\n \u201cTravel became my way of coping \u2014 first as an escape, then as a form of healing,\u201d he adds.\n <\/p>\n
\n And then, travel turned Mofid into a world record breaker.\n <\/p>\n
\n Having already clocked up visits to many destinations while playing tennis competitively, he came up with the idea of traveling to every country in the world while grappling with OCD during the Covid-19 pandemic.\n <\/p>\n
\n And in April 2025, Mofid, who is of Iranian-Egyptian descent, finally completed his quest to visit all 195 UN-recognized countries and territories after jumping on a plane to North Korea with some of his closest friends.\n <\/p>\n
\n While it\u2019s a feat that has been achieved only by an estimated 400 people, it was particularly significant for Mofid as he became, by some reckoning, the youngest person to do it.\n <\/p>\n
\n His record didn\u2019t stand for long, but he says being exposed to so many different cultures has changed his perspective on life completely.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cVisiting every country wasn\u2019t just about geography,\u201d says Mofid. \u201cIt was about learning how to live with uncertainty, find calm in discomfort, and connect with people from every walk of life.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Mofid says the decision to try to visit every country came as a lifeline during a particularly low point.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cOne day, I was in my apartment, and my anxiety, my OCD is kind of spiraling out of control,\u201d he recalls.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cAnd I was on my computer just looking up randomly how many people had ever been to every country.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cMore people had been to space than had been to every country in the world,\u201d he says. \u201cI thought that was crazy.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Mofid soon realized that while the Guinness World Record<\/a> for being the youngest person to do this was held by 21-year-old, he was technically able to beat the record listed by online platform NomadMania, which requires interactions with locals and visits to cultural or geographical landmarks in each country for it to count toward the record.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe record was (held by) a guy who was 25 and a half,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time I was 20. And I said, \u2018Maybe that\u2019s an amazing, crazy goal that I could reach.\u2019\n <\/p>\n \n Feeling inspired, Mofid, who had previously worked in marketing, set up an event marketing company to earn enough cash to be able to achieve his goal, giving himself a three-year deadline to begin the challenge.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI told myself, after I graduated college, I would (begin,) which is what I did,\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n \n Although he\u2019d traveled to some countries as a child, he decided to \u201crestart,\u201d only counting those he\u2019d visited from the age of 18 onwards.\n <\/p>\n \n Thanks to the 100 or so countries clocked up during his extensive travels while working in the tennis industry, as well as trips he\u2019d manage to squeeze in during his studies, Mofid needed to travel to just over 90 new countries to complete the challenge.\n <\/p>\n \n In order to ensure that he did so \u201clegitimately,\u201d Mofid came up with a list of his own personal requirements, while adhering to those set out by NomadMania.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cMy rule was I had to do something in each country,\u201d he says. \u201cSomething meaningful. Most countries, I stayed at least four days.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Mofid then created a \u201cmassive spreadsheet\u201d detailing the numerous combinations of flights and routes he could take, along with the many visas he\u2019d need to obtain.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt was a logistical nightmare,\u201d he says, before explaining that he opted for the combination of flights and routes that \u201cmade the most sense financially to do on such a budget.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n In late 2022, Mofid \u201cthrew a bunch of clothes into a Nike duffle bag,\u201d along with some shoes, and began the journey that would see him join the club of travelers who\u2019ve visited all 195 UN-recognized countries and territories in the world.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI started with the countries around Europe,\u201d he explains, admitting that he wanted to work his way up to the \u201cultra dangerous countries\u201d by beginning with those that he was more comfortable traveling to.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cAnd then maybe the South American ones. Australia, these sorts of countries that are not seen as dangerous.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n To keep costs as low as possible, Mofid took many overnight buses and stayed in budget accommodation.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI stayed in some two-star hotels,\u201d he says. \u201cI stayed in a hotel in the country of Niger with no electricity and no running water\u2026 I\u2019ve hitchhiked in crazy countries to get to the next border.