This 21-Year-Old Woman Became The Youngest Person To Visit Every Country

By
Ariel H
-

Born in a small town called Nevada City, California, Alexis “Lexie” Alford has been traveling since she was very young, along with her family who has a travel agency business.

At the age of 21, she broke the Guinness World Record for youngest person to travel to every country on earth, when she visited North Korea, the remaining country on her list, on May 31, 2019.

Alford has already traveled to 72 countries by the time she was 18. So in 2016, she started working on her ambitious goal to travel to ever part of the world and beat the record held by James Asquith, who achieved the feat in 2013 at 24. As for the finances, Alford said that her travels are self-funded.

“I always knew I wanted to take time off to travel so I’ve working every job I could find and saving since I was 12 years old,” she shared.
Alford has been working as a travel consultant in her family’s agency and while traveling, she works as a blogger/photographer.

After accomplishing her biggest dream so far, she’s taken some time off. She’s also writing a book about her incredible adventure. Check out her Instagram for more updates.

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Nothing but LOVE from every country in the world!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When I started traveling, I never imagined that so many wonderful people would come along on my journey. Now it feels like YOU all are right here with me. I’m so humbled and grateful for that. There’s so many parts of the world that are completely off the radar for most tourists. Because of the media, people assume that places like these are off limits due to conflict and security threats. I hope by sharing my experiences that I can help encourage people to think twice about misunderstood countries. There really is so much KINDNESS everywhere! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Countries included in this post: #Madagascar, #Turkmenistan, #SaudiArabia, #Guinea, #Pakistan, #Jordan, #Uganda, #Ethiopia, #IraqiKurdistan & #Uzbekistan.

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Motorcycle adventures through the Canadian Rockies 🇨🇦 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It rained, it shined, we ran out of gas on the side of the highway and we had the time of our lives😆 my brother @meat_iomc is a part of a motorcycle club and they have chapters throughout North America. At first I was a little hesitant to call up some people I’ve never met and come stay in their home to explore a place I’ve never been. But wow. Just wow. People are so unbelievably kind! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Here’s a pro travel tip: if you want to travel somewhere but don’t have a lot of money, think about your family’s friends, friends of friends. Any distant connections you might have anywhere in the world. Then put yourself out there & ask if you can come visit. Chances are you’ll find yourself being welcomed like family with home cooked meals and once in a lifetime experiences. How about that, eh? #alberta #weekendwarriors

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BIG ANNOUNCEMENT 😆 Today is the beginning of the 7 day count down until my last country, #196 North Korea!! After months/years of trying to get around the only US travel ban, I finally have the opportunity to go to the North Korean conference room (in the legendary “blue house”) in the Joint Security Area of the Demilitarized Zone between North & South Korea. It feels a little anticlimactic to only be taking a step into the country but I’m grateful to have the chance to break the world record soon rather than having to potentially wait for years to visit properly. These words feel surreal as I’m writing them. I’ve been having so many crazy thoughts and feelings about all this I don’t even know how to process it all. Seems like a perfect way to start honoring all the inherent highs and lows of adventure, and beautiful unpredictability of journey between the two. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photos by @angelanunninkphotography

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Misunderstood creatures 🐍 I honestly did a terrible job planning my trip in Sri Lanka. I usually try to get away from cities and tourist traps to get a more authentic feel for the country I’m visiting. Choosing the path less traveled can occasionally/inevitably lead to unexpected complications, wasted time and frustration. Sometimes we miss once in a lifetime opportunities. Sometimes our experiences don’t live up to the expectations we created in our minds. And that’s to be expected! Being able to accept that things didn’t go the way you wanted them to and making the best of it anyway is a really important life lesson traveling has taught me. This photo reminds me that even mistakes can result in something awesomely unexpected😊

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This was one of the most rewarding hikes of my life! I’ve always been a mountain enthusiast & Northern Pakistan has some of the most epic mountains in the world. Literally though, Pakistan is home to more than 100 peaks over 7000 meters (23,000 ft.)!🤯 In the top right corner of this photo you can start to see the summit of Nanga Parbat, also known as “Killer Mountain” because of the notoriously difficult climb. It’s the ninth highest mountain in the world at 26,660’. The first person to summit it wasn’t until 1953 and no one was able to summit it again for another 10 years. I didn’t realize there’s such a cool history left behind on these mountains by the crazy humans that are addicted to the thrill of being on top of the world ⚡️

