A man claims he has visited every country in the world without catching a single flight.
Thor Pedersen set off on his mission in October 2013 leaving behind his wife Le Pedersen, 40, and his job in shipping and logistics.
The 44-year-old waved goodbye to Denmark for Germany and completed his journey last month when he arrived in Maldives onboard a container ship, marking the end of his 223,072-mile adventure.
Thor left with the support of doctor Le, expecting the mission to last four years based on an average of seven days per country.
Best laid plans took a diversion when the explorer was forced to spend two years in Hong Kong thanks to Covid and problems with visas.
The average time Thor spent in each country was 17 days across the whole journey, while the shortest visit was 24 hours in Vatican City. His longest stretch was 27 days on a container ship from Hong Kong to Australia.
Thor says avoiding planes was 'very complicated' and his trip has included 351 buses, 158 trains, 43 tuk-tuks, 37 container ships, 33 boats, nine trucks, three sail boats, two cruise ships, one horse carriage, one police car and one yacht.
There were also countless motorbikes, taxis, metros, minibuses and trams.
Thor said: "I got wind that no one in history has gone to every country in the world completely without flying and I was caught up in the idea that I might have my shot at doing something remarkable.
"The idea was to do it with public transport wherever possible so that means hundreds of buses, trains and ferries then you ask if you can get on someone's fishing boat or a container ship.
"I have to spend a minimum of 24 hours in a country. What I do isn't tourism, it's like running a marathon or going to the moon, it's an accomplishment. A lot of my time is spent on buses and trains.
"The longest bus ride has been 54 hours on one bus in Brazil. The sun set on me twice. The longest train ride was five days in Russia.
"I rather enjoyed 27 days on the ship, it gave me time to read and exercise and we saw whales. It was a beautiful journey.
"There was no way to be comfortable on the bus ride, you'd have to have buns of steel but people are fun and you have good conversations with whomever it next to you."
The whole adventure has been funded by an energy company as well as crowdfunding. Thor budgeted $20 per day.
He also needed 10 passports to make sure he could enter every country without running out of pages to stamp.
Thor had been in a relationship with Le for one year when he left and she has flown out to see him 27 times in countries including Sudan, Australia and Hong Kong.
The pair will be reunited next month when he catches three ships from the Maldives to Sri Lanka then onto Germany, before sailing to Denmark.
Thor says his only regrets are not spending more time with his ageing parents and risking the chance to start a family with Le.
Thor said: "Before I left, my father was worried about my career. He didn't think I'd ever work again or be taken seriously, but he got on board.
"Telling my mum I was going was like telling her I'm going to the dentist. She's very proud. It's some of the last years of my parent's lives. There is regret in not spending more time with family and friends.
"My wife didn't want to stand in the way of something I wanted to do but she was conflicted because she would rather be building a life with me, waking up next to me and holding my hand.
"She's been amazing, she's a huge support and we've had unique experiences together throughout the world. It got harder every time she came to visit, dropping her off at the airport was getting my heart torn out every time.
"I hate coming back to a hotel where we stayed and being the only one in the room or walking down a street where we walked. It became really rough.
"There's a decent risk it's too late to start a family with the woman I love. It's not game over but we're pushing the limit of biology.
"We feel like we have enough between the two of us to live a long and happy life and we don't need to start a family but if Le became pregnant then that would be a bonus."
The journey home is expected to take over a month and Thor has no plans to got back to his previous career - instead hoping to write a book about his adventure.
Thor said: "We're all looking forward me going home. I have to say Denmark is my favourite country because it's where I belong.
"I speak the language, my parents are there and I know not to worry about spiders and snakes and I know everything about it which makes it a pretty good country for me."
