One Man. Every Country. No Flights: Graham Hughes at TEDxSheffield

On New Years Day 2009 Graham Hughes, set off on an epic journey from his hometown of Liverpool. His plan was to travel to every country in the world without the use of a plane. He used buses, taxis, trains and his own two feet to travel 160,000 miles and 201 countries in exactly 1,426 days - all on a shoestring of just $100 a week.
Nearly fours after he set off, Graham finally made his way to South Sudan, a country that was actually created whilst he was on his Odyssey, to end his adventure in November 2012. Along the way Graham shot an 8-part TV show for Lonely Planet and wrote about his adventures on his award-winning blog, theodysseyexpedition.com. And while there were many high points along the way, he reached his lowest point when his sister, Nicola, died of cancer just over two years ago in the middle of his quest. Returning back to Liverpool to see her, he considered ending the Odyssey then, "but with only 17 countries left to visit, she wanted me to finish the journey, no matter what." And so he did.
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[@georgus1187]

The comments saying he's a fraud and that he wasted his money are stupid. His primary aim was to visit every country and to raise money for water aid which is what he did. He never said he wanted to experience the culture of every country, he can do that later

[@10MillionMilesJourney]

This is very interesting as I am doing exactly the opposite. I quit my 9-5 job and started a Quest to visit every country in the world ... while travelling 10,000,000 million miles in the process. I am a commercial aviation enthusiast, hence the second goal. But it's not just about flying, I am off to Japan to drive all over it in a rented micro camper van and recording the journey on my camera. Than I am off to USA to drive Route 66. And then, who knows!

[@glasstide3538]

+10 Million Miles Journey Godspeed pilgrim!

[@10MillionMilesJourney]

GlassTide Thanks!

[@NyamwangeOmbuna]

+10 Million Miles Journey Make sure you highlight your experience for the world. Personally will be waiting coz I look forward to doing the same in near future.

[@svenlima]

+10 Million Miles Journey I like the idea, it's interesting - but I hate the waste of fuel/energy. Sorry.

[@cricuts1]

Iranian Grandma was awesome. Respect.

[@Sunsetblvd-gm7gd]

There are of course pros and cons in his means of travels. Some will say he's just traveling to tick off the list, be done with the record and didn't get to "absorb" anything. Rightly so. But "travel" has a different meaning from one person to another. My means of travel will differ from my parents' and yours. Kay Cottee--the first woman who sailed solo around the world non-stop only saw the ocean during her travel. Do we say her travel is pointless? Some travel for fun, some travel to get lost, some travel to find themselves, some travel to write their name on Guinness. There's no rules in traveling. There's no the "right way".

[@wesleydoogan5654]

True but if you listen to his talk he said he spent, 6 weeks in Cape Verde alone, he spent a week or 2 here there and everywhere. Some places he moved through and some he had to stay, sometimes in jail. His journey took 4 years. I would never say this guy didn't absorb anything from his travels, in fact I would say he's probably absorbed more than the vast majority of "wanderlust" travelers who fly into south east asia or south america and think they have seen the world.

[@nigelmurphy6761]

Absolutely true. Just ask Michael Palin.

[@lovingstylinson]

Incredible! I bet there'd be some legendary stories in your travels!

[@sakuravoyage]

Great! The most important thing here is that it is possible to travel WITHOUT planes and creating a disgustingly huge carbon footprint. Amazing

[@irenehughes7112]

Brilliant, so proud.

[@brian9]

You've got to go to Liberland now and also you've been to 6 Continents... You have to go to Antarctica! And then you are the true master

[@ivongr]

The country of Dubai. Always learning........

[@veronikaj1089]

amazing 👍

[@MrMan-cl3zc]

I really want to go to Tuvalu! 🇹🇻

[@5alid212Qtr]

;) i plan to do the same. travel around the world without flying. but ill stay in every country and experience the place first. this guy was just ticking off his list.

[@5alid212Qtr]

every country in the world

[@petrisavero4382]

WOW !!!

[@nadiadimartino4935]

I hate travelling this way. I want to live the place with time. What's the value of travelling in a hurry like this. You're just missing out.

[@Majdar]

+Nadia Di Martino I think you missed the point... He wanted to do something no one else in the world ever did. That's why he did it this way.

[@nadiadimartino4935]

I got the point but I still dislike it if you allow me :)

[@NyamwangeOmbuna]

+Nadia Di Martino I also thought so. I'd want to stop at every place, live and experience their life before I move to the next place.

[@Prudenprocom]

I can value you thoughts, I completely agree with what you say & also agree with the other dude.

[@svenlima]

+Nadia Di Martino It's a question of definition: What this guy did was not "travelling"; it was kind of sport: being the first as fast as possible. You are comparing a stroll in the park with a 100 yard race. Usain Bolt is not running through a city when he's on a holiday and he does not want to visit Boston when he's running there for 100 yards. For sure Graham Hughes also likes travelling the way you do when he's travelling - what he did not in this case. I have my own experiences in this field: I have been cycling 20'000 km through 40 countries so far and people tell me the same thing: "When I'm on holiday I want to relax ...". I agree with them: WHEN I'm on a holiday I want to relax too but travelling by bike is not just a holiday, it's collecting a lot of experiences in a short time, and it's sport, and it's meditation (on dull tracks). And when I come across something interesting I can stop and enjoy it as you do.

[@imnw2263]

surprised you got all the visas so quickly!

