The incredible story of a globe-trotter

The seasoned traveler will always have a story to tell, but few will find themselves being robbed at knifepoint by four teenage boys, held at the Libyan border because border-control officers believed they were a CIA spy, or solicited for a bribe at the Congo border for not having proof of a polio vaccine when no such proof is required.
Cassandra de Pecol, a 27-year-old American, set out on July 24, 2015, to establish a Guinness World Record by visiting 196 countries in less than three years and three months. That is less than six days per country, not counting air travel, flight delays and airport overnighters.
“When it comes to these 196 countries, sure I don’t get to see everything, but most people don’t,” she said, having spent her entire life more or less sheltered in the US until she embarked on her adventure.
“I was in Jordan for two days and met with the mayor of Amman, gave a keynote session to the students of Mashrek International School, traveled three hours to the Dead Sea and another three hours to Petra, experienced the bazaar, the Archaeological Museum, mosque and several other sites, while getting probably a total of 10 hours sleep.”
De Pecol’s mission is to break the Guinness World Record for the “fastest person to travel to every sovereign nation,” and also to be the “first documented woman” to do so. Traveling as a “peace ambassador” for the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, she promotes the “Peace Through Sustainable Tourism” program to university students who are studying tourism and hospitality.
De Pecol’s goal is to visit all 193 sovereign nations plus Taiwan, Kosovo and Palestine. She is to further responsible tourism, including tree-planting and collecting water samples to test for the presence of micro-plastics.
De Pecol will participate in filming an educational documentary and writing a book series, to be used in part with a toolkit in high schools and universities worldwide. Most importantly, she wants to inspire women worldwide to pursue their dreams despite societies’ limitations.
Making the most of every moment
The urge to travel solo is in De Pecol’s blood: “I think I was just born with this desire to have to see the world, cultures and environments.” Her maternal grandfather was a world traveler his entire life, and liked visiting lesser-known and dangerous places. A great aunt liked traveling to lightning-rod countries such as Afghanistan. Her parents, no strangers to wanderlust, were “100 percent supportive” of her desire for speed travel.
De Pecol prepared herself by traveling, of course, but also by taking Ironman 70.3 triathlon training and self-defense classes. The logistics for such a trip takes careful planning. “This expedition is a matter of maximizing every single moment that I have within a given day,” she said.
“It all comes down to two words: Time management. One could spend Saturday and Sunday chilling at home watching Netflix, or traveling to five places within one country, or five countries within those two days.” De Pecol lived in the US for 27 years and has not visited every state.
“In 2011, I lived and worked in Peru for two months and only saw Lima, Cusco and Machu Picchu,” she said. “It also comes down to budgeting. If I had an unlimited budget, I’d probably spend at least five days in each country, but I don’t, since all funding has been accumulated through sponsors and investors for the documentary I’m filming, all on my own.
“It’s also a priority for me to give keynote sessions to students, promoting the good of cultures through my YouTube videos, planting trees and collecting water samples to test for micro-plastics. I wear many hats, and while the general public might think that two to five days is nothing, think twice, and do a little bit of research on my expedition.”
The travel budget
De Pecol encourages tourists to travel alone to experience more, talk to more people, learn their stories, and have time to reflect and think. Between the ages of 21 and 23, she saved $2,000 as a lifeguard and babysitter in between studying to allow herself to travel to 25 countries on her own. She made it a point to travel off the beaten path and live in eight different countries, working whatever odd jobs she could find.
“I really took the time to immerse myself in the way of life of these countries, sleeping in train stations, not eating much so I could put that money toward another experience,” she said. However, this expedition has a different core value: To serve humanity and herself. “I choose to give myself, my all, on this expedition, even if it means spending less time in some countries so I have the funding to get to the next.”
De Pecol is working with a $198,000 travel budget funded by sponsors and independent investors for the production of the educational documentary. It took her a year and a half to obtain all the sponsors and funding. Sponsors include airlines and hotels. Investors have also contributed to the production of the documentary. Some sponsors want promotions in return, some do not. In November, she visited Riyadh and Kingdom Tower. She spent a weekend in the city, when the places she wanted to go to were closed to women. She also experienced a rare Saudi downpour, yet the wet weather did not prevent her from meeting people.
“Many Westerners think women can’t enter alone, but they can. I did. I’d like to go back, but to Jeddah next time,” she said. “The Middle East is my favorite region. The food, the landscapes, the religion, the people, the culture, everything about it I’m fascinated by.”
De Pecol also found Pakistan fascinating, and unlike the stereotypes perpetuated in the West. “Pakistan has been the country I like the most, and the one I feared the most to visit,” she said. “Everyone in the US has negative ideas about Pakistan and fears to visit the country, but things are very different. People are overwhelming and loving, I had a great experience here. Each (country) is fascinating in its own way.”
Bizarre adventures
De Pecol recalls a flight from New York to Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. A woman had died aboard the plane on the way to Haiti, but about 200 passengers were booked to fly the same plane on the return flight to New York on the same day. The fight was canceled and everyone was put up in a hotel. The next day, the passengers returned to the airport, stayed in the terminal all day, and were “a bit delirious at that point.” Things went from bad to worse. The plane was nearly fully booked, but three adjoining seats were left vacant because that is where the woman had died. The food on the plane had gone bad, so the flight crew grabbed sandwiches from the airport cafe and sliced them up with a knife. “It was so chaotic and strange,” she said.
One bathroom was closed because someone defecated all over the stall. The entire plane smelled so strongly that flight attendants handed out coffee filters for people to breathe through.
De Pecol is expected to have visited all the 196 countries by the end of this month. She said she found her hosts kind and humble. She has spoken to more than 12,500 students and dignitaries across 33 countries, and continues to be approached by young people about how they can pursue their dreams.
“As a young woman, I like to think I can set the standard for young women worldwide to pursue a quest or dream that’s out of the norm or that everyone tells them they shouldn’t do,” she said. “It’s my job to leave a legacy behind that positively influences future generations of innovators, entrepreneurs and trendsetters, especially women.” With her experience, she hopes to develop a Universal Student Internship program to address climate change, efforts to secure peace and justice, and incorporate sustainable development.
“Traveling makes us more open-minded and accepting of others,” she said. “It also embraces our childhood curiosity to dive into new and different experiences, and learn from them. Aside from being rejuvenating for our mind, body and soul, we’re able to take time to understand places and people that are uniquely different.”

Source :Arab News