A man who’s visited every country in the world has revealed that picking his favourite was “easy” as it’s the “only one” that led him to quit his job and move there. Ramblin’ Randy, a San Diego man who, in 2023, finally stuck a pin in his final nation, Turkmenistan, ticking off the final country in an extensive list of 193 nations.
Yet, with so many countries to choose from, you’d think it would be a mammoth task to select just one as your favourite. But Randy previously said it was “so easy”. In 2019, he opened up to LOST iN about his globe-trotting escapades and his mission to “see them all”. At the time, having visited 120 countries, he shared a list of his top 10, which included everywhere from Switzerland to Djibouti, from Brunei to Armenia, while his top pick was the fifth largest country in the world.
Randy said: “I always get asked what’s my favourite country, and the answer for me is so easy because well, it’s the only country that I packed up everything, quit my job, left everything behind and moved to.
“I found this city on the coast called Recife. I didn’t even leave the airport, but passing over the shores of Recife, I saw these beautiful, coral, pastel-coloured high-rises right along the beach. It kinda reminded me of Miami Beach.
“So, on my next trip, I visited it. I found an apartment and then I went back home and asked my boss if I could talk to him and told him I was quitting and moving to Brazil, and it was one of the most exciting times of my life.”
Brazil is the largest nation in South America, boasting a vast 4,500-mile coastline along the Atlantic and sharing a border with every country on the continent, excluding Ecuador and Chile.
It’s also home to a vast swathe of the Amazon Rainforest (nearly 60 per cent), with the Amazon River a significant fixture in the north. Pink river dolphins and piranhas are among the millions of species in the river.
Upon hitting his incredible target in 2023, Ramblin’ Randy told ABC 10News San Diego: “It’s bittersweet. A pin for every country, and this is the last one – Turkmenistan. Here we go.”
However, visiting his final country may have been more complicated as it is highly restricted. In fact, Randy dubbed it “one of the most mysterious countries on the planet”.
Explaining how he managed to enter the Central Asian nation, He added: “So, the only way you can visit Turkmenistan is through an approved tour company.”
While summarising his experiences, he said that his around-the-world travels have led him to not only accept and embrace other cultures but also learn to love them.
According to the UN, there are 195 recognised countries, 193 of which are UN member states. The two remaining nations are the non-member observer states of Vatican City and Palestine.