[@TheDeathOfPassion]

english seth rogen look-a-like (without the laughter)

[@naseerahmad5461]

BOSS

[@LWood42]

He didn't do it non-stop though. There's a guy stuck at 194 countries because of the virus but he's hanging in there and almost done. Over 6 years now. Once Upon a Saga. Check him out!

[@yahyabahsh669]

I am thinking of doing something like that but i would prefer staying longer in the countries, experience culture and learn the languages

[@ahmedkrack2528]

Wait wait wait.. Can someone tell which animal it is at 12:23 ?? Am I dreaming or it looks a lot like dinosaurs ??

[@LostontheRoute]

RAPTOR JESUS

[@brunosco]

They aren’t moving (zooming and slowing down the video), so I guess they are statues/sculptures of raptors.

[@yerohjalloh1194]

Wow i want know all the countries in the world

[@benverret7968]

Great! Who needs an airplane anyway haha?

[@shlomowilbur6581]

What about Thailand?

[@DriZZelDesigns]

Platinum Trophies? No problem, hold my beer.

[@herbertsmith4202]

fucking amazing

[@earlgrey2130]

Mhm.. i feel like nobody travels to experience the world anymore. It seems that travelling nowadays is all filming yourself, blogging about yourself, taking selfies and doing stuff so you can talk about yourself later on. How can you learn about the world when the center of your attention is always yourself instead of the world? "i managed to go to 7 countries per day" .. sure.. he "checked off" a lot of countries. And he can claim extreme ammounts of countries visited. But it's not about the number of countries. It's about what you've learned about the world. And he told us nothing about the world in his entire talk. No insights except for one single sentence that was already written long before him. Nothing.. all he talked about is himself. All his videos only featured himself talking about himself.

[@jacobburke1260]

he's just demonstrating you can go places without flying. yeah a lot of people like to document and film the places they go so they can share their experiences and re watch them when they leave. who cares why they travel, it's what they enjoy, at least they're getting out in the world.

[@las347]

Samurailord I agree with you...I stopped watching when he said I traveled 7 countries in one day. Now I understand if you look at travel as a list of things to accomplish but if you see it as an experience about culture, people, places running thru countries might be a bad idea.

[@nadiadimartino4935]

las347 I also stopped at that point!!

[@TheGreekAstoria]

Samurailord I disagree with you buddy! I think that what today's bloggers do is great. In this way you get so much more information about places, ways to save money and it is also a motivation for you to realize that working 8 hours per day, 5 days per week is not worth it....

[@22airgun]

EarlGrey Amazingly, the blogs and videos help people pay for their trips. And it gives wanderlust people like me something to watch when we get fed up with Netflix lol

[@gazriley624]

silly accent? NO!! i love the Scouse accent

[@g0801215]

I’d like to see him try to get to sentry island.

[@danishajaib1923]

what is the point of travelling if you don't actually experience the place you've travelled to?

[@Kihidokid]

if a new country is made he has to go all the way to south Sudan and get to the nee country without flying

[@nieshapatterson2902]

Are those living Dinosaurs??? 12:23 are those real or a Jurassic park clip? Only one other person noticed it. Where were those animals recorded? If real.

[@JohnSmith-mg5ve]

+niesha patterson statues they also have those in Wyoming and colorado

[@LukeBrown6669]

Also thing is...in reality there is more then 201 countries...the United nations only has 198 that they acknowledge

[@siddharthsaxena8863]

Which are the others... how do you get to know about them..

[@yahyabahsh669]

@@siddharthsaxena8863 transnistria, south ossetia, abkhazia, somaliland, nagorno-karabakh

[@kennedyowino8383]

Well Done Graham! Watch out for me! come up with my own style of worldwide tour "John 3:16 One Song Mission Around the World"

[@LukeBrown6669]

Dude is sharing no stories...just rapidly telling how many countries he's visited with very little detail besides getting arrested a lot

[@kingloads]

This guy is mad. He did it just to tick places off a list. It doesn't seem like he even has exploration and expanded sense of self as goals. Maybe his added motivation was to make himself look adventurous and cool by constantly videoing himself, but he just looks like an inconsiderate dolt.

[@hiramdunn4596]

damn bro salty to the bone... sizzle

[@brandonporter550]

@@hiramdunn4596 Text book envy.

[@RhythumDancer]

so boring..

[@lovingstylinson]

That's quite rude of you, isn't it!

[@RhythumDancer]

lovingstylinson oh well, could be. Ed March rules !!

[@jdub421]

What a huge waste of time and money. Spend a lot of time on buses and ships an not get the chance to really learn or see anything much of anyplace. Anyone impressed by this is not a real traveler.

[@PieMongo]

Maybe a waste for you, but not for him. Your opinion is not the only one that matters, jesus christ

[@LWood42]

You miss so much along the way when you speed past everything. Take it from someone who spent 3 years non-stop traveling. The journey is half the fun. That's where you see the real country and just the tourist traps.

[@anomalily]

@@LWood42 this guy spent over 4 years on this journey 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

[@dumont-dayotlaurent6192]

I feel sorry for you. You did travel to all the countries, but you have nothing to say about them. You didn't even spend time to learn about the culture, the people living there. 7 countries a day... when it takes me one month to barely understand a country. At the end of the day, you never really left america. You did it wrong

[@keni8109]

He's from the UK, stupid.

[@jmccann2368]

you thinking he was american makes people think youve never left your town

[@calumcooper6841]

If you think that's an American accent, your opinion hold no weight

[@zaksam88]

If you read his blog he did spend time in places, meet locals and see sights, he didn't just do it all in a week

[@yerohjalloh1194]

Wow i want know all the countries in the world