VISIT EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD

Two Women Visit Every Country In The World!

On November 19th, 2022 they accomplished this monumental task!

To put it simply, Rach (Rachel) and Marty (Martina) are an inspiration! They are among less than 300 recorded individuals on the planet who have visited every country in the world! To top it off, less than 10% of those are female, PLUS they are both the first women in their respective countries to accomplish this feat.

I reached out to them and asked them if I could write an article about their exciting endeavor, and they readily agreed. I am grateful to them for taking the time to offer me some frequently asked questions about their accomplishments, which I have used to form the basis of this article.

When exactly did you start this round-the-world journey?

We officially set off on a journey to visit every country in April 2018. At that time, we had already visited 109 countries and decided to travel the world for the next two years to see the remaining countries. We had planned to finish in early 2020, but then the pandemic stopped us, and it took us another 2.5 years to reach the final ten countries as we had to wait for them to open borders again after the pandemic.

I think I first started following Rach and Marty on Instagram at the end of 2018. Back then they had quite a few countries left to visit and through 2019 they were constantly checking them off of their list.

Then, with just 10 countries left to go, Covid hit and derailed their plans.

I was impressed by how they patiently waited for the pandemic to pass us by. It must have been so agonizing knowing that they were so close to their goal, yet they couldn’t do anything about accomplishing it.

Of course, there was nothing they could do but wait for borders to open back up, which they finally did in 2022. They then made the final push to the finish line. On November 19th, they touched down in Samoa, their 195th country and the final one on their list!

How did it feel to reach Samoa and be the first Australian and Slovakian women to visit all UN-recognised 195 countries?

It felt surreal to finally reach the last country on a journey that has taken many years. But honestly, we were so excited and emotional when we finally arrived and so happy to spend a week on this beautiful tropical paradise island.

To read all about their exciting arrival in Samoa, check their website link below at www.veryhungrynomads.com:

Although Rach and Marty sometimes would only spend a few days in a country, they did their best to get as in-depth of an experience as they could. Despite the fact that they traveled on a budget, they still managed to have local guides show them the best places to see.

I read on your website that you had a general budget of USD $50 each per day. Was this doable? Were there any financial challenges as travellers like hidden costs etc?

It was doable in many countries, but then other countries, it was very challenging to keep to that budget. For example, paying for visas in many African countries was very expensive and something we couldn’t avoid. We travelled to many countries via overland routes to keep costs down, but there were times when we had to book short-haul flights in some regions to ensure our safety as crossing overland borders would have been foolish. Taking the short haul flight option was often expensive though and, once again, out of our control as there are limited options for getting around in many parts of the world.

The Pacific is a very expensive region to travel. With limited flight schedules, regular cancellations and very high prices for basic hotels and activities once you’ve arrived — it really blows the budget very quickly.

They also befriended locals and would get to places that many travelers likely won’t get to because of it.

What’s been the average length of stay in each country? What country were you in the longest?

We planned to spend 5–7 days per country, as many of the remaining 88 were small island countries.

We spent virtually 3–4 months in countries such as Italy, Thailand, and Mexico and places like Argentina, Peru, Iran, and Morocco 2–3 weeks. Micro nations such as Monaco, Vatican City, and San Marino didn’t require a long stay at all. Naturally, some countries offer more to see and do than others.

Of course, women have a bit of a harder time traveling around the world. We are subject to much more harassment and potentially dangerous situations than men might be. But they didn’t let that stop them! In fact, when asked about their unique challenges as women, they certainly aren’t focused on the negatives of that aspect.

What have been some unique experiences/challenges as women travellers?

Well, where do we even start? There were so many unique experiences. We swam with stingless jellyfish in Palau. We enjoyed a home-cooked lunch in Afghanistan when a local woman invited us to her home. We saw incredible wildlife in South Africa, visited the ancient pyramids in Sudan, and explored some wonderful sites in Syria, Lebanon and Libya. We’ve got memories to last a lifetime for sure.

Of course, there are always misconceptions about traveling that people have and their aim is to dispel those myths. I couldn’t agree more with their thoughts below as we have certainly experienced the same in our past 5 years of full-time travel.

Were there some misconceptions or underrated travel experiences encountered?

Absolutely. Most people think that the world is a very scary and dangerous place. And it doesn’t matter if you ask someone in Vanuatu, Morocco or Bolivia. This is probably the biggest misconception. From our experience, complete strangers are more likely to help you than harm you, and the world is a much better place than we believe.

And when it comes to underrated travel experiences, the lesser visited countries and destinations offer so much more to see, do and experience. We’d say that off-the-beaten-path travel is much more rewarding.

It was Rach and Marty’s big smiles and upbeat attitude that drew me to their Instagram account in the first place, but I also liked their handle: Very Hungry Nomads. As foodies ourselves (check out my food publication here), I was keen to learn about the food that they encountered around the world. I didn’t even know at the time that they were trying to visit every country!

Their website is a wealth of traveling information and I, particularly like these sorts of in-depth articles about food that they have added to it:

While I really have no desire to visit every country in the world (we travel way too slowly!), I couldn’t be prouder of Rach and Marty’s accomplishments. They are huge role models for many people, especially women, and I love knowing that such kind-hearted and caring individuals are paving the way and showing us all just how great it is to travel.

What’s your advice to other aspiring travellers who want to visit all 195 countries?

Research is the key, and it’s an ongoing task. Plan your trip according to seasons too, as you don’t want to be travelling overland in West Africa during the wet season, as the roads are in terrible condition. At the same time, it’s not so enjoyable to be hopping through the Caribbean in cyclone season or travelling in the Middle East during summer when the heat is unbearable.

Join some Facebook groups of people with the same goal in mind. They can be a good tool for sharing helpful information that is difficult to find anywhere else. Visit travel blogs for updated information too — our travel blog www.veryhungrynomads.com is a good place to start with travel resources, advice and tips about visiting every country.

And if you are looking for more travel tips, this article from their website has some great advice:

I can imagine that after accomplishing such a huge feat, it would be difficult to figure out what to do next. But it looks like Rach and Marty have some more travel plans up their sleeves and I’m sure they will start thinking about going back to places that they loved to spend some more time in them.

What’s the plan now?

Currently, Rach is back in Australia spending time with family for the holiday season, and Marty returned home to Slovakia to do the same. Marty will be back in Oz in early January and we’ve got some travel plans in the works for 2023. Our main focus is to work more on our online travel business, our travel website, Very Hungry Nomads. We plan to publish more articles here with our best travel tips, knowledge and resources. We aim to share what we’ve learned about travelling to every country so that everybody can see more of the world too.

If you haven’t been following Rach and Marty, you really should be! You can find them on Instagram, Facebook and on their website www.veryhungrynomads.com.

Please join me in offering these ladies a huge CONGRATULATIONS!

Thank you Rach and Marty for your commitment to travel and for inspiring so many others to just get out and see the world!

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