A globetrotting woman hopes to break a Guiness World Record by becoming the first female to travel to all 196 countries. Cassie De Pecol, 27, from Washington, Connecticut, embarked on her journey in July of 2015 and now she is nearing the end of her epic mission to visist all 193 sovereign nations plus Taiwan, Kosovo and Palestine. So far the intrepid traveller has ticked off 180 countries and taken over 254 flights in just over 15 months. She has an estimated 45 days left to complete her whirlwind adventure.

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"It's not about the journey, it's about the destination and doing something big, impactful."

Initially, her intentions was to break the record, but after achieving her goal she changed the course. Pecol now wants "to give myself to the lives of others and our world." In addition to traveling the world in record time, her goal is to promote peace through sustainable tourism. She calls herself the "chief explorer" of Expedition 196, which is a journey around the world in record time for world peace.

It's estimated Cassie's burned through $198,000 ($161,880). A range of sponsors have also helped lighten the financial burden. Investors have also contributed to making of the educational documentary whuch Cassie has filmed along the way, to promote sustainable travel. She alsopromotes eco-friendly, luxury hotels on her Instagram, such as Six Senses, Soneva and Secret Bay, to over 12,000 followers, in exchange for accomodation. She is also an ambassador for the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism and is collecting water samples for Adventures and Scientists for Conservation.

"I personally love finding new, inspiring things, places, culture, environments in countries around the world that are in need of tourism," says De Pecol. She plans to tick off the final few countries-including Turkmenistan and Syria-by Christmas. If succesful, she will take the record for being the first person to step foot in all the world's countires from Yili Liu, who visited all sovereign nations in three years, three months and six days back in 2010. We caught up with Cassie as she prepared to travel to Africa and the Middle East en route to her few remaining countries.

"Going to every country was for me a personal quest to learn as much as I could about our world, stepping outside my comfort zone and becoming comfortable in the unknown, while also aiming to leave a legacy behind."

Countries Visited

So far the intrepid traveller has ticked off 180 countries and taken over 254 flights in just over 15 months. She has an estimated 45 days left to complete her whirlwind adventure.
  • Palau
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • Samoa
  • Tonga
  • Fiji
  • Vanuatu
  • Solomon Islands
  • Papua New Guinea
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Qatar
  • Turkey
  • Cyprus
  • Iran
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Oman
  • Japan
  • Kuwait
  • Bahrain
  • Russia
  • Azerbaijan
  • Uzbekistan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Armenia
  • Georgia
  • Lebanon
  • Jordan
  • Portugal
  • Spain
  • Andorra
  • Switzerland
  • Italy
  • Germany
  • France
  • Belgium
  • Luxembourg
  • Austria
  • Croatia
  • Denmark
  • Liechtenstein
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Serbia
  • Kosovo
  • Montenegro
  • Albania
  • Macedonia
  • Netherlands
  • Greece
  • Bulgaria
  • Romania
  • Hungary
  • San Marino
  • Vatican City
  • Moldova
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Ukraine
  • Czech Republic
  • Poland
  • Lithuania
  • Latvia
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Malta
  • Monaco
  • Sweden
  • Norway
  • United Kingdom (London)
  • Iceland
  • Belarus
  • Ireland
  • United States
  • Mexico
  • Belize
  • Guatemala
  • El Salvador
  • Honduras
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Panama
  • Trinidad & Tobago
  • Grenada
  • Barbados
  • Bahamas
  • St. Vincent & The Grenadines
  • St. Lucia
  • Dominica
  • Antigua & Barbuda
  • St. Kitts and Nevis
  • Jamaica
  • Canada
  • Tunisia
  • Ethiopia
  • Kenya
  • Morocco
  • Egypt
  • Dominican Republic
  • Haiti
  • Cuba
  • Argentina
  • Bolivia
  • Brazil
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Ecuador
  • Guyana
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Suriname
  • Uruguay
  • Venezuela
  • Kiribati
  • Marshall Islands
  • Nauru
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Tuvalu
  • Bangladesh
  • Bhutan
  • Brunei
  • Cambodia
  • China
  • East Timor
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iraq
  • Laos
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mongolia
  • Myanmar
  • Nepal
  • North Korea
  • Pakistan
  • Phillipines
  • Singapore
  • South Korea
  • Sri Lanka
  • Syria
  • Thailand
  • Turkmenistan
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Taiwan
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Benin
  • Botswana
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cameroon
  • Cape Verde
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Comoros
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Djibouti
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Ghana
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Ivory Coast
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Mali
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Republic of the Congo
  • Rwanda
  • São Tomé and Príncipe
  • Senegal
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Sudan
  • Sudan
  • Swaziland
  • Tanzania
  • Togo
  • Uganda
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
  • Israel
  • Palestine