Meet the first Hungarian to visit every country

Ildikó Szabó is the first Hungarian national who has visited all the countries in the world. Only about 30 women can say that. Ildikó Szabó talked to a Hungarian website about her fascinating trips.

Country list

The UN counts 193 member states, officially recognised as the world’s total. This includes the Vatican, Palestine, Kosovo and Taiwan. There is also a list of the unrecognised or partially recognised countries.

Ildikó Szabó has visited all these countries and all continents. She told origo.hu that she reached the last country, Saudi Arabia, in 2018. Last year, in 2022, she also travelled to the seventh continent, Antarctica.

Best Hungarian traveller

Szabó said that there are a few travel community pages, where you can keep track of how many places you have been to. On one of these sites, she was the first Hungarian national to complete the challenge. This website also asks members for visa stamps.

There are around 200 people who have actually visited all the countries in the world, out of which only 30 are women. “Interestingly, more people have been to space or climbed Mt. Everest than have gone to every country in the world,” said Szabó.

The Hungarian adventurer started travelling in 2000 at the age of 18. By 2012, she had reached 70-80 countries but realised she wanted more. Szabó said she always tried to take local public transport and eat at local restaurants, which saved her a great deal.

Some African countries turned out to be the ones most difficult to reach, as visas are very expensive. Szabo’s aim is to get to know as many cultures and people as possible and to explore the local attractions. “I also want to push my own boundaries when I have a go at something new,” Szabó said.

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Source: origo.hu