🗺 Behind the epic quest that probably makes other epic quests jealous

It’s said that not all who wander are lost. And Rachel Davey and Martina Sebova would definitely agree. The couple just became the most-recent people to visit every single country in the world.

⏮ Let's rewind... It all started when Rachel and Martina met during a European tour back in 2008. The pair had over a decade of travel experiences under their belt as individuals – they had each visited over 100 of the 195 UN-recognized countries and territories around the globe by the time they met. 

• The two got to chatting, discussing how amazing it would be to cross off the remaining 90 countries or so on the list. And soon after, they decided to do just that. 

✈️ Away we go... The pair has spent the last five years traveling the globe – with a slight detour during the pandemic that left them stuck in Australia while waiting for borders to reopen – and managed to cross all 195 countries off their list. 

Though like an emotionless actor recording audition tapes in the snow, traveling has some cold reel-alities. As a female duo, Rachel and Martina occasionally struggled to gain visas and move about safely in certain countries. And they kept the fact that they were a couple hidden for the entire journey.

• "It was very natural," said Martina. "We were visiting a lot of countries where even the concept of a same-sex couple doesn't exist, and we didn't really want to put our personal safety at risk at any stage."

But there's also a flip side to traveling – just like an actor full of emotions recording audition tapes in the sun. Some of couple's favorite places in the world were actually places they were nervous about visiting at first. 

• "The people in Sudan and Iran were some of the friendliest people that we have encountered," Martina said. "And most people would assume those countries are really dangerous based on the image [we see]."

👯‍♀️ Bottom line: In documenting their journey, the couple hopes to inspire more woman to travel. "You see so few women in this part of travel, which is more adventurous," said Martina. "Were trying to change that, as well as inspire other women by showing that [the world] is not such a scary place."