Recently we told you about Cassandra De Pecol, a 27-year-old traveler from Connecticut, US, who was aiming to become the first woman to travel to all 193 sovereign states (plus Kosovo, Taiwan and Palestine). Well guess what? She’s just done it, and not only that, she officially holds the record as the fastest person to do so after breaking the previous record in over half the time!

Cassie’s epic adventure, which was called Expedition196, took a total of 18 months and 26 days. She set out on July 24th, 2015, and she finished on February 2nd, 2017. Her journey cost her an estimated $198,000 USD (£160,000), a sum which was largely covered by sponsors, but as she wrote on Facebook, “despite what you may think, this Expedition has not been easy.” She was traveling on behalf of the International Institute for Peace Through Tourism, and part of her trip was spent meeting politicians and students in order to promote the institute’s primary goal of “mobilizing the travel and tourism industry as a leading force for poverty reduction.”

So what’s next for this inspirational globetrotter? Well, she’ll soon be off on another adventure, this time to Antarctica, and then in June she’ll be launching a course to teach people how to find the funding to pursue their very own dreams of traveling the world. Needless to say, our names are already on the list!

More info: Cassandra De Pecol | Expedition196 | Instagram | Facebook | IIPT

Cassandra De Pecol just became the first woman to travel to every country in the world

She’s also the fastest woman to travel the globe after breaking the previous record in over half the time!

Her epic adventure, which was called Expedition196, took a total of 18 months and 26 days

Cassie set out on July 24th, 2015, and she finished on February 2nd, 2017

She visited 193 sovereign states plus Kosovo, Taiwan, and Palestine

She was inspired to undertake her epic journey after backpacking through 26 countries in her late teens and early 20s

When she came home she ended up burning herself out working two jobs and 85-hour weeks

One day she drove to the office supply store and bought a large map of the world, which she pinned to her wall

“After staring at it…with a childlike sense of wonder, I decided to quit one of my jobs and start drawing lines connecting every country in the world to one another”

During the planning of her around-the-world trip, she received an endorsement from the International Institute of Peace Through Tourism

She became their Ambassador for Peace and promoted the institute during her travels

Although she only spent a few days in each country, sightseeing wasn’t a primary objective of Cassie’s trip

Much of her time was spent meeting tourism officials and politicians and speaking with university students

The institute’s goal is to mobilize the travel and tourism industry as a leading force for poverty reduction

Her journey cost her an estimated $198,000 USD (£160,000), a sum which was largely covered by sponsors

“As a young woman, I’d always dreamed to travel to as many countries as possible and make our world a better place,” she wrote on her website

“It bothered me though, that I could never figure out how to ignite this inner fire and make it happen”

“I became terrified as I envisioned myself at 80 years old, having not lead the life that I wanted while working towards making someone else’s dream a reality”

“Through a great deal of work, I was able to make this dream a reality”

“Despite what you may think, this Expedition has not been easy,” she wrote on Facebook

She’ll soon be launching a course to teach people how to find the funding to pursue your own dreams of traveling the world

Watch the video below for more info: