Graham Hughes
Graham David Hughes was born in Liverpool at the wrong end of the seventies. If you had to define in a sentence what drives him perhaps it’s the desire that years from now schoolchildren across the land will be required to learn his date of birth.
From an early age Graham has stood out from the crowd. With his striking auburn hair and encyclopaedic knowledge of smutty jokes he was always going to be noticed and he has grown up into a person that once you meet him, he’s hard to forget.
Graham has always had a plan to make his mark and has always has a madcap scheme or three in the offing — once he finds something he wants to do he sets about it wholeheartedly. He is the one shouting the loudest, his hand is up highest, he is the squeaky wheel after the oil. He is a keen reader, and has a range of knowledge that includes (but goes way beyond) current affairs and copious amounts of pop culture. If you’re ever at a house party with him, be prepared to find yourself deep in conversation about anything from the Crab Nebula to the politics of modern Africa to the films of Akira Kurosawa, via Jabba the Hutt, monkey butlers and Viz Magazine.
Graham’s major passions are travel and cinema, both were cultivated from childhood. He was in Eastern Europe as the map was redrawn after the end of the cold war, and partook in some eccentric summer holidays road-tripping in a Cadillac through the country lanes of Wales. Since leaving Manchester University with a degree in Politics and Modern History, Graham has taken in more of the world – single-handedly travelling around the world in 2002, and picking up his sassy Aussie girlfriend Mandy along the way. A trip to Serbia’s Exit Festival in 2007 took in Albania, Bosnia and Kosovo (amongst others) on a meandering return leg, bringing his ‘country tally’ up to a total of 70.
Since returning to Liverpool, Graham has devoted his time to a number of enterprises, specifically his company, Hydra Studios. With Hydra he has written and directed a number of excellent short films and won the inaugural Liverpool 48 Hour Film Challenge in 2006. From 2002-2008 he was heavily involved in the Liverpool Music Scene, shooting or producing videos for Hot Club De Paris, The Dead 60′s, The Basement, (We are) Performance, Peter And The Wolf, Lyons And Tigers, China Crisis, The Coral, The Real Kicks, The Sonic Hearts, Metro Manila Aide, Kaya, The White Rose Movement and filming for the release of the Arctic Monkeys second album, Favourite Worst Nightmare. He has also written numerous treatments for larger film projects and has developed scripts with the support of the UK Film Council.
Never one for the ‘normal’ 9 to 5 lifestyle, Graham can normally be found beavering away on a project or painting the town red. Or (more typically) both at the same time. He is at his best with a deadline and a plan of how to get it done. Forever plunging headfirst into new experiences — he’s the guy who always says ‘yes’ and then worries about how he’s going to do it afterwards. Anywhere he lays his head is home for the night. It is this spontaneous and unpredictable attitude that has shaped his life so far, given him some of his funniest stories and his incredibly eclectic group of friends.
THE ODYSSEY EXPEDITION is the culmination of his decade-long dream to travel to every country in the world, set a new world record, raise money for a worthy cause and entertain people along the way. Christ knows he’s been banging on about it long enough.
- Dino Deasha, December 2008
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Thelonious Monk once said, “Ignore the hecklers”.
I love reading about and watching the videos of your adventures!! I once spent 10 days in New Papua in Tembagapura and the surrounding area. Changed my life.
Congratulations and good luck on your future journeys.
Jon
Hi! We are in Portugal, on island of Porto Santo ..
You’re very crazy!! we liked all your storys!!!!
Actually we’re doing some work about you and your trip around the wordl, for a English classe.
We are show your trips for our classe, i hope they like much as we.
*Sorry if our English is bad, i hope you understand!
We would like you reply our comment, Thank you!*
Inspirational a life time dream accomplished in just a few years.
I am starting to explore the whole/blog website very interesting journals
I have a few question which you might have answered already if you have done so please accept my apologies.
So do you know if there is anybody who has been to the same amount of countries using the aeroplane?
besides the environmental impact of the aeroplane is there any reason why you decided to excluded from your trip?
is there any explores or adventures form the past who attempted a similar feat?
Well than you for your very entraining blogs
I specially liked the stuff on conspiracy theories I was laughing out-loud!
This trip is a bit of a sham.
I’ve had a brief look through the “odyssey” & there are a lot of countries that can’t be claimed.
ie Marshall Islands, Russia, North Korea, Bangladesh, Bhutan & definitely not Pakistan.
The idea was just to step foot in every country in the world, which he achieved, even if a lot of it was just border hops.
The question is not whether Graham achieved or failed his aims by shortcutting, cheating or getting in the backdoor without a visa or only spending five minutes in a country but did he stick to the rules as laid out by Guiness. He didn’t set out to visit every country like a normal tourist but his target was to visit every country in the world in one year at a rate of roughly one country every two days and that would have been impossible if he’d have spent half the time visiting the local tourist attractions. In other words this was a race against the clock (I won’t mention the Cape Verde Islands). To claim the world record he has to satisfy GWR that every country he entered was legal and above board and he had two feet on the ground behind that borderline. Any country where he cannot do that should be deducted from the final list i.e. Russia, which in his own admittance he entered illegally. I know he went