- 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’
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.
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.
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
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