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n During a visit to his 115th country, West Africa\u2019s Nigeria, in January 2023, Mofid visited a floating village named Makoko and was so impacted by the experience that he went on to found a nonprofit organization named Humanity Effect<\/a>, to support children in the community.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat\u2019s something that kind of is the biggest legacy for my travels, I suppose\u2026\u201d he says, explaining that he has returned to the village several times over the years.\n <\/p>\n \n However, Mofid\u2019s journey certainly wasn\u2019t without its setbacks.\n <\/p>\n \n After traveling to North African country Algeria in April 2024, Mofid became extremely ill and says he was unable to move from his bed for 15 hours.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI couldn\u2019t even reach over to grab my phone to call anyone,\u201d he recalls. \u201cI started having weird visions, hallucinating, sweating like crazy. I was so hot, and then I was freezing.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Mofid concedes that this was probably the only point in the journey when he seriously considered giving up.\n <\/p>\n Highs and lows<\/p>\n \n \u201cThat was the closest I got to a breaking point,\u201d he says. \u201cWhere I just thought to myself, \u2018Why am I here? Why am I essentially in a state of paralysis in the middle of the Algerian Sahara?\u2019\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Thankfully, he recovered after being admitted into a hospital and was able to fully experience Algeria, which Mofid describes as \u201cunbelievable.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s one of my favorite countries in the whole world,\u201d he says, noting that \u201cthe countries that receive the least amount of tourism are often the ones where you have the best experience, because you feel totally immersed in their culture.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Mofid was also incredibly taken with Yemen, after visiting the destination in February 2023, and says walking through the streets there was like \u201cgoing back in time.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTo see people dress the same way that they were hundreds if not thousands of years ago,\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTo see people living in mud houses, to see people still using flip phones.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Both Algeria<\/a> and Yemen<\/a> are subject to US State Department travel advisories. Caution is urged in Algeria due to \u201cterrorism and kidnapping. In March 2025, an advisory said travelers should avoid Yemen \u201cdue to terrorism, civil unrest, crime, health risks, kidnapping, armed conflict, and landmines.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cIt\u2019s a country that\u2019s obviously in a very politically and economically difficult spot right now,\u201d Mofid says about Yemen. \u201cBut again, what you find is that the countries that are in some of the worst situations have the kindest people.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n While he says he was grateful to be doing something so few people have either the time, means, or desire to take on, Mofid admits that he felt incredibly lonely a lot of the time.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe reality is that 95% of the time I was alone,\u201d he says. \u201cYou have to really learn to get comfortable being lonely and kind of love it in a way.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cTo love really getting to know yourself, because you\u2019re going months on end without seeing anyone that you know in places where there\u2019s maybe not a lot of connectivity\u2026\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cSo that sort of loneliness can be very isolating at times. But at the same time, it really pushed me to make friends and meet people.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Aged 25, he visited North Korea, the final country on his list, by participating in the Pyongyang International Marathon, an annual race held in the capital city.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat trip was just incredible. I mean, getting off the plane and touching down in my 195th and final country\u2026\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cI became the youngest person to ever visit every country per NomadMania, barely. I beat the guy that was the previous record holder by I think, six weeks.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n Mofid celebrated reaching his \u201cgrand finale finish line\u201d by heading to a bar with his friends.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThat was the big celebration, to have some beers in the world\u2019s most isolated and remote country,\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cWe went to a dive bar. People don\u2019t even know they have those in North Korea, but they do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n![\"After](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/nigeria-4.jpg\")
Humanity Effect, to support children in the community of a floating village named Makoko.” class=”image__dam-img image__dam-img–loading” onload=’this.classList.remove(‘image__dam-img–loading’)’ onerror=”imageLoadError(this)” height=”1500″ width=”2000″ loading=’lazy’\/><\/p>\n![\"Mofid](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/algeria-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Mofid](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/north-korea-4.jpg\")
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