Who travels the most in the world?

You mean travel, not adventure, right? There is an article about this. Charles Wylie is probably the most traveled person in the world. In the past 10 years, he has been to 8 13 of the 87 1 travel destinations in the world. He regards travel as a "competitive sport", constantly sets new goals and feels a happy life in conquest. Willie, a 45-year-old "competitive sports", grew up in Brooklyn, new york, USA and graduated from Harvard University. He has a refreshing appearance and looks like a typical Ivy League elite, which seems to have little to do with the title of "the most traveled person in the world". Willie traveled to more than 90 sovereign countries recognized by the United Nations eight years ago, and then went to many inaccessible islands, atolls and protected areas. In 2005, he established a website called "People who Travel the Most" to share his travel experiences with 8,000 like-minded "competitive travelers". When travel becomes a "competitive sport", participants should make "rules of the game". According to the standard of political and geographical characteristics, the website is "re-divided" into 87 1 countries and regions, including autonomous regions, autonomous territories, islands and enclaves. Visiting all the places means traveling all over the world. But no one has really accomplished this "feat" yet. So, how to define "somewhere"? Some people think it is necessary to spend the night in one place, others think that going to the local bathroom is enough, and still others suggest that you must sleep on the bench in the local park ... Willie tries to unify the standards and asks travelers to provide the necessary evidence to prove that they have been to a certain place, such as the entry stamp on the passport or visa, air tickets, ship tickets, train ticket stubs, credit card consumption records, travel certificates signed by the captain, etc. The website published a list of "people who travel the most in the world", and Willie ranked high. He visited 8 13 of 87 1 travel destinations. Only American Bill Altafer was ahead of him and went to one more destination than him. Willie is not worried about this "small gap" and doesn't want to stop traveling. He intends to use his spare time to complete the list of travel destinations where he has never been. "If you want to build a complete world view, you must walk around." Willie admits that some areas on the list have brought many challenges to travelers, and even doubts whether anyone can complete these more than 800 destinations. However, the number of destinations on the list is still increasing. In his eyes, "every destination is a surprise, and there are always new gains when you go. It's like opening a new book and meeting a new friend. " Looking around the world, Willie's parents divorced when he was young and had no interest in traveling; The family is not well off, and there is no "spare money" for him to travel abroad. When he was a child, he often sat in his father's car, with a map on his lap and a steering wheel in his hand, imagining himself driving, "going back and forth to California in one day." /kloc-at the age of 0/8, Willie won a scholarship from the US Air Force to study computer science at Harvard University. After graduation, he was selected into the F 15 fighter pilot training program with excellent results. "It was the time when the movie Top Gun was popular, and everyone wanted to be a pilot." He had planned to spend the next 10 years in a remote air base, but he was diagnosed with eye disease in a routine physical examination after half a year of training, and the pilot's dream ran aground. Feeling depressed, Willie flew to England to visit his friends and took a trip to Europe to relax. With a European train ticket, he embarked on a journey of exploration. Wei Li said that his three-month travel experience was "an inspiration" and changed his life. He had never left the United States before 18, and suddenly he went in and out of the border. His passport left various seals, and he had the opportunity to use the language he had learned before ... He was fascinated by traveling: "I want to go to more places." 199 1 Wiley returned to the United States and set up a software company "microtechnology strategy company" in partnership with friends to provide business intelligence services to customers. He works hard, working nearly 100 hours a week. The company develops high-speed trains through the Internet and grows rapidly. Company 1999 is listed on NASDAQ Stock Exchange in new york. In the Internet bubble in 2000, its share price soared to $333. Willie held 500,000 shares in the company, and his wealth soared to become a multi-millionaire. At the age of 35, he planned to leave his job and enjoy a "long vacation" with his wife. "Kimberly and I got married in 1999. We were tired of working 80 hours a week and decided to stop working and go out to see the world. " The husband and wife took a round-the-world travel ticket to the road in 2000. Go to France, Germany first, and then go to southern Africa. "The scenery there is really charming." After a month's business trip, he was watching TV in the hotel room when he heard the news that the share price of "Micro Technology Strategy Company" plummeted. The company's share price dropped from a high of $333 to 44 cents. "It doesn't feel real," Willie said. "I am on the other side of the world, watching Tasmania TV report that my company has fallen." Despite the blow, Willie didn't stop, but booked more air tickets. He believes that the company's share price can rebound. Wiley, who was obsessed with traveling around the world, happened to see an article in a magazine introducing "Traveler Century Club" on a flight to Africa, and his life track changed again. This club requires its members to have been to more than 0/00 countries or regions in the world. The club lists tourist destinations including 3 17 countries and regions, and encourages its members to explore. Willie was fascinated by it. "I am very competitive and have clear goals, which suits me very well." He sailed at sea for more than two months in 2002, flying more than 300 times and flying about 250,000 miles (about 400,000 kilometers). When Kimberly is relaxing on the beach in Thailand or studying cooking in France, he will "spend time" in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and Bhutan. After crossing Kosovo in April 2003, Willie became the youngest member of the club, and completed 365,438+07 travel destinations at the fastest speed, setting a new record. He became more and more interested in traveling around the world and gradually figured out the "doorway" in the round-the-world ticket: "If you master the skills, you can fly first class or business class for less money than economy class." After completing the list of travel destinations of Traveler Century Club, Wei Li was not satisfied. Taking the other two lists as reference, he continued to carry his bag on the road. Many destinations on a list are disputed areas of sovereignty, marine life reserves and sensitive military sites, so it is difficult to enter without too much trouble. Willie is obviously good at dealing with people to get the necessary help. He said that without "courtesy and elegance", these trips could not be completed at all. With the help of American troops, he entered Wake, Midway, Johnston and Diego Garcia. In order to reach his destination, he took a research ship and a military plane and tried to "blend in" with a scientific investigation. What if the train, ship and plane can't arrive? Wei Li recalled that once a ship sailed for four days and reached a French island in the Pacific Ocean. When it was about to arrive, it was blocked by rocks and the ship could not land. "So I swam over. There is no other way, "Willie said with a smile. 20 10 February, the British "Guardian" reporter visited Helgolan Island in Germany with Willie, trying to explore Willie's travel philosophy. The two first arrived in Tessen by bus from Hamburg, then flew to Dein Island by eight small planes, and then arrived in Helgolan Island by ferry. The reporter joked that a difficult journey is like a pilgrimage. Willie saw a wooden herring decoration hanging at the door of a bar and the words "eggnog" stuck on the window, so he strolled in. Willie pointed to the bar and said that he didn't know anything about Helgolan Island before, waiting for things to happen after going to the island. "My intuition tells me that Black Pi Nuo is good. We walked into the bar and saw the beautiful girl behind the bar. You begin to understand the island. " This is his travel philosophy: careful preparation before departure, careful consideration, once you reach your destination, put aside your plans and follow your feelings. Wei Li said that after traveling for so many years, you can see bars wherever you go. There are more than 1000 residents on Helgolan Island, and there is also a bar. Pamela Atoll in southwest Hawaii has less than 20 residents and a bar. Willis Island in the Pacific Coral Sea has less than 10 residents and a bar. Willie's memory is amazing: Desalesing Island is "spotless"; The service of Somali national airlines is "terrible"; In Gro, Tortu, a tree frog peed on its head; In Zambezi River, his canoe overturned among a group of hippos; The strangest place I saw was a conference room in Panmunjom on the Korean-Korean border. There was a table in the middle of the room, and the soldiers on both sides looked at each other silently ... the scariest place? "I entered Afghanistan via Turkmenistan on the first anniversary of' September 1 1' and stayed there for a short time." The harvest of the journey Dovelli said that when he had no children, he and his wife had been traveling continuously for four years; After having his first child in 2003, his family became the focus of his life, and his enthusiasm for traveling remained the same as that of that year. However, he must shorten his trip appropriately and spend more time with his children. He once "took time" to go home for Valentine's Day during his trip around the world at 16 station, and took his children to Disneyland by the way. Wei Li said that he thought being a father would "tie him down", but this was not the case. Shortly after his daughter was born, he received a phone call from an acquaintance in South Africa, saying that a scientific research ship was leaving for Buwe Island in Antarctica three days later and asked him if he could go. He was in a dilemma for a moment. In order to win that opportunity, he spent a lot of energy. First, he won the approval of two polar research institutions in South Africa and Norway, and then applied to travel with the research ship as a paying passenger. Unfortunately, he was finally approved and didn't go, but he couldn't bear to travel without his wife and daughter. Fortunately, Kimberly was reasonable and supported him to travel. "We all think this is my job and destiny. I decided to go. " Wiley goes to about 100 tourist destinations every year on average. He spent more than $6.5438+0 million on air tickets and ship tickets, and flew 6.5438+0 million miles (about 6.5438+0.6 million kilometers) in three years. He hides countless anecdotes, thrilling experiences, travel strategies and unforgettable memories in his stomach, but he doesn't collect souvenirs, keep a diary, or shoot strange scenery with his iPhone. Sometimes a "short-term" trip can complete multiple destinations, which is quite efficient. Willie arrived in Argentina, Australia, Britain, Chile, France, New Zealand and Norway during his trip to the South Pole in 2003, because these countries all claimed the same land. Sometimes it takes extra effort to get to a place. When Willie first went to Rockall Island, he met with bad weather and failed. When he went to Rockall Island for the second time, the waves on the shore were so big that the ship could not dock. "The waves were about 7 meters high," Willie recalled. "The rock is sharp and sharp, and there is a whirlpool below it. The water is very fast." He managed to climb the reef on the shore and was hit back into the sea by huge waves in less than two seconds. But finally arrived in Rockall Island. So, what's the trip for? Willie didn't answer directly, only said that when he traveled alone, he would try to go to new places and then take his family to visit his favorite places. "I took it (travel) as a Swedish buffet and walked around. Now I can determine where I want to go back and revisit my old place. " For the meaning of travel, he said simply: "In order to live, I want to see the world as much as possible.