Man Who Visited Every Country Had To Prove He's Not A Spy 4 Times

Travel enthusiasts often face a variety of challenges when crossing multiple international borders. These can range from document issues like passport renewals and ID verification to money-related concerns, and most commonly, language barriers. One seasoned traveler, however, has encountered a more unusual problem-having to prove he's not a spy on four separate occasions to avoid imprisonment during his journeys. Extended travel comes with its own set of complications, as demonstrated by American globetrotter Indy Nelson, who has visited every country in the world, including repeat trips to places like North Korea. His remarkable travels have been met with unique obstacles along the way.

According to Guinness World Records, Indy Nelson has 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.

Photo Credit: Guinness World Records

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.

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 told Guinness World Records. "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.