This 27-Year-Old Woman Is About To Become The First To Visit Every Country On Earth

The oft-used phrase “born to travel” suits no one more than Cassie De Pecol, who is on track to become the first woman to ever visit all 196 countries in the world. What’s more, she’s doing it all in record time.

Cassie is set to become the fastest person to travel to all 196 countries on earth, having embarked on this trip in July of last year. During her amazing voyage, she’s been averaging around two to five days in each nation, and is up to passport number four.

Exulansis. 🕷 The tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it – whether through envy or pity or simple forgiveness – which allows it to drift away from the rest of your life story, until the memory itself feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land. @thedictionaryofobscuresorrows #expedition196 My travel partner (A.K.A. Backpack): @sovrnrepublic

A photo posted by ᶜᴬˢˢᴬᴺᴰᴿᴬ ᴰᴱ ᴾᴱᶜᴼᴸ (@expedition_196) on Oct 12, 2016 at 8:54am PDT

Originally from Connecticut in the United States, Cassie is not only going on this trip to better herself, she’s working as an ambassador on behalf of the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism. She’s also been nice enough to offer to collect water samples around the world for Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

Once we realize the extraordinary power we have to compose our lives, we’ll move from passive, conditioned thinking to being co-creators of our fate. – Jason Silva • • • #expedition196 #somalia

A photo posted by ᶜᴬˢˢᴬᴺᴰᴿᴬ ᴰᴱ ᴾᴱᶜᴼᴸ (@expedition_196) on Aug 14, 2016 at 3:24am PDT

Having visited 181 countries since the beginning her adventure, Cassie only has 15 countries and 40 days left to complete this amazing feat. The plan is to tick off every country on her bucket list by Christmas this year, with nations like Turkmenistan and Syria remaining.

“Hold up a mirror and ask yourself what you are capable of doing, and what you really care about. Then take the initiative – don’t wait for someone else to ask you to act.” – Sylvia Earle • • • #HappyEarthDay ❣🌎❣ #Expedition196 #PeaceThroughTourism #EveryCountryInTheWorld #FbF

A photo posted by ᶜᴬˢˢᴬᴺᴰᴿᴬ ᴰᴱ ᴾᴱᶜᴼᴸ (@expedition_196) on Apr 22, 2016 at 2:42pm PDT

If Cassie completes her voyage by her self-imposed deadline, she’ll have broken the world record for travelling the entire world in the shortest amount of time. That record was previously held by Yili Liu who visited all sovereign countries in three years, three months and six days back in 2010.

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So what’s Cassie’s ultimate travel advice, as told to Red Bull? “Just book that one-way ticket and never look back. Trust in the unknown and enjoy the freedom of travelling alone – it gives you so many more opportunities to meet people and to see what you want to see.”

Her trip is funded by sponsors and investors, with her budget totalling just under $230,000AUD. You can follow what she’s calling  #Expedition196 on Cassie’s website, which has links to her social media channels.

I really don’t know how much more beautiful this scene could get here at #Plitvice Lakes in #Croatia. My friends I met from San Diego @hreed07 snapped this photo as I was about to collect samples for @adventurescience. We had a fun little photo shoot 😝. But seriously, this waterfall was just too breathtaking to resist 📸 • • • #Expedition196 #PeaceThroughTourism #EveryCountryInTheWorld

A photo posted by ᶜᴬˢˢᴬᴺᴰᴿᴬ ᴰᴱ ᴾᴱᶜᴼᴸ (@expedition_196) on Nov 9, 2015 at 12:51am PST

(Lead image: Expedition 196)

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