country in the world. She was born and raised in Connecticut, United States. She graduated high school in 2007 and went to three different universities, Long Island University, Green Mountain College, and Santa Barbara City College.
[su_quote class="cust-pagination"]“As a younger woman, I'd always dreamed to travel to as many countries as possible and make our world a better place. It bothered me thought that I could never figure out how to ignite this inner fire and make it happen.” – De Pecol on her dream[/su_quote]
JOURNEY TO THE WORLD
She left university to travel to Europe for two years and realized that it is actually something that she had always wanted to do. When she came back from Europe, she tried working in Rurrenabaque, Bolivia as a foreign aid intern, she also worked in Ecuador as an advisor at an eco-hotel. Regular jobs were definitely not meant for her, so she did everything she could to be able to do what she had always wanted, and that is to travel the entire world.
In an interview with Money, De Pecol said that it took her almost two years to plan her journey to the world, and it was too far from being easy. Her trip all over the world cost her exactly $111,000 and she managed to get that amount of money from two babysitting jobs and with the help of a bunch of sponsors. It hasn't been easy for her, Cassandra stated that there are times that she never left the airport due to money matters.
There are also times that she doesn't have enough money for food and that she considered giving up and just coming home. Obviously, all these struggles didn't stop this American brave-heart. At the age of twenty-seven, she didn't just get a world record, but she managed to spread peace all over the world. She spoke to over 16,000 universities as a peace ambassador in forty countries on behalf of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism.
However, not everyone was impressed by her. A lot of people criticized her for booking a large number of flights while staying for a certain country for such a short while. It didn't stop her though, she even documented her travels on Expedition 196, which is her blog that obviously inspired a lot of people because of her humanitarian goals, she documented her travels as well for keepsakes.
[su_quote class="cust-pagination"]“The initial goal of traveling to every single country is not nearly as meaningful as was at the start. Looking into the eyes of the youth and hearing them realize their potential and limitless possibilities through listening to me speak.” [/su_quote]
What do you think of her great journey all over the world? Did it inspire you in any way? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment.