Is it possible to visit every country in the world? Melissa Roy proved that it is

Having personally traveled to 50+ countries to date, it is safe to say that I was bitten by the wanderlust bug. I can say with all honesty that I lose sleep pondering the question, “Is it possible to visit every country in the world?” Despite all my best efforts, a rough calculation puts me at only 25% of all the world’s countries so far.

Visiting every country in the world is one of those crazy, outlandish dreams that feels cool to imagine but impossible to actually make happen, like summiting Mt. Everest, becoming a National Geographic Photographer, or opening a Michelin-starred restaurant. In fact, it’s such a rare feat that more people have been to outer space than have done it!

So when I heard about Melissa Roy, the first South Asian woman to achieve the herculean goal of visiting all 193 U.N. sovereign nations in the world by the young age of 34, I was blown away! I got the chance to interview Melissa and needless to say, I was totally inspired. Talking to her made me wonder what sort of impossible goals I might also be able to achieve.

In this in-depth interview, we learn about her journey, what inspired her, the hurdles she encountered along the way, and how she made it all happen. I’m so excited to share her motivational story with you!

Okavango Delta Botswana — In Botswana at the Okavango Delta

What was the genesis of this whole adventure and how did you get inspired to travel to every country in the world?

When I started traveling, I didn’t really think it was a possibility to visit every country. I didn’t even think that was a thing that anybody did. I just wanted to see as many countries as I could. I loved visiting new places.

I started in 2005, and in 2015, ten years after I started, I started hearing about people visiting every country. There were a few people trying to break Guinness World Records by being the fastest or the youngest. That’s what planted the seed in my head.

So you started traveling in 2005, but 2015 is when you got really serious about it. How many countries had you visited by that point?

By 2015 when I was 29 years old, I had visited 66 official U.N. countries. I wanted to get to 100 countries by the age of 30, which meant by the end of that year. So I had to do 34 countries in the next 9 months! I wanted to challenge myself.

I didn’t have any plans of doing anything else that year - I just wanted to travel full-time. It wasn’t anything unusual for me as I’d been traveling full-time for several years. In 2012, I spent most of the year traveling around Europe and lived in London for a while. In 2014, I backpacked for 8 months all over Central and South America. I was hardly ever in the States for very long.

How did you manage to pull off 34 countries in less than a year?!

The 34 countries I went to were on 3 continents: a bunch in Africa, some in Southeast Asia, and some in the Middle East. At that point, I was just going to whatever was convenient and wasn't logically plotting it out. That ended up hurting me later on because I got the easy countries out of the way first, and then last year (2019) I had all the difficult ones left.

I did reach my goal a month before my 30th birthday. Then I had a month to prepare before my trip to Antarctica, where I celebrated my birthday.

Gentoo penguin in Antarctica — Melissa with a Gentoo penguin, celebrating her 30th birthday in Antarctica

What a spectacular way to celebrate your birthday! So, what exactly makes a country “easy” or “difficult”?

In Africa for example, I’d break it up into Africa for beginners, intermediate, and advanced. Beginner would be East and South Africa. Those regions are really easy to get around in, there’s good infrastructure for tourism, and a lot to do.

Then, I consider West Africa intermediate. Central Africa was really difficult - places like Congo and DRC. A lot of these countries are on the “Do Not Travel” list by the U.S. Department of State. It’s hard to get visas, and safety is a concern.

Were you visiting these risky countries by yourself?

Many of them, yes. I did Nigeria by myself. For some of them I went with overland trucks, so it was a mix.

Badshahi Mosque in Pakistan — At Badshahi Mosque in Lahore, Pakistan

Netrokona Bangladesh — Melissa visiting Netrokona, Bangladesh, the village where her late father grew up

On average, how much time did you spend in each country?

It was all different. In a little country like Brunei, you don’t need more than a few days. In South Africa, I stayed 3 weeks because I really wanted to do shark cage diving and wine tasting.

I also took the time to rent a car and drive to Lesotho and Swaziland, two countries that are landlocked inside of South Africa. I lived in India for a year, and I’ve been to India a total of 8 times.

Everyone’s first reaction when they hear I’ve done this is that they think I just rushed through it and only spent 2 to 4 days in each country. They think it was a race, but I spent the right amount of time that I thought was necessary for each country. It actually took me 16 years and I didn’t put a time-frame on it.

Did you have a timeline by when you wanted to visit every country in the world, or was your goal to just see them all before you die?

I wanted to do 100 by age 30, and that would take me to the halfway mark. Then I would only have 93 countries left. I thought I would do it by age 40, but I didn’t think I would do it so fast!

I wanted to have a family so I didn’t think it would be possible to do it fast. I thought I could balance kids and see a few countries every year. And even if I did 10 countries a year, which to me was nothing, then I felt I could easily do it in 10 years before I turn 40.

Was traveling your full-time job, and if so, how did you afford it?

Yeah, a job that didn’t pay! But it paid in other ways. Basically from the age of 18 to 34, I made my living doing commercials and different small acting gigs, investing that money, and living off my gains and dividends while keeping a really low overhead.

I was really lucky in that I bought Netflix, Facebook and other tech stocks early, and made great returns from those investments. I managed to sustain myself for 16 years. I’m confident that I could continue to do that for the rest of my life.

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What were the scariest countries you visited? Not many people have seen every country and can speak on this subject with your perspective.

Thankfully, I didn’t experience too many bad situations, but I think DRC was one of the places where I had trouble from the beginning. People seemed out to scam us left and right. They know it’s impossible to get a visa once you’re already in Africa - they make you go back to America and go to the embassy in Washington, D.C. to apply there.

I was traveling with my friend and we were already in Africa, so we had to find a different way. The other embassies in Ethiopia and Rwanda kept turning us away. Finally, we found a “fixer.”

He knew we were desperate, and so could easily take advantage of that. It was scary. He came after us and followed us into our hotel.

I was afraid to leave my hotel room because I thought he would be waiting outside. He took our money ($500) through Western Union, and then he never contacted us when it was time to cross the border. We didn’t know what to do.

Finally, we found a way to cross and then he showed up and tried to extort us for more money. We couldn’t get rid of him. He didn’t help us and he stole our money.

Then we were stuck trying to cross from DRC to Angola. It was a nightmare.

Aside from that, surprisingly all the counties that I thought would be scary were so amazing, like Afghanistan. It was crazy to see all the armed guards everywhere, but it made me feel safer actually. We were in the green zone staying next to the U.S. embassy, so there was an insane amount of security.

I’ve traveled to over 50 countries, but nowhere near the amount you have. One thing that I’ve noticed in my experience is that at a certain point, I get saturated and don’t get the same high from travel that I did in the beginning. I’m curious how you keep things fresh when you’ve already seen so much?

One way to combat that is to mix it up and not do the same type of trips back-to-back. I also started getting “churched-out” in Europe and “mosqued-out” in the Middle East. In the beginning you’re constantly blown away, but then it starts to feel like just more of the same.

I would suggest doing a little bit in Europe, and then jump to a completely different part of the world, like an island in the South Pacific. I think that’s the best way to avoid burnout. I know it’s probably more costly to jump around like that, but even if you’re in the same area, you can mix up your activities.

The key is balance and changing it up, otherwise it’s just doing the same thing over and over and it gets boring.

With new friends in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

What kind of accommodations did you typically stay in?

Almost exclusively couchsurfing. That’s kind of my trademark way of traveling. I’ve been a member for 12 years.

It’s changed now, but back in the day it was a hardcore thing - you had to be a serious traveler.

Oh wow, that’s amazing! I’ve actually been a couchsurfer for many years, too. I even went to the wedding of one of my hosts after we became close friends. I couchsurfed in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Myanmar. When I was broke and interviewing for grad schools, I couchsurfed with some really incredible hosts who cooked me dinner while I was a bundle of nerves. They wanted to pay it forward after having incredible hosts themselves.

That’s what I love about couchsurfing - the spirit of paying it forward. I’ve stayed in penthouse suites, sailboats, and all kinds of places. Not every place is luxurious, but I just take it in stride.

An added bonus of couchsurfing is that it helps keep costs down. But, the number one benefit is having that local experience. You get to know about hole-in-the-wall places that aren’t in guide books.

90% of the countries I’ve been to, I couchsurfed. I rarely stayed in hotels. I’ve done the hostel thing before, but then I’m only meeting foreigners, and I want to experience the nitty-gritty everyday life of someone born and raised in that country.

Hosts have taken me to university classes, work dinners, weddings, and funerals.

What did you have to give up or sacrifice to make this dream come true, and was it worth it?

The obvious thing would be that I gave up a lot of money and time. Also, my youthful years. Now I’m in my mid-30’s and I’m back at square one where most people are after university.

But I’m happy I did it, and it was definitely worth it.

