Man who broke record visiting every country had to prove he’s not a spy – FOUR times

Seasoned traveller Indy Nelson (USA) has stepped foot in every country in the world – some of them multiple times, like North Korea.

He’s navigated his way through numerous war-torn areas and been detained four times on suspicion of being a spy (in Iran, Libya, Papua New Guinea and Russia).

But it was all worth it, because he now holds a Guinness World Records title: the most airlines flown on.

Indy has flown on 170 unique airlines, most of them during an 18-month trip around the world which he embarked on in 2017, aged 22.

The previous record was 156, achieved by a Japanese man named Ryuji Furusho from 1996 to 2014.

Indy on the Bashiqa frontline in Iraq

Indy didn’t intend to break this record, only noticing he’d done so after returning home to America.

He first got the idea to visit every country on Earth while enjoying an atypical spring break trip to North Korea, which he describes as a “cool country”.

So, after graduating college, he took out an $80,000 loan and embarked on a journey around the globe.

He had a variety of interesting experiences along the way, being in a tourist destination on one day and finding himself in an active war zone on another.

North Korea

Indy tried avoiding conflict zones as much as possible, carefully planning his route around them, but in Africa he found it more difficult due to the volatile nature of some areas. 

For example, the day before he went to the Central African Republic, 24 UN personnel were killed there, resulting in 12,000 French troops being deployed to the capital.

“Things happen in 24, 48 hours,” Indy said. “You can’t plan those things out.”

Namibia

Adding up the four times he was detained, Indy was interrogated for a total of 24 hours. 

“I feared for my life several times,” he revealed. “There were definitely several times that I did not think that I was going to get out of that country. By the fourth time, it was like ’no big deal anymore.’”

Indy’s least favourite country was the Comoros, a small group of islands off the southeastern coast of Africa, where he had encounters with “not too friendly” people.

His favourite, on the other hand, was Cambodia, where he enjoyed the culture and “super friendly” locals.

In terms of airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways are Indy’s favourites, although he admitted “any in the Middle East are awesome.” 

Cambodia

Luckily, he didn’t have any bad experiences with any airlines – of the roughly 500 flights he took, only two of them were cancelled, and they resulted in Indy enjoying free hotel stays while awaiting another flight. 

He made a point of booking morning flights, which are less likely to be cancelled or delayed.

The record-breaking jetsetter never faced any on-board troubles either. He revealed that his strategy for dealing with turbulence is to “think of it like a rollercoaster ride.”

He explained: “I’m small, 5 ft 4. I’ll bundle up into a little cocoon and put my feet into the back of the seat in front of me if no one’s there. I close my eyes and don’t get any headaches.”

Cuba

Last year, Indy added eight more unique airlines to his tally, but he’s put all future travels on hold for now to focus on his telecommunication startup which provides mobile data to underserved communities.

Indy might not have embarked on this new endeavour if not for the perspectives he gained through his world travels.

His advice for others is: “Just do it. Do it when you’re young.

“Get out of your comfort zone – go for three months, go to India, go to Cambodia, or central Asia.

“It changes your foundation, changes who you are, changes your view of the world.”