I remember flipping through these colorful books as a kid, marveling at all the crazy accomplishments that humans have made. There were unusual people like the tallest living man at 251 cm (8′ 3″) & the 116 yr old woman who became the oldest living person. Others were inspiring, like Eliud Kipchoge who set a record for completing a marathon in less than two hours. Or the 633 divers who completed the world’s largest ocean cleanup event. The longest time for a breath hold is 24+ mins & the world’s largest free-fall formation was composed of 357 skydivers.
When I was 18, I had the idea to break the Guinness World Record for the Youngest Person to Travel to Every Country. I wanted to challenge myself to get out of my comfort zone. I also hoped to inspire a few others by showing people that the world is not always a scary place, kindness is everywhere in spite of political instabilities & every culture has something important to teach us. In retrospect, I had no idea what I was getting myself into…
I experienced the interconnectedness of the world, I met people who changed my life forever and I also experienced trauma. Stay tuned for my book about all the lessons I’ve learned from 196 countries. It’s coming your way very soon!😆
Breaking a GWR was my least favorite part of this journey. I submitted nearly 7,000 pages of evidence in chronological order. This evidence required everything from plane tickets to passport stamps, taxi & accommodation receipts, train tickets, photos, videos and more. I also had to have 2 witnesses from each country to fill out a statement verifying that I was there (this was WAY HARDER than you would imagine, nearly 400 witness statements in total). After all that mind numbing paperwork, I’m still grateful I had the opportunity to challenge myself and complete the goal I set out to do 3 years earlier.
More people have been to outer space than have traveled every country and less than 10% of these global travelers have been women. I’m proud to be a part of this bizarre group of humans who have gotten to scratch the surface of how much there is to explore❤️
Alexis Rose Alford, also known as Lexie Limitless, is an American woman who is notable for traveling to 196 countries before reaching the age of twenty-one. She’s the girlfriend of Thomas Brag of Yes Theory.
Photos by Daniel Del Carmen
