Man Travels The Globe Without Flying

British adventurer visits all 201 sovereign states

 A British man who went on a four-year odyssey has become the first person to travel to all 201 sovereign states in the world without flying, the Christian Science Monitor reported.

Graham Hughes, 33, arrived in South Sudan early Monday, capping off his 1,426-day journey. A Liverpool native, Hughes traveled 160,000 miles using only buses, boats, taxis, trains and his own two feet, the Monitor said. He also managed the trip on less than $100 a week.

Hughes told the Monitor he decided to attempt the trip without flying to “see if this could be done by one person traveling on a shoestring.”

Some highlights included: swimming in a lake of jellyfish in the Pacific archipelago of Palau, seeing a NASA space shuttle launch, dancing with the jungle tribes of Papua New Guinea.

The challenges: traveling home to be with family after his older sister’s death midway through the trip, being jailed for six days in the Democratic Republic of the Congo because officials suspected he was a spy, and navigating island countries amidst pirate threats.

Hughes’ experiences were filmed as part of a documentary.

Hughes will stay in South Sudan until Wednesday before beginning his trek home to Liverpool. In an effort to “keep in the spirit of adventure,” he will not be flying, the Monitor said.

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