Thor Pedersen is the first person to visit 203 countries without using air transport, and this Sunday he advised young people who want to travel to believe in people, in their own intuition and to “smile a lot”.
In an interview with Lusa after returning from his 10-year trip around the world, the Dane said the best advice he could give to young people wanting to travel is that if they really want to, “follow the plan and do it.” “.
“A lot of people make excuses. When you go out, you have to stay positive, open and smile a lot. I guarantee it will change your world. Try the local food, learn a little of the local language and use it whenever you can,” he said. .
The first person who can travel to all countries of the world without using air transport and without returning home leaves other tips, for example, trust people, but above all trust your own intuition.
“The world is not a completely safe place, although I would argue that the vast majority of people we know are good-hearted people with good intentions,” he added.
When asked what the most important lessons have been learned from the past ten years of traveling around the world interacting with hundreds of different people, Thor emphasized reaffirming the truth of his Once Upon a Time project’s motto, which is that “An Outsider is a Friend.” You’ve never met before.”
“Dealing with people from all over the world is like playing a reverse lottery where you always win. It is possible to lose, but this almost never happens, and this is completely against all odds. People are just people concerned with ordinary things. for example, taking care of your family, doing work, studying, sports, music, food. I discovered that there was truth in Saga’s motto: a stranger is a friend you’ve never met before, he thought.
As for whether he would ever recommend a similar adventure to one of his children, Thor Pedersen was clear and said he wouldn’t recommend it.
“My life has been put at risk several times and I wouldn’t recommend it. The project required a lot of work and was very stressful.”
However, he recommended that everyone travel as much as possible to meet “more people”, “learn more about the world”, “learn new things”, “make new friends” and become “much more polite and tolerant of people and cultures”. .
Pedersen, however, stressed that he was “happy” to decide to carry out the project of traveling to all countries of the world without using an airplane and to complete the trip “successfully.”
The 44-year-old Dane has traveled to 203 official countries around the world over the past ten years, without resorting to air travel, without being able to visit his home in Denmark and with a stay of at least 24 hours. in every country.
During the project, Thor suffered from cerebral malaria, put his life in danger on more than one occasion, proposed to his girlfriend, who is now his wife, and resisted the temptation to abandon the project and fly home.
The Maldives was his 203rd and final country to complete a project called Once Upon a Saga, which aims to raise awareness of sustainable development and promote peace and understanding between different cultures.
Thor’s father asked him not to return home if he died while his son was doing the project because he would only see a dead body.
The Dane was in Portugal over the weekend to take part in a tourism event organized by the Association of Portuguese Bloggers (ABVP) in Guimarães.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Tifany Hawkins, a professional journalist with years of experience in news reporting. I currently work for a prominent news website and write articles for 24NewsReporters as an author. My primary focus is on economy-related stories, though I am also experienced in several other areas of journalism.