Torbjørn C. Pedersen made headlines by being the most adventurous person in the world, and we mean it quite literally. Torbjorn C. Pedersen, otherwise known as Thor, has been to over 195 countries throughout the world. This may not seem like the biggest achievement. But what if we tell you that this adventurer has done it without taking a single flight? He broke the records of just about anyone in the world when he did this. It is almost impossible for a person to think about traveling to a country without flight, let alone two hundred different countries from all around the world. But Thor’s determination really proved to the world that nothing is impossible when you put your heart and mind into achieving something!
If you want to know more about Thor, his life, his journey, and so on, make sure to read till the end of this article, as we have included everything that you might possibly want to know about him!
Who is Torbjørn C. Pedersen?
Torbjørn C. Pedersen, otherwise known as Thor, is one of the most famous people on the internet at the moment. In 2023, this adventurous individual successfully made it to 195 countries throughout the world. While many people in the world have traveled the world and been to a single country several times, on top of that, Thor set an example for something completely different from that. When you visit another country or even a state, you are likely to take a flight there, but Thor, on the other hand, has never taken a flight when he went to either of the 195 countries he has been in.
It has taken around 10 years for Thor to complete his journey, and he successfully did so in 2023. One of the most shocking things about this man is that he left everything behind to fulfill this specific aspiration of him, including his girlfriend, his country, his house, and even his job. This alone shows how focused and motivated he was in becoming one of the only people in the world to ever make the impossible happen. One of the main reasons he was doing it was because he thought to himself, “Why am I doing this? I’m doing it because it has not been done before!”. At the end of the day, all his hard work has finally paid off!
What was the goal of Torbjørn C. Pedersen?
Torbjørn had one thing in mind throughout his 10-year-long journey, and it was to get to his goal of doing something that no one in the world had dared do. He started exactly a decade ago, and in 2023, he completed his journey. Thor has become successful in traveling to 195 countries in the world without taking a flight. His journey was never easy, but he never really gave up on himself on his way to the goal. What was the goal of doing what he did, though? For him, conquering something that had never been done before was one of the sole reasons for roaming around the world to the point that he had to lose everything in his life on the way. The zeal was so strong that he made it the purpose of his life to travel to countries without a flight. Pedersen would at least spend a total of 24 hours in a single country before he convinced himself to go back home. He could not give up on his decade-long journey, no matter how hard it got. This adventurer could not even spend more than $20 on a daily basis to make a survival.
May 24, 2023, was the day he finally got to get back home in Denmark after accomplishing a visit to his last destination, Maldives. Though it would’ve been more convenient for him to have flown to all these countries and still reached his goal, he wanted the journey to be authentic in the sense that no one else had done what he was rooting for. “There’s a historical sense of returning home by ship – people can see it on the horizon and stand and wave as I come down the gangway. And that seems like an appropriate way to complete the project.”, says Thor.
How did Torbjørn C. Pedersen get funded during his travel around the world?
I met Torbjørn C. Pedersen today! A Danish traveler on a quest to become the first person to travel to every country in the world without flying pic.twitter.com/wJ2FyQ2Yew
— JasperJazzyPants (@jasperjazzypant) July 1, 2022
Pedersen did not have it easy when he started his journey at first. He had to spare a small budget to get him through every passing day. Having spent a little more than his budget would end up bad, plus resisting going back home to Denmark was not even in his book of options. Despite the initial days of struggle, Thor became the goodwill ambassador for the Danish Red Cross eventually. Plus, letting the world know about his journey helped him quite a bit in his journey.
Thor, however, did not only survive on the funds he received. He took thousands of dollars worth of loans from everywhere he could, and he used all of his savings on this journey. As he had made up his mind to cut out a flight from his journey, his trip throughout the world started with a train ride from Denmark to Germany.
Furthermore, his blog “Once Upon a Saga” also helped him raise a good amount of money for his travel through donations.
What is the purpose of Torbjørn C. Pedersen’s journey?
Torbjørn’s journey was never easy. In fact, he describes the journey as both beautiful and challenging. His purpose to travel is not only limited to a single factor, though. He traveled because he wanted to be the only person in the world who made it around the world without taking a flight, but it ended up having a purpose greater than just that. Thor said he has been promoting peace and global awareness against several issues in his journey. This has made him appreciated by people all around the world.
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Torbjørn C. Pedersen(Thor) returns home after a decade
Returning home had never even been an option for Thor as he was focused on getting to his target throughout his journey. This did not mean that he had it easy in avoiding the willingness to get back home in his own comfort. But after his final trip to the Maldives, Pedersen finally went to Denmark. Needless to say, he received a very heartwarming welcome back home. People who both knew him and did not know him were eagerly waiting for him to make a return, and the first thing he received at home was a warm bunch of people.
