By Nitin Gairola
On 6 June 2026, travel history was made in Azeitao, Portugal, as 103 ‘UN Grandmasters’—individuals who have visited all 193 United Nations-recognised countries—gathered together, creating the largest known assembly of such world travelers ever recorded. True to what these individuals do, the event itself created a record of sorts. The mega programme was organised by the well renowned global travel community (with over 50,000 members) called ‘Most Traveled People or MTP’. The community was formed in 2005 by the legendary Charles Veley, who is often known as the ‘founding father of competitive or extreme world travel’. He was also one of the first persons ever to visit every country in the world way back in 2003.
The MTP programme in Portugal brought together nearly 200 guests, of which these 103 are some of the planet’s most accomplished contemporary world travellers from across countries and continents, including Luis Amaral – a top global traveller who is from Portugal itself, and who was central to organising and hosting the 2026 MTP Summit. These 103 attendees had completed one of the rarest achievements in world travel, which is reaching all 193 UN countries. To put it in perspective, more people have been to space than those who have done this. The number compares as approximately 780+ to space versus around 500 who have been to each country, of which 103 were in one place. Talk about concentration risk!
However, this mega catch-up celebrated far more than passport stamps and country counts. It was a meeting of diverse life stories, cultures, and experiences gathered from every corner of the globe. Among the attendees were adventurers who spent decades completing their journeys – such as the incredible adventurer, Thor Pedersen (who is the first man in history to visit every country in an unbroken journey, without flying), while others achieved the milestone in just a few years – naturally taking lots of flights. Some traveled in luxury, while others backpacked across continents on modest budgets. Despite their different paths, they shared a common passion for exploration, cultural understanding, and global connection.
These travelers came together to celebrate not only the remote places they had been to, but to celebrate the shared human experiences that unite us all. The best part is that, today, the MTP community is extending beyond just Americans, Europeans, Australians, Singaporeans and Japanese, who naturally had greater means in general and a far stronger passport to see all the countries in one lifetime. The diverse pool today includes Chinese, Indians, Emiratis, Kuwaitis, Turks, Thai, Malaysians, Filipinos (such as Kach Umandap who was present at the event), Brazilians, Argentinians, Chileans, Peruvians and even a Jamaican (Romaine Welds, who also came), a South African, a Kazakh, an Iranian (who would have thought) and recently a Qatari citizen as well.
The Portugal Summit had ‘UN Grandmasters’ from as many as 35 countries, and of the 103 ‘all country’ travelers, 24 were women – which is a new trend since extreme world travel earlier used to be very male dominated. Representing diversity and lady power, there was an 82-year old Filipino lady – Luisa Yu – who is also the oldest UN Grandmaster in the world. Her unspoken message clearly was that it is never too late, but don’t count on it – do it now. And with more and more Asians in the mix, it is no surprise that next year’s MTP annual summit would take place in Chengdu, China from 7 to 10 October 2027.
A few other interesting stories from the current 2026 Portuguese Summit were those of Angela & Robert Penna who had visited every country as a couple, Ezra & Aihem Gojenola Pertica, who are the only brothers who have been to all, and Slawek Muturi of Kenyan descent, who is the only person to have visited all countries thrice (yes, you read that right). There were the youngsters too – Andrea Munoz – one of the youngest women to achieve this feat (the youngest person though is Lexie Alfort) and Jorn Bjorn Augestad who is the youngest Norwegian.
Some other notable mentions are those of Nicolai Petek who visited every country while working full time (sounds like me), Sascha Grabow who has hitchhiked for more than a million kilometres and holds a few big travel records, Jack Wheeler – who had brought passports issued way back in the 1960s and has a travel company now, the Argentine Nicolas Pasquali, a man who travels the world on a budget and David Langan, an Irishman who visits a post office in every country (talk about being quirky). And then there was Jaime Aleman – the first person ever to visit all countries and space as well. Just adding that there is now another person who has achieved this rarest of rare feats of being a UN Grandmaster plus space traveller and it is an 82-year old Indian (who is now a US citizen) – Arvinder Singh Bahal.
