203 countries in 10 years: How a Danish man travelled the world without taking a flight

‘How many countries have you travelled to?’ In a world struck by wanderlust, it’s a great ice-breaker question. Ask Denmark’s Torbjørn “Thor” Pedersen and his answer will leave you stumped. He has travelled the length and breadth of the world – a total of 203 countries. While the accomplishment is a feat unto itself, what’s even more noteworthy of Dane’s globe-trotting is that he’s done it all without ever taking a flight.

On 26 July, 44-year-old ‘Thor’ stepped off the 214,000-tonne container ship MV Milan Maersk at Aarhus, on the east coast of Denmark, completing his world trip, which took him a whopping 10 years to complete. On his arrival home, he said of his travels, dubbed ‘Once Upon A Saga’: “I’ve been dreaming about coming back home and having it over with and done. So that’s today. At the same time, I’m anxious about the future.”

But what prompted Pedersen to undertake such a journey? What were the hiccups he faced while travelling? Here’s what we found out.

The idea behind his world travel

Born to Scandinavian parents, Pedersen was born in Denmark before his family moved to the United States, returning to Denmark years later. He did his schooling in Denmark and then enlisted for the military.

Following his military stint, he found a job in the shipping and logistics sector – something he credits in understanding how to plan for his own globe-trotting trip. It was in 2013 that he received an email that would change his life forever. “My father sent me a link to an article and I clicked on it,” he had told Euronews earlier. “I quickly realised that no one in history had gone to every single country in the world without flying. The fact caught my interest and stuck with me.”

Soon, he packed his bags for a journey spanning 3.58 lakh kilometres and on 10 October 2013, Pedersen set out for his 203-country visit. For his ‘Once Upon a Saga’, he laid down three rules that he vowed he would not break: he’d spend at least 24 hours in each nation, live off a budget of roughly $20 a day and resist returning home until he finished.

Pedersen travelled by foot, car, bus, train and boat — including 37 container ships. At one point, he told ABC News, “At this point, for me, getting on board a container ship is not much different from getting onto a city bus.”

And where did he get the funding for such a massive project? According to his own website, a big part of his travel was self-funded – he says that shipping was a well-paying job – and in part by people’s generous donations and in part by Ross DK and Geoop.

From Denmark, he first set off for Germany and then began his journey across the world, which covered 203 countries. This includes 195 sovereign states (and an additional eight disputed territories) without flying.

It wasn’t all fun and games

But while globe-trotting sounds fabulous, Pedersen learnt the reality of undertaking such a trip was far from fabulous or simple. The ‘Once Upon a Saga’ journey has been tested by bureaucratic and logistical issues, civil unrest and unexpected hurdles like the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his years on the road, Pedersen endured months-long visa delays in places like Syria, Iran, Nauru, and Angola.

He also overcame a severe bout of cerebral malaria in Ghana, survived an intense four-day storm while crossing the Atlantic from Iceland to Canada, navigated shuttered land borders in conflict zones, and had to reschedule many sailings due to broken-down ships or exhausting bureaucracy. He also suffered a bout of malaria while travelling through central Africa and also grieve for his grandmother who passed away while he was travelling.

During his journey, he also complained of encountering racism and all this combined together almost made his quit his plan. However, a chance run in with a friend helped change his mind and he kept going.

His biggest hurdle in the journey was no doubt the COVID-19 pandemic. In early 2020, the Dane suddenly found himself stuck in Hong Kong for two years with just nine countries left. Speaking of his Hong Kong leg of the journey, he said to CNN, “It was the worst time of my life and the best time of my life, somehow. I had to cope with the situation – it was such a struggle to work out if I should abandon this project nine countries short of completion.

“I had to ask myself: how much of my life will I give to this? But while waiting for the world to open, I made a life in Hong Kong and forged so many special relationships.”

It was in Hong Kong that Pedersen also tied the knot with his fiancé, Le, who was back in Denmark, via a US-based virtual wedding service.

And after two long years finally on 5 January 2022, Pedersen was able to resume his journey, making his way to Palau.

The last country he visited was the Maldives on 24 May 2023 and it was from here that he set sail home.

Learning from his journey

Pedersen’s visit has racked up some interesting numbers: 3,576 days, 379 container ships, 158 trains, 351 buses, 219 taxis, 33 boats, and 43 rickshaws.

But for Pedersen it’s not the numbers that matter. For one, he says, “I am proud that I never gave up throughout all of this. I am proud that I was able to show the strength that was required.”

And he told ABC News, “Although there has been a lot of pain and disappointment, there has just been a great deal of knowledge and beauty and great experiences throughout all of this.”

He was quoted as telling CNN, “I stayed in the homes of many, many strangers during my travels on my trip, and I made it through every country in the world – the ones with armed conflict, the ones with virus outbreaks – unharmed. Either I’m the luckiest man on the planet, or the world is in a much better place than most people are led to believe by the scary, dramatic news on social media and news channels.”

He believes his achievement – reaching every country in a single journey without boarding a plane – might never be done again.

And does he plan to travel again? Not yet, is his answer. He plans on trading his life of perpetual travel and move forward in other ways. He looks forward to spending more time with his wife and starting a family together.

With inputs from agencies