Have you ever had the experience when you meet someone and you think “wow, this person is really neat, wish I had their gumption.” Well, this happened to me recently when I met up with Graham Hughes, a man on a mission. At only 31 years of age, he has had experiences in life that make him wise beyond his years…and make him the envy of others (such as moi) who can only live vicariously through him.

After having travelled extensively with his parents while growing up, Graham travelled the world in his early twenties and is now on another world quest, but this time of a different nature. He had the idea long ago to travel the world, visiting each and every country of the United Nations but, and this is where the hitch comes, not taking any planes or driving a car. Huh? Yup, his journey started in Argentina on January 1st, 2009, and was set to end in New Zealand at the end of the year. Although somewhat behind schedule due to circumstances beyond his control, he is currently on his way to reaching every country (200 in all) by taking only public transportation or getting lifts from kind and generous people.

Sounds fairly easy on the surface (pardon the pun), but ask Graham about the red tape, lack of accurate time schedules, difficulty in getting visas, to name just a few set-backs, and you will get a totally different story. On the one hand, travelling around the world sounds romantic and fun, but on the other hand, it is fraught with frustrations.

For instance, Graham has been stuck in Kuwait (at the time of writing) for over a month because of a problem with his Saudi visa. He had read that he could get to his next destination, Bahrain, by ferry, which was true until about two years ago when the ferry stopped running. He then assumed that he could get a Saudi transit visa from Kuwait, which is true if one is a resident of Kuwait, but Graham is not. So what to do? Short of hopping on a boat going to Bahrain, of which there are surprisingly few who will take passengers, his only option is to wait (a sincere test of patience) for the Saudi visa to be issued from his home country, the United Kingdom.

But let’s forget about some of the downside, such as being thrown in prison not once but twice, and having to wait and wait and wait, and look at some of the positive aspects (Graham is, after all and despite it all, a very positive fellow). When travelling in (?) an old lady was observing him and was so worried that at his arrival destination he would not have a proper breakfast that she phoned her son, who lived in the destination town, and asked him to pick up Graham from the bus stop and make sure that he was properly fed. Gotta love moms.

In fact, Graham has had so many positive experiences that his impression of people in general, if not of politicians in particular, has improved incredibly. His travels to 155 different countries have made him realize that people, regardless of where they live, are pretty much the same and want the same out of life: health, happiness, time with family and friends, security. And except for African policemen, Graham has no complaints about the way he has been treated on the entire trip… so far.

So, if Graham does actually manage to get around the Saudi visa problem and finally ends up in Bahrain, where to next? He still needs to visit Oman and Yemen in the Middle East, and Eritrea in Africa before he heads on to Asia. His original plan was to complete his mission in 52 weeks, but that was quickly scrapped when it became evident that there were going to be delays along the way. However, he has already entered the Guinness Book of World Records for visiting the most number of countries by land in one year.

So what does Graham think about Kuwait? Well, according to him, the driving here is not the worst in the world and Nigeria is actually worse! Hard to imagine. Graham also likes to hit the town and paint it red, so Kuwait is a bit on the slow side for him (tell us something we don’t know) but all-in-all, it is not a bad place. And, his time here improved immensely after meeting the British Ladies Society and subsequently being invited to all sorts of functions. Now if only he could meet the Saudi Ambassador…

Of course, some countries are, in his opinion only as he himself likes to stress, better than others and he would return to some in an instant. On the top of his list are Madagascar and Uzbekistan. Countries that he would rather not return to include Cape Verde and the Republic of Congo. But as with any travel, the experiences and memories depend on the individual traveler and the circumstances and what is true for one cannot be said for all.

What can be said for me is that I wish that I had had the nerve and the courage and the ‘what the hell’ attitude that Graham has and done the same in my thirties. As I get older, I realize that life is short and one has to take the plunge and do ‘wild and crazy’ things once in a while. Hmmm…maybe it is not too late?!