Visiting Every Country in the World: My Journey to 197 Countries
My name is Gabriela, and I’m a travel blogger and solo female traveler on a mission to visit every country in the world.
I’ve been exploring the world independently for the past 16 years, and for the last 10 of those I’ve been working more intentionally toward the goal of visiting all 197 countries. I started traveling as soon as I turned 18 and gained the freedom to explore the world on my own — and I haven’t stopped since.
This page shares my journey toward visiting every country in the world as a woman — I’m currently almost 150 countries in — along with answers to some of the most frequently asked questions I receive.
Follow my journey to every country on Instagram, where I share stories as I go.
How did I start traveling?
As a child, I didn’t travel to many countries with my parents. We mostly traveled between two countries because of my family situation. By the time I turned 18, I had only visited a handful of countries — but that’s when my travels truly began.
Even as a child, I was endlessly curious about the world. I loved flipping through world atlases, memorizing country flags, and watching wildlife and travel documentaries, dreaming that one day I would see those places myself.
As soon as I turned 18 and had the freedom to travel independently, I embraced it — and I haven’t stopped since.
At first, I traveled to more “accessible” destinations: Europe, New Zealand, and later Southeast Asia. Eventually, I made my way to Africa, and in my early twenties I backpacked solo from Nairobi to Cape Town using only public transport.
That journey changed everything.
It challenged me in ways I could never have imagined — traveling alone, often being the only tourist for days or even weeks, navigating unfamiliar cultures and situations as a young solo female backpacker. It was difficult, exhausting, unpredictable… and I LOVED every single moment of it — even the hardships.
How I decided to visit every country in the world
(That one night in Guatemala that changed everything)
My endless hunger to see as much of the world as possible eventually led me to Central America, where I traveled overland from Mexico to Panama — camping, couchsurfing, and taking chicken buses to get through each country on as little money as possible.
During that trip, I ended up in a tiny village in Guatemala over Christmas. The only restaurant in town that was open had just one other customer: a traveler in his 60s from Portugal.
He ordered me a mojito, and we started talking about travel — as you naturally do when you unexpectedly meet another traveler in a place like that. He had traveled extensively and was also a solo traveler. He told me he was impressed by how much I had already seen at such a young age, and casually said that one day I would visit every country in the world.
That conversation stuck with me.
Later, I counted how many countries I had visited so far. The number was around 60 — almost one third of the world. That’s when it clicked: visiting every country suddenly felt possible. That was the moment I decided to do it.
Not long after, I sold everything I owned, started traveling full-time, and tried to become a digital nomad — determined to make this lifestyle work. Around the same time, I also started my travel blog and social media channels to document the journey.
The journey to 197 (so far)
Before I started documenting my travels online, I had already done several major trips, including:
- Living and traveling in New Zealand for almost a year
- Spending a month traveling around Australia
- Two Interrail trips across Western and Eastern Europe
- Backpacking through Southeast Asia
- An around-the-world trip
- Traveling overland from Nairobi to Cape Town using only public transport, visiting eight countries
- Backpacking and camping through Central America
Hiking Nyiragongo – the largest lava lake in the world in DR Congo
Since starting my blog, the adventures have only grown bigger. Over the years, I’ve for example:
- Backpacked solo across Africa from Cape Town to Cairo
- Traveled across Europe on multiple long backpacking journeys
- Traveled to every single country in South America
- Explored almost all Caribbean island nations without taking a cruise
- Spent several months working remotely and living the digital nomad life in Southeast Asia
- Traveled through most of Central Asia and all countries in the Caucasus
- Visited all African island nations and more than half of the continent overall
- Traveled through most of the Middle East
- Traveled to Saudi Arabia before tourist visas were introduced
- Visited Iraq shortly after the fall of ISIS
…and the list goes on.
You can see a full map of all the countries I’ve visited here.
Am I scared to visit every country as a solo female traveler?
I’ve visited the vast majority of countries on my own, as a solo female traveler — simply because it’s my preferred way to travel. Of course, you meet people along the way, and sometimes end up sharing parts of the journey with others. One of the best things about traveling is meeting locals and fellow travelers. If you meet another traveler in the middle of nowhere in Gabon like I did, you can be sure they have some interesting travel stories to tell!
That said, I love the freedom that solo travel gives me. For many people, traveling alone is outside of their comfort zone — but for me, it is my comfort zone. I also find that when I travel alone, it’s easier to connect with local people, like I did in Comoros.
Traveling alone to Somaliland as part of my Cape Town to Cairo trip
A lot of people ask whether I’m scared to travel to the world’s most remote or misunderstood destinations. The honest answer is no. I’m far more afraid of living a life without truly living it — of letting life pass by without experiencing as much as possible.
That being said, traveling as a woman is very different from traveling as a man. I’ve experienced my fair share of harassment, and that’s by far the hardest part of being a female traveler.
How have I been able to travel as a vegan?
I’ve been vegan for the past 12 years, and before that I was vegetarian. I stopped eating meat when I was 15 for ethical reasons and went fully vegan in my twenties — and that’s not something I would ever change.
