Featured Image Credit: Thor Pedersen
Topics: Travel, World News, Life
Callum Jones
A man who's completed the incredible feat of visiting every single country in the world without flying has detailed the worst place he's ever been to.
Danish globe-trotter Thor Pedersen embarked on the trip of a lifetime in October 2013 as he attempted to visit every country without catching a single flight.
And while he had hoped to complete the ambitious challenge in just four years, a global pandemic and many other difficulties along the way meant Thor had to spent a little longer on his adventure.
But in May 2023, after reaching the Maldives, Thor made history by becoming the first person to visit every single nation on the planet without flying.
Advert
While Thor has visited many incredible countries during his travels, there is one place in particular the author will not be rushing back to.
According to Thor, the British commonwealth country of Tuvalu is the 'worst county in the world'.
He told UNILAD: "I do give Tuvalu a hard time. The reason for that is not because the people weren't nice, because they were, it's beautiful and there's lots of good, but I just struggle with all the money that's sent to Tuvalu to keep that running as a country.
"What is Tuvalu doing for the world? Just relocate these people to wherever they want to go, but stop sending money. Plus Tuvalu is going to be under the ocean in 70 years, 100 years, something within that.
"So if we start building factories so there's work for them, and build a nice hospital so they can get treated there, and really invest in Tuvalu, then it's all going to be underwater in the future anyway.
"I tend to think that's the worst country in the world."
Tuvalu is a group of nine tiny islands found in the South Pacific that has a population of around 11,500 people.
The country gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1978, and their political leaders have had a ton of issues to deal with ever since.
None more so than global warming, as rising sea levels means Tuvalu is 'extremely vulnerable' to climate change according to the UN.
Tuvalu is not the only country Thor isn't a fan of, highlighting one particular state as another low point of his trip.
And to give you a clue, an American who now goes by the name of Leo has just stepped into the country to run things in the past few weeks.
Thor told UNILAD: "There's a country that I do think is a terrible country, which is the Vatican. So, it's not about religion, it's about what's going on. No children are born there, you can't book a room for the night, there's no restaurants, and they tell you to leave of an evening and come back the next day.
"It's the only country in the world where they would go like, 'Oh yeah, time's up, we're closed. It's 11, come back tomorrow'. Rubbish country."
Vatican City is a small independent city-state that is surrounded by the Italian capital of Rome.
It has its own government, laws, currency, as well as being the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church and home to the pope.