“I had to believe in myself. Looking at my peers who were also achieving the same thing kept me going when I had doubts.”

What did you have to believe about yourself or the world to make this dream a reality?

I had to believe in myself. Looking at my peers who were also achieving the same thing kept me going when I had doubts (ie: wondering if I’d be able to get into Libya because they were in the middle of a civil war).

I joined travel forums, and people would encourage me and give me tips. Two forums I highly recommend are:

Every Passport Stamp - A community of people with the dream of visiting every country in the world. I got help from them when I was trying to go to Sudan two days after the military coup, and my flights had been canceled.
Nomad Mania - They keep a running list of every person who has visited all 193 countries. You can get advice if you are trying to get somewhere.

Sossusvlei Namibia — In Sossusvlei, Namibia

Did you ever want to give up or think it wasn’t going to happen?

There were some people in my life that made me think I should give up or who ridiculed what I was doing, like family members or ex-boyfriends. When I got to 100 countries, they said it was a great accomplishment and that it was time to settle down. They said another 20 countries wouldn’t change my perspective on life. They didn’t understand me.

I almost got talked out of it in my last relationship because it was really driving a wedge between us. I wanted him to travel with me and he couldn’t get enough time off from work. He said he was fine with me going solo, but he actually wasn’t fine and we broke up when I left to go to Africa. I think we fundamentally had different dreams and goals.

During that time, I thought maybe I should put this off because it was ruining relationships. And all for what? Would it be worth it in the end to be alone and have this accomplishment under my belt?

When we broke up, I doubled down and decided to travel full-time to accomplish my goal.

What ideas did you have before you started this journey, and where did you change your mind along the way?

There’s this huge fear in the Western world about Islamic countries, and I also had some fear going there by myself as a non-Muslim. But I was blown away by the hospitality and humanity there. They took such great care of me.

One of my friends, a Midwestern American guy who also visited every country in the world, converted to Islam and settled in Abu Dhabi. I can see why he did that.

Afghanistan and Pakistan - those were two of the most hospitable countries I went to. There’s no reason to be afraid.

Sure they have crazy extremists, but every culture and religion has those types of people. If you just look at the everyday people, they are some of the nicest people. The women in particular are especially gracious.

Also, I didn’t know how brave I was. It helped develop my confidence a lot.

“I didn’t know how brave I was. It helped develop my confidence a lot.”

Having seen every country in the world, what bucket list items should be on everyone’s list?

It’s worth seeing what I consider the 7 wonders of the world and Antarctica:

Petra in Jordan - It was gorgeous and took my breath away!
Taj Mahal in India
Pyramids of Giza in Egypt
Angor Wat in Cambodia
Machu Picchu in Peru
Stonehenge in England
Great Barrier Reef in Australia - If you’re into water (I’m a dive master), go sooner rather than later because there is a lot of coral bleaching happening.

What advice do you have for people who dream of traveling or following in your footsteps by visiting every country in the world, but are scared, don’t have the money, or are worried about their careers or relationships?

I think people should prioritize what’s important to them, and try to convince their loved ones to come along. There’s no reason to lose relationships.

Even if you have kids, I still think it’s possible. I met people who were going to every country who also had a spouse and children.

With the coronavirus quarantine, the whole world got a taste of working remotely. I think that changed the way the world works. It gave people the freedom to travel more and work from anywhere in the world.

Now that you have achieved your goal, what will you focus all your time and energy on?

Accomplishing any major life goal can be anti-climactic. Once the high wears off, part of you feels let down because you don’t know what’s next.

I want to do something that leaves a legacy and makes a difference, like start an NGO or a non-profit. I’m not sure exactly how it will manifest yet, but I am very interested in the mental health space and the menstrual health problem.

In many parts of the world, girls don’t have access to hygiene products and have to skip school or miss work. They can’t go to a temple and worship. They are basically considered non-humans for one week of every month.

“Accomplishing any major life goal can be anti-climactic. Once the high wears off, part of you feels let down because you don’t know what’s next. ”

Is there still more you want to see?

Yeah, of course. I don’t want to quit traveling. There’s stuff in every country that I missed.

I want to keep traveling with my family when I have one. I don’t want to ever just stay in one place!

Melissa Roy relaxing after visiting every country in the world — Getting some much needed relaxation in at the end of her epic journey

I hope you were inspired by Melissa’s interview about visiting every country in the world. What will your “193” be? This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase through them, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. I donate 10% of all proceeds made from this blog to charity. Find out more about the charity I am supporting here.