an exclusive adventure
Californian Lexie Alford, the youngest person in the world to visit all the countries that exist, admits that she started with an advantage. “Growing up, I spent a few months a year studying and the rest traveling with my family, who ran a travel agency and placed great importance on learning about other cultures and ways of life from an early age. Traveling has always been the most influential part of my life ”, tells the young woman to Traveler.es.
This very atypical childhood led her, at age 12, to start saving to travel on her own, so, when she came of age, she hit the road alone. It was then that she began to do accounts: she had already visited 72 states , and she had six years to break a record: to become the youngest person in the world to visit each and every one of the countries that exist, a total of 196.
“On average, I spent between three weeks and three days in each country. I would have loved to stay longer in each place, but since I myself financed the trips, my budget often determined how long I could stay in one place,” she recalls. She gives an example: for the same amount with which she spent a month in Indonesia, she could only spend four days in Yemen.
“It has to do with visa fees and expensive precautions you have to take, like sleeping in a hotel with 24-hour security or having an armed driver,” Alford says. “ It turns out that the least visited countries in the world are actually the most expensive to visit. she sums it up.
The traveler in Canada
At the beginning of her journey, the adventurer used her savings, but after a year and a half, she had already spent it. So, she started to work, and she did like photographer, blogger, TV presenter, speaker and influencer , generating content for companies in social networks.
In fact, she has almost 300,000 followers on Instagram, something that has not only served to finance her trips, but also to give her a little push when the going gets tough. “During my way, I had a lot of support from my online community, and her enthusiasm to see me succeed in this mission was very motivating, especially towards the end when everything got more complicated,” recalls Alford.
This support became even more important during her many trips on her own -so she toured 50 countries-, and although she believes that it is something that everyone should experience at some point in their lives for all the learning that it entails, she acknowledges that she prefers to travel with friends and family. “Some experiences are much more memorable when they are shared with the people you love,” she acknowledges.
“There were times when she made me nervous, getting on a plane to Iraq or Bangladesh, for example. But, whenever she was scared to go somewhere, she always reminded myself that there are kind and hospitable people everywhere ”, She tells us. In fact, in her experience, no matter where you are in the world, people usually welcome you and are proud to show you their country.
Thus, the memories that she treasures most fondly are those that have to do with "the hospitality that I found in the places that I least expected." One of them is Nigeria; the other, Pakistan. “From everything she heard on the news, she had this idea that Pakistan was a dangerous place. But, when I visited him, she surprised me their high level of friendliness and hospitality especially in rural areas”, recalls the traveler.
“Because the country is still developing its infrastructure for tourism, the locals haven't had enough of foreigners and their cameras , unlike what happens in other popular destinations, such as Italy and Japan. This created a very fun atmosphere, as I was also very curious to the locals, who were open to sharing their way of life.”
However, if you had to choose your favorite country, you have no doubt: it would be Egypt . “The richness of its history has fascinated me since I was a child, and I have always found the locals to be very welcoming. Every time I go back, I learn something new,” she explains.
Of course, wherever I travel, Alford always she prefers rural tranquility to the hustle and bustle of the big cities: "The first thing I like to do when I enter a country is to get as far away from the capital as possible to get an idea of the authentic culture and natural landscape," she tells Traveler.es.
Her favorite place in the world
After many adventures, the Californian has just achieved her goal of visiting each country in just three years, unseating, with 21, James Asquith, who held the title of youngest traveler in the world - he was 24 when, in 2013, Guinness certified his record. On that intense road, the hardest thing has been getting all the necessary visas , and that she was traveling with the powerful American passport: "My adventure made me realize that just having that passport is a huge privilege," says Alford.
“The visas for Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Venezuela were some of the most troublesome for me,” she recalls. She solved the difficulties by contacting other travelers who had already been there. “ I found many helpful people on the internet They gave first-hand information about the different companies with which they applied for the necessary papers and other specific advice that was crucial to get through all the red tape,” says Alford.
That's just one of the experiences she talks about in her first book, in the process of being written. In it she will collect her trip around the world, which will also help her create an online course with which she intends to encourage other young people to travel the planet. For now, she is taking a few months to digest everything she has experienced: “I am not the first person to travel to all countries. It is estimated that there are another 200 who have completed this goal. But, to put the achievement in perspective, suffice it to say that more people have been to outer space than have visited all the countries in the world ”, summarizes the adventurer.
Lexie Alford in Yemen