Surprisingly, being vegan has actually enhanced my travels. I wasn’t a big foodie before, but becoming vegan made me more curious about food and local cuisines. I love discovering traditional dishes wherever I go, and even though some countries are naturally more vegan-friendly than others, I’ve never been left hungry.
Being a vegan traveler has also pushed me to learn more about local food cultures and to communicate more with people — sometimes using Google Translate — to understand ingredients and cooking methods. In places with more vegan options, I use the HappyCow app, and I’ve met some incredibly interesting people and made new friends in vegan restaurants around the world.
Some of the most surprisingly vegan-friendly destinations I’ve visited include Ethiopia (thanks to its Orthodox fasting traditions), South American foodie cities like Lima and Buenos Aires, Suriname with its diverse food culture, the Middle East for falafel and hummus, and much of Southeast Asia.
The most challenging places as a vegan have been parts of the Horn of Africa — especially Djibouti and Somaliland (where it felt like every meal came with camel meat!) — and rural Central Asia, where food options outside major cities can be very limited and nutritionally lacking.
How do I usually get around?
I love overland travel. Typically, I’ll fly to a starting point in a region and then continue by crossing borders overland — by bus, shared taxis, trains, or boats.
I’ve traveled through half of Africa using only public transport, which is why I’ve spent nearly two years of my life there. Overland travel in Africa takes time — and I’m still only halfway through visiting all African countries.
How many countries are there in the world?
My personal goal is 197 countries. I count all UN member states, plus Taiwan, Kosovo, Vatican City, and Palestine.
As of 2025, I have around 50 countries left to visit.
You can follow my journey on Instagram, and here on my blog I share detailed travel guides and first-hand experiences from the destinations I visit.
How long do I usually spend in each country?
It really depends on the country, but because I’ve often traveled while working remotely, I usually spend several weeks or even months in one place to properly experience it. When I’m working while traveling, two weeks is the minimum amount of time I’ll stay in a country, though I often stay longer.
In more challenging destinations — where remote work isn’t possible or travel is more restricted — I might only stay for a few days. And of course, some microstates in Europe, such as Vatican City, can be visited in a single day.
Last time I spent three months in Cape Town, and this was my second time visiting South Africa
It has always been my intention to truly feel and experience the countries I visit. Traveling is not a box-ticking competition for me, so I’m not in a rush to finish visiting every country. I don’t see the point of traveling to vast countries like India or South Africa and only seeing one place — especially when these countries are relatively easy for travelers to get around.
If I had traveled faster, I could technically have finished this goal already. But staying longer, revisiting countries, and getting to know places has always mattered more to me than ticking boxes.
How do I fund my travels?
Over the years, I’ve worked hard to build a fully location-independent lifestyle, using different ways to support my travels — sometimes freelancing, sometimes working fully remote jobs, and sometimes running my own online business.
However, it wasn’t always like this. When I started traveling, I was a broke student with only a few hundred dollars to my name. I traveled on extremely low budgets — often $15–20 a day — couchsurfing, camping, hitchhiking, and volunteering for free accommodation.
While still studying at university, I worked two to three minimum-wage jobs at the same time to save money for travel. I finished night shifts at a bar at 5 a.m., slept a couple of hours, and went straight to my day job. I studied during quiet moments at work and sometimes wrote essays behind the bar where I worked as a bartender — all so I could afford a few months of travel each year.
I’ve also never relied on just one income. I’ve always looked for side hustles, from cleaning apartments to selling products online, and now earning online income through running this travel blog.
I’m still not rich by any means, and one of the biggest challenges in finishing this journey is funding it myself. If you’d like to support my travels, you can buy me a coffee — every bit helps me keep going and sharing these stories.
Why am I even doing this?!
I know that today, visiting every country is sometimes done as a publicity stunt or a way to gain fame or followers. That has never been my motivation.
I’m not trying to break records or become the fastest, youngest, or first of any kind to do this. I don’t believe in rushing through countries just to tick them off a list.
I’m doing this because I’m genuinely curious about the world. I love learning about different cultures and seeing how people live in every country. I love exploring places that many people never consider visiting — and I love the adventure.
And I’ve had plenty of adventures: getting stranded in one of the least visited countries in the world without money or my luggage and being invited to spend the night with a local family; hitchhiking a truck through rebel-held areas in Mozambique; crossing the Mozambique–Tanzania border during the rainy season when our car got stuck in the mud and I had to walk forward with water up to my knees; or being invited to a khat-chewing session in Somaliland.
Traveling gives me a sense of freedom and a feeling of being truly alive. I can’t think of anything better than wandering the streets of a completely new city on my own, where no one knows me, crossing borders into new countries and feeling that rush of excitement when arriving somewhere for the very first time.
I also love challenging myself. I’ve always needed both big and small goals in life — and visiting every country in the world is one of the biggest. Spending my entire adult life chasing this goal has shaped who I am today. It has made me more resilient, determined, and confident in myself. It has pushed me to keep going even when things get hard, when other people don’t believe in me or try to bring me down, and when I’ve constantly had to evolve my work in order to fund my travels.
If you’d like to follow this journey as it unfolds, you can find me on Instagram, where I share stories and moments from the road in real time. And if you’d like to support this long-term goal and the work that goes into it, you can also buy me a coffee — every bit of support truly means a lot.