The crowd had a total of 150 people, including his friends and family, as well as everyone who had been rooting for him in his tough journey. Though he had to break up with his girlfriend at the time to pursue his journey, the traveler proposed to her in 2016 at the top of Mount Kenya, and they got married in the year 2021. So, one of the most eager ones in the crowd was his wife. His father, siblings, friends, project partners, etc., were some of the most close and happiest people who welcomed him home.
Thor’s blog, “Once Upon a Saga,” is a blog where he has updates about his travels throughout the world. The blog has a very keen number of followers who always look up to his accomplishments. Moreover, after the worldwide prevalence of social media platforms, his journey has been easier to follow from his social media handles as well. This increased the amount of supporters in his home country itself.
Upon his return, the traveler said, “I’ve seen many tearful eyes since I got back – people have come up to hug me sobbing. I have also received a lot of gifts – Danish beer, milk, food – and got to meet people who have been following my social media from Colombia, Australia, and Norway… that was amazing. My family is really proud. There’s a lot of love. Coming home is something I’ve been focusing on – something I’ve wanted to materialize for the longest time. But I am still processing that the journey is over and figuring out what comes next.”
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Torbjørn C. Pedersen(Thor)’s journey of 10 years
Thor’s journey started on 10 October 2013. He worked in logistics and shipments before he started his journey. His solid background in knowing routes helped him in getting to his goal to a great extent. Though his journey was meant to end in 2018, things were never as easy for him. Hence, instead of just 5 years, it took him double the time. But, it had all been worth the time and energy he invested as he is now the very first person to have ever traveled the world without a flight. Additionally, his travel has also been promoting awareness of global issues as well as world peace.
Equatorial Guinea is one of the world’s most difficult countries to go to, but he has made it there as well. It was not difficult to get access to this country. Pedersen recalls travel to this country as the toughest as it took even his friends and family to try for his visa and so on. But, his fate did not stop him from achieving what he was aiming for as a very kind stranger who also happened to be going to Equatorial Guinea helped him get into the country.
It also took backtracking to several countries before he finally made his way to Pakistan. Pakistan is another country with some of the strictest rules that forbid outsiders from randomly paying a visit there. He got a visa to China and then made it to Mongolia and eventually to Pakistan. Syria, Iran, Nauru, and Angola were some of the places where his visa had to endure long waits that were as long as several months. Nothing really went according to his plan, and what was meant to be finished in half a decade originally took a whole decade to complete.
When he was in Ghana, Pedersen severely suffered from cerebral malaria. He also had to bear a four-day storm while crossing the Atlantic from Iceland to Canada. In many borders of the world, he had to undergo the hardships of laws, conflicts, as well as bureaucracy. One of the major turns in his journey was the global pandemic, COVID-19. He only had nine more countries to conquer in 2020, but he was stuck in Hong Kong at that time, so he was forced to spend at least two years in Hong Kong itself.
In an interview with CNN Travel, he said,
“I look back at Hong Kong, and it’s a bit of a paradox. It was the worst time of my life and the best time of my life, somehow. I had to cope with the situation – it was such a struggle to work out if I should abandon this project nine countries short of completion. I had to ask myself: how much of my life will I give to this? But while waiting for the world to open, I made a life in Hong Kong and forged so many special relationships.”
In 2021, during his stay in Hong Kong after getting an employment visa and Hong Kong residency, the traveler married Le, who was back in Denmark through a US-based virtual wedding service. Despite the time of the pandemic not being the best for Pedersen’s journey, it included some of the best days of his married life. In the same interview with CNN Travel, Thor shared about his journey, “We spent 100 days together, which was wonderful. She got to meet my friends and understand my life. We love hiking in Hong Kong and did the MacLehose Trail, which is 62 miles long at more than half the elevation of Mount Everest, side by side in one go.”
Finally, in 2023, his journey ended at Maldives. From Maldives, he made it home via Malaysia from Sri Lanka in a container ship that stretched 1,310 feet in length and was as big as 3.6 soccer fields.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was the Danish man who traveled the world?
Torbjorn “Thor” Pedersen was the Danish man who traveled the world.
Did Thor visit every country without flying?
Yes, Thor visited every country in the world without flying.
Who traveled to every country in the world?
Thor Pedersen traveled only by foot and road vehicles throughout the world.
How long did it take for Thor to travel?
It took Thor 10 years to travel all around the world.
What vehicles did Thor take during his travel?
Thor took 37 container ships, 158 trains, 351 buses, 219 taxis, 33 boats, and 43 rickshaws during his travel.
