A few days before I set off on this silly adventure of mine I applied to the Guinness Book of Records to be the first person to visit every country in the world by land and sea. No flights allowed, I would have to make my way everywhere by the surface. I admit this is rather ambitious but what better way to spend the next few years of my life than traveling, writing, photographing and having fun, as well as the challenge of getting to the more remote places and trying not to back track. How would I get into Saudi Arabia, what about the conflict zones around the world, are some countries only accessible by air…? These were all questions that I pondered as I filled out my application.

I certainly know its possible, but I wondered if it had been done before. I checked the Records Book and found no such entry. I searched the Internet and found lots of very well travelled people but no such attempt. There is a club called the Travelers Century Club whose members have been to more than 10 places in the world, but visits are counted as just landing. If you look on http://www.mosttraveledpeople.com/ there are several millionaires who have flown or sailed all over the place. But travel isn’t about the miles, its about the smiles. I want to meet people, share the pain of 36 hour bus journeys, impossible border crossings, food and sleep deprivation, being seasick and bored. I want my bones to feel every mile and my aching limbs to appreciate every hard won bed bug filled bed. So it was with great joy that I finally received my reply from the Guinness Book of Records….

“Claim ID: 198752
Membership Number: 176873

Dear Mr Towner,

Thank you for sending us the details of your recent record proposal for ‘Wingless Wandering - Every country without a plane’. We are afraid to say that we are unable to accept this as a Guinness World Record.

While we certainly do not underestimate your proposal, we do however think that this item is a little too specialised for a body of reference as general as ours. We receive many thousands of record claims every year and we think you will appreciate that we are bound to favour those which reflect the greatest interest…”

Now some of you, dear readers, might think I found this turn of events to be disappointing and my dreams shattered. On the contrary, this meant that no such record existed, and my chance to claim it, with the Guinness approval or not was open. “If you chose to proceed with this activity then this is will be of your own volition and at your own risk.”

So there you have it, my plans have expanded. North, Central and South America are not enough, I must see it all! I will traverse these two puny continents and sail on to Africa and thence to Asia and Europe. When I have been to every country in the major continents I will somehow sail to the rest. I shall not rest.

The world will be mine!



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