Travel blogger Jessica Nabongo has visited every country on Earth. Photo / Supplied.
It took her 30 years - starting aged 4, living in Detroit just across the border from Canada - but Jessica Nabongo has achieved a feat that would make any seasoned traveller jealous.
In 2019, at the age of 35, Nabongo landed in the Seychelles. That trip meant she had visited all 195 countries in the world - making her one of the first black women to do so solo.
Speaking to Lorna Riley on the Herald’s travel podcast, Trip Notes, Nabongo said it’s a feat achieved by fewer than 400 people.
" I always tell people more people have been to outer space than visited every country and no heads of state have ever been to every country."
It’s something she has done of her own accord, after being raised by two travel-happy parents, and spending her 20s moving between different countries.
After starting her blog, The Catch Me If You Can, to document her travels, Nabongo started to get some paid work, but says most of her adventures have been self-funded as a fulltime blogger.
When she is travelling, there are a few things Nabongo loves to do no matter the country she’s in.
" One of my favourite things to do is markets. I love going to markets.
“I’m also very into food, wine, and spirits. So like when I was in New Zealand, I went to Waiheke which was incredible, even though it was winter, I still had a good time.
“I like to really try to explore culture more than anything, so I’m more a cultural explorer than like necessarily nature. Like, I enjoy nature and I’ll do a good hike, but I really wanna like meet people, eat food, like have a chat over a glass of wine or a shot of gin or whatever it is, I like to learn the culture through those things.”
Some countries have been good enough for her to visit twice - 63 in fact, ranging from Kenya to Japan to Mexico - and New Zealand is on her list for a return visit, though a struggle to get her friends to come with her is forcing her to plan another solo visit instead.
One of her favourite places was Bhutan, in the Himalayan mountains.
“What I love about it is, number one, it was never invaded. And so they’ve been able, in this very globalised world, they’ve really been able to keep their culture alive.
“Often when I meet older people who’ve travelled extensively, I’m like, oh man, I wish I was born a couple of decades earlier. Because when you travel now, you see so many similarities, just because of globalisation.
“You don’t really get that in Bhutan. There’s this real reverence for their culture that I think is pretty rare around the world.”
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As for her least favourite country to visit solo, there’s only one Nabongo is adamant she won’t return to.
" It’s interesting because I’ve talked to other women who’ve solo travelled in this country and they felt uncomfortable, but they still solo travelled there.
“For me, it’s India, and I’ve been to India solo I think twice, and I’ve been there once with a friend. I do not feel comfortable in India on my own.
“For me it was specifically Delhi where I felt very uncomfortable ... Udaipur, I just felt way more comfortable. It’s a smaller city. But for me, Delhi solo as a woman, I’m not interested.”
Listen to the full episode for more from Jessica Nabongo on her extensive travels, other countries she’d recommend, her advice for women travelling solo, and the downsides to having visited every country.
Jessica’s story features in the book Lonely Planet: Women Travel Solo, out now.
Trip Notes is an NZ Herald podcast hosted by Lorna Riley, a keen travel writer and enthusiast and host of Coast Days.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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