What it is prefer to journey to each nation on this planet

(CNN) — After many years of touring, each individually and collectively, Rachel Davey and Martina Sebova had every visited over 100 of the 195 UN-recognized international locations and territories on the globe.

The pair, who met throughout an overland tour of Europe again in 2008, had been having espresso collectively in Melbourne, Australia, after they first mentioned the prospect of visiting the 88 or so remaining international locations on their lists.

They shortly determined to spend the following two years doing simply that collectively.

Whereas the considered touring to so many new locations in a comparatively quick area of time was considerably daunting, Sebova notes that having over half of the international locations on this planet already ticked off made issues rather a lot simpler.

“I believe it could terrify me if I needed to begin visiting each nation and I might been to love 10,” the journey blogger tells CNN Journey. “I do not actually suppose that that is even viable. It’s essential be properly traveled [before doing something like this].”

The excited pair then started planning for his or her massive journey, saving as a lot cash as they may with a purpose to fund the journey, with the goal of spending round 5 to seven days in every nation.

Journey quest

Rachel Davey and Martina Sebova, pictured in Baalbek, Lebanon, bonded by means of their ardour for journey.

Rachel Davey/Very Hungry Nomads

Earlier than setting off in 2018, Davey and Sebova, who had been collectively for round a decade by this level, determined that they’d not reveal that they had been a pair, and easily journey as mates.

“It was very pure,” says Sebova, explaining that they had been making use of for visas in some conservative international locations did not wish to danger being denied entry.

“We had been visiting loads of international locations the place even the idea of a same-sex couple would not exist,” she provides. “And we did not actually wish to put our private security in danger at any stage.”

Davey and Sebova say that performing as if they had been merely greatest mates “wasn’t actually a lot of a change” and folks usually assumed that they had been sisters.

“It was by no means a giant subject,” provides Davey. “We by no means tried to cowl it. We simply did not [tell anyone].”

The primary new nation they visited was North Korea and the pair went on to journey to Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Bhutan and Pakistan.

In 2019, they spent six months touring throughout Central Africa and say that the grueling bus journeys took a toll on them after some time.

“We did like 38 hours on buses, typically simply altering autos, making an attempt to get from A to B,” explains Sebova.

Nomadic way of life

Throughout a go to to the city of Lalibela within the Amhara area of northern Ethiopia.

Rachel Davey/Very Hungry Nomads

The pair say that a few of their greatest experiences had been in locations that they had been extra cautious of previous to visiting.

“The folks in Sudan and Iran had been among the friendliest people who we’ve encountered,” provides Sebova. “And most of the people would assume these international locations are actually harmful based mostly on the picture [we see].”

Eritrea, a small nation based mostly in East Africa, and the Caribbean island of Dominica had been among the many different stand out international locations they visited.

Based on Sebova, the truth that they had been ladies of their late 30s who weren’t married with youngsters proved to be considerably controversial in among the international locations they visited.

“There are cultural variations with simply being a lady and touring with no man,” she explains. “We had been denied a few visas simply based mostly on that.”

Though lots of their mates had chosen to place their financial savings into mortgages and/or companies through the years, Davey and Sebova, who describe themselves as nomads, say they’re “comfortable to spend it on journey and fear about that later.”

Davey holds an Australian passport, whereas Sebova has a Slovakian passport, which often triggered points when it got here to making use of for visas.

“Generally it was like, ‘you may get one right here, [but I can’t] which threw a spanner in there,” explains Davey. “Nevertheless it labored out.”

After years of touring collectively, the pair are properly conscious of their strengths and weaknesses, and every take duty for various duties through the journey.

They clarify that Sebova is extra naturally organized and focuses on ensuring their day runs as easily as doable, whereas Davey is “extra flippant,” and fewer expert relating to navigation.

“Rach will get misplaced within the resort,” jokes Sebova, who additionally works as a tour information. “I all the time say it is a miracle that she made it by means of each nation. We make an awesome crew.”

Pandemic delay

They traveled round Australia in a campervan whereas the nation’s borders had been closed to worldwide journey.

Rachel Davey/Very Hungry Nomads

That they had been on the street for round two years, and had been simply 10 international locations away from attaining their purpose when the pandemic hit.

The pair, who had been in London on the time, selected to fly to Australia, and had been inevitably pressured to place the rest of the journey on maintain because of the border restrictions in place on the time.

Nonetheless, they continued to journey, opting to purchase a camper van and drive across the nation collectively “with the borders of Australia closing behind us.”

“We ended up doing the massive lap of Australia in 18 months and spent loads of time in Queensland and Western Australia, which was wonderful, as a result of we could not go away the nation,” says Davey. “We lived in our camper van and it was heaps of enjoyable.”

When journey restrictions had been lifted for Australians in 2022, they had been pressured to attend till the borders reopened within the remaining locations on the record, which included among the Pacific Islands.

This proved to be notably irritating, notably as lots of their friends had been touring extensively now that the world had reopened, whereas they had been patiently ready for a number of international locations to carry restrictions.

“We began this journey considering that we might end this large quest in our 30s,” explains Sebova.

“Then we tipped into our 40s through the pandemic and we had been sitting in a van, not proudly owning something, nonetheless ready.”

They had been in a position to journey to the North African nation of Libya the place border restrictions had additionally lifted, however needed to wait for much longer for his or her remaining locations, Kiribati and Samoa, each positioned within the Pacific Islands, to reopen.

Kiribati lastly lifted restrictions for worldwide vacationers in August 2022, and the pair flew in a number of weeks later.

Problem accomplished

They reached Samoa, the ultimate nation on their record, on November 19, 2022 and say it took some time for it to sink in that they’d lastly achieved their purpose.

“It [Samoa] was simply the right vacation spot to complete,” says Sebova. “I had this second after I was standing in entrance of a map of the world and considering oh my god, we’ve been to each nation on this map.”

The pair celebrated the massive milestone with a good friend, who’d flown out to the tiny island nation, located midway between Hawaii and New Zealand, to satisfy them.

After they returned to Australia in late 2022 having visited each nation on this planet, they started receiving better media curiosity and folks beginning to ask questions on their relationship.

“They checked out our feed and naturally noticed a pair, one thing that different folks simply do not see,” provides Sebova, explaining that they had been comfortable to substantiate that they had been in a relationship as soon as they’d reached their goal.

They started their intensive journey with a go to to North Korea again in spring 2018.

Rachel Davey/Very Hungry Nomads

“We had followers on social media who had been like, ‘oh my god, I all the time thought that you just had been a pair, however you by no means stated something.'”

Davey and Sebova stress that, apart from the difficulty of security, they needed to maintain the dialogue round their journey centered on the truth that they had been two ladies taking up such a large problem, noting that they after they initially appeared into the few hundred vacationers who’d been to each nation on this planet, the record was comparatively male-dominated.

“You see so few ladies on this a part of journey, which is extra adventurous,” provides Sebova. “So we had been making an attempt to vary that, in addition to encourage different ladies by exhibiting that it [the world] will not be such a scary place.”

Now that they’ve lastly achieved their purpose, Davey and Sebova say they haven’t any plans to calm down and can proceed to dwell a nomadic way of life for so long as doable.

They’re at the moment planning a visit to Thailand and hope to go to Indonesia later within the 12 months.

“We have all the time lived within the second,” says Davey. “That [being on the move] makes us each comfortable now. So that is what we’ll do. I do not plan too far forward. We by no means have.”