PEOPLE - British traveller, 24, spends £125k on becoming the the youngest person to visit every country in the world

British traveller, 24, spends £125k on becoming the the youngest person to visit every country in the world

• James Asquith, 24, spent a whopping £125,000 visiting 196 countries
• Started his journey in 2008 and travelled during university holiday time
• Mr Asquith funded his travels through part-time jobs and bar work abroad

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:23 GMT, 14 October 2013 | UPDATED: 12:23 GMT, 14 October 2013

 
 
 

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Intrepid traveler: James Asquith has become the youngest person to visit every country in the world

A British traveller has become the youngest person to visit every country in the world.

James Asquith spent a whopping £125,000 to achieve his dream.

Over the course of five years the 24-year-old managed to visit all 196 countries from Australia to Iraq and San Marino to Serbia.

He started travelling in 2008 after his best friends caught the travel bug and decided to pack his bags and see what the fuss was about.

Mr Asquith, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, said: 'Vietnam was the first independent country I went to and I spent nearly three months there.

'I also spent about five months in the US and Canada, getting to 27 states from Hawaii to Alaska.'

Spending his university holidays in far-flung destinations, Mr Asquith funded his travels through part-time jobs he's had since the age of 16.

He also picked up work along the way in bars and hostels.

It was only when he arrived in war-torn Egypt he realised he wanted to visit every country on the planet, including the unstable nations.

Vanuatu: James Asquith, 24, spent a whopping £125,000 to achieve his ambition

During the five years he toured the world Mr Asquith visited India, left, and Libya, right

The credit trader strikes a pose in Albania during his world tour

The 24-year-old has a photo taken next to a North Korea solider and poses, right, in Hawaii 

He added: 'I loved the adrenaline that went with it - but I always seemed to pick the worst timing to visit a lot of the countries.

 

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'I went to Libya three weeks after Gaddafi fell, Afghanistan two weeks after the terrorist bombings in Mazar-i-Sharif, but generally I just found a local and tried to get an insight into each country.

'I spent most of my time in Libya with a local man showing me all the war damage, and in Iran I met the hotel owner's son who was my age who gave me a great local insight.

Mr Asquith takes a selfie in Zambia to add to his photo collection

Part of his travels included Alice Springs, rigth in Australia and Uzbekistan, left 

Bolivia: Mr Asquith started travelling in 2008 after his best friends caught the travel bug and decided to pack his bags and see what the fuss was about

'The longest I spent anywhere was six months in Africa. I travelled overland from Senegal to the Congo and then over back up through the east.

'There were lots of small countries and tricky border crossings, putting trust in some people that drove me as much as three countries a time.

'But I haven't finished yet - I'm excited about Tahiti, Easter island, and Antarctica all of which I am hoping to go to next year.'

Dubai,  left and the Bahamas, right. Mr Asquith, from Stevenage, Herts, said: 'Vietnam was the first independent country I went to and I spent nearly three months there.

A photo in Bhutan. Spending his university holidays in far-flung destinations, Mr Asquith funded his travels through part-time jobs he's had since the age of 16

Barbodos, left, and Nepal, right. The credit trader also picked up work along the way in bars and hostels.

Nicaragua. It was only when he arrived in war-torn Egypt he realised he wanted to visit every country on the planet, including the unstable nations

Iceland's floating icebergs and the Great Wall of China also featured in Mr Asquith's travels 

Three soldiers pose with Mr Asquith in Afghanistan

Wrapping up warm in Russia, left and right, with a new friend in Iran

Posing with a pair of donkeys in Jordan

Around the world: List of 196 countries

Afghanistan
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Angola -
Antigua and Barbuda
Argentina
Armenia
Australia
Austria
Azerbaijan
The Bahamas - 
Azerbaijan - 
The Bahamas 
Bahrain 
Bangladesh 
Barbados 
Belarus 
Belgium 
Belize 
Benin 
Bhutan 
Bolivia
Bosnia and Herzegovina 
Botswana 
Brazil 
Brunei 
Bulgaria 
Burkina Faso 
Burundi 
Cambodia 
Cameroon
Canada
Cape Verde 
Central African Republic 
Chad 
Chile 
China
Colombia 
Comoros -
Congo, Republic of the 
Congo, Democratic Republic of the 
Costa Rica 
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia 
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic 
Denmark -
Djibouti 
Dominica 
Dominican Republic 
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
Ecuador
Egypt 
El Salvador 
Equatorial Guinea 
Eritrea
Estonia 
Ethiopia 
Fiji 
Finland 
France 
Gabon 
The Gambia
Georgia 
Germany 
Ghana
Greece 
Grenada -
Guatemala 
Guinea 
Guinea-Bissau 
Guyana 
Haiti 
Honduras 
Hungary 
Iceland
India 
Indonesia 
Iran 
Iraq 
Ireland 
Israel 
Italy 
Jamaica 
Japan
Jordan 
Kazakhstan 
Kenya 
Kiribati 
Korea, North 
Korea, South 
Kosovo 
Kuwait
Kyrgyzstan
Laos 
Latvia 
Lebanon 

Lesotho 
Liberia 
Libya
Liechtenstein
Lithuania 
Luxembourg
Macedonia 
Madagascar 
Malawi 
Malaysia 
Maldives 
Mali 
Malta
Marshall Islands 
Mauritania
Mauritius
Mexico
Micronesia, Federated States of 
Moldova
Monaco 
Mongolia
Montenegro 
Morocco 
Mozambique 
Myanmar (Burma)
Namibia 
Nauru 
Nepal 
Netherlands 
New Zealand 
Nicaragua 
Niger 
Nigeria 
Norway 
Oman -
Pakistan
Palau
Panama 
Papua New Guinea 
Paraguay 
Peru 
Philippines 
Poland 
Portugal
Qatar 
Romania
Russia 
Rwanda 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 
Samoa 
San Marino 
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia -
Senegal 
Serbia 
Seychelles 
Sierra Leone
Singapore 
Slovakia 
Slovenia 
Solomon Islands 
Somalia 
South Africa 
South Sudan 
Spain - Madrid
Sri Lanka
Sudan 
Suriname 
Swaziland 
Sweden 
Switzerland 
Syria 
Taiwan 
Tajikistan
Tanzania 
Thailand 
Togo 
Tonga -
Trinidad and Tobago
Tunisia - Tunis
Turkey - Ankara
Turkmenistan - Ashgabat
Tuvalu 
Uganda 
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates 
United Kingdom 
United States of America 
Uruguay 
Uzbekistan 
Vanuatu 
Vatican City 
Venezuela 
Vietnam 
Yemen
Zambia 
Zimbabwe