And this leads me nicely to our Indian story at the Summit. For this particular Portugal 2026 edition, representing India was Dr Kandukuri Benny Prasad of Bengaluru. Way back in 2010 he set a world record for traveling to 245 nations (both sovereign & dependent states, including Antarctica) in an extraordinary time frame of 6 years, 6 months, and 22 days, completing the journey upon his arrival in Karachi, Pakistan, on 22 November 2010. At that time, 16 years ago, it was the fastest such journey to all countries and he held that record for quite a while before global jet-setting became a lot easier and our big wide world grew even more connected with world-wide web and other such smart things (hint – smart phones & apps) which people from the recent past just didn’t have. Remarkably, he accomplished this feat using only his Indian passport (16 of them) and not a US, UK or any other powerful passport.
When I heard of this achievement back in 2010, I was no spring chicken at 30 years of age and had started traveling the world just 3 years prior. I had been to only around 10-12 countries at that time and that is the year I got married to Richa as well, incidentally on 28 November 2010, just 6 days after Benny had completed his journey. Benny then became my inspiration for wanting to see more of the planet and that’s when my own journey to the world outside (and within) really began in full earnest. If this initial and audacious goal of mine to see all countries had not taken shape from the inspiring story of Benny Prasad, then I would not have stumbled upon my own unique idea much later of focusing on witnessing the entire natural world. Basically, the natural world comprising all ecosystems or biomes on Earth (such as traveling to every desert, forest, grassland, tundra & ice biome), rather than to all countries that make up the political world.
That’s why I believe the 30th anniversary of the Garhwal Post, which reflects the newspaper’s resilience, merits another inspiring Indian story of a ‘never give up’ mindset. That’s why I present the story of Benny Prasad since he is truly a living testament of perseverance, faith, and the power of transformation. I say this in some dramatic fashion since at the age of 16, Benny stood at the edge of despair. Struggling under the weight of expectations from his father, an aerospace scientist, and facing severe medical complications that led doctors to predict he had only six months to live, he battled deep depression and suicidal thoughts. A life-changing divine encounter, however, altered the course of his future and ignited a mission that would take him across the globe and make him a gospel musician as well.
And it’s not just his world travels, music, and his inspiring Ted Talks that Benny is known for. Today, Dr Prasad and his wife, Zanbeni, dedicate their lives to helping others find hope. They run ‘Chai 3:16’, a counselling café in Bengaluru that provides a safe space for college students wrestling with depression, anxiety, and suicidal tendencies and we have all heard of late what exam and peer pressures can do to young minds. Through compassionate conversations and practical support, they have sort of become a beacon of hope for countless young lives. And that’s not all – he is also an author who has chronicled some extraordinary experiences in his book, ‘Unthinkable’, which features 32 inspiring true stories from 32 nations. I highly recommend this book and also Thor Pedersen’s ‘The Impossible Journey’ where he narrates his decade long unbroken adventure to all countries, without taking a single flight.
So, from a teenager told he had little time left to a global traveller, musician, counsellor, and an inspiration to thousands, Dr Prasad’s story is his legacy. And yes, the ‘Most Traveled People’ community is indeed creating its own legacy as they created history on 6 June 2026 in Portugal by bringing 103 UN Grandmasters together. Just think about how big of an undertaking it is to visit every country on Earth and that’s why I doff my hat to these extraordinary men and women. I just can’t wait for next year’s MTP Summit in China and maybe we will have another record gathering of the world’s most traveled people in October 2027.
(Nitin Gairola, often considered the ‘Most Travelled Indian’, is a Natural World Traveller from Dehradun. Inspired by Sir David Attenborough, he is on a quest to become the first person to travel to the entire natural world of every major forest, desert, grassland, tundra & ice biome on Earth, besides every major country. This multi-year project is called ‘Borderless Biomes’ and Nitin has also set world travel records certified by India Book of Records, has written for Lonely Planet, holds National Geographic conservation certifications, is a senior corporate executive in an MNC and loves bio-geography. In his early days, he used to be a published poet as well. Join him @ www.instagram.com/ MostTravelledIndian/)