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Guinea Bissau was the last country out of 54 countries in Africa I visited for the record 🙌🏼 West & Central Africa is, in my opinion, by far the hardest areas of the world to travel in. The visas were tricky, there’s very little infrastructure for tourism, the language barrier makes matters even more complicated and believe it or not, this is also the most expensive area in the world to travel. There’s not many flights, hotels or guides so the operators have the market completely cornered. They can pretty much set whatever outrageous price they want because there isn’t very many options (besides maybe grueling & potentially dangerous bus rides). West Africa especially is the kind of place where even the most popular “destinations” are obscure (if you know, you know😂). But hey, I can genuinely say that traveling in this area of the world thickened my skin more than literally anything in my life ever has. And I’m grateful for it. Not sure when the next time life will pull me back to West & Central Africa, but when it does, I’ll be ready 💪🏼

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What does your perfect travel day look like? For me, it starts by waking up somewhere I’ve never been before. I’ll wander down the streets seeking out the perfect cup of coffee. Then I’ll hopefully find myself adventuring near the ocean, a waterfall or in the mountains with friends. Seemingly endless backroads will have us driving fast, windows down, our heads sticking out singing at the top of our lungs. We’ll snap photos and try strange & amazing foods while learning about another beautiful corner of the world, ideally from the perspective of a local. Finally ending the day with an epic sunset & a happily ever after… that’s basically what happened on this day😊 Photo by @fearlessandfar for @cpicglobal

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A glimpse into the colourful tradition and culture of Pakistan✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One of the first things I noticed when I arrived in Islamabad was how gorgeous and stylish the women are. I really wanted wear some of their beautiful clothes while traveling here which is why I was so excited to go shopping with @anushaesays . She helped me find this shalwar kameez which is the tradition trousers and long shirt that are commonly worn in South Asia. We later found this amazing headdress in a little shop in Karimabad when the whole @cpicglobal gang played dress up for an hour😂 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Side note to all the Pakistani ladies: Is this called a tribal kuchi headpiece? I forgot to ask the shopkeeper & I would love to know more about it!😇 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Photos by @fearlessandfar

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This was one of the top 5 craziest adventures of my life! After riding like maniacs on the top of our 15 passenger van through the Karakoram Mountains for countless hours we arrived at the launching point. We switched into these 4×4 rock crawling land rovers and ascended up the aptly named “most dangerous road in the world”. The local driver swerved recklessly around loose gravel corners with heart pounding 500+ ft. drops to the left. After nearly 3 hours of that, we arrived at the starting point for the hike to Fairy Meadows. Our group quickly fell into different paces which gave us time to feel even more secluded in the deep wilderness of Northern Pakistan. We hiked up roughly 2500 ft. as the sun set on the little Swiss cabins we would sleep in that night. The temperature dropped rapidly. All our bodies were acting funny because of the altitude. The 10 of us huddled around the common room stove sharing stories and stretching our deliciously sore muscles. ‘Twas a day & night that I’ll never forget ✌🏼#pakistandiaries

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Guys I literally can’t believe there’s over 25K of us here now, I’m so freaking excited! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Since there’s so many fresh faces here I wanted to share 5 things you might not know about me:⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. I just turned 21, I’m from a little town in Northern California and my parents are my best friends.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 2. The only countries I haven’t traveled to yet are Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde, Pakistan, Syria & North Korea and I still have over 3 years to break the world record.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 3. Traveling so much has left me really out of touch with my body & getting back into a healthy routine is one of the things I’m looking forward to the most.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 4. One of my super powers is being able to fall asleep anywhere at any time. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 5. I’m happiest when I’m out in nature & when I’m doing something I’ve never done before. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ That’s enough about me for now, I want to get to know some of you! Tell me about where you’re from & what you like to do in the comments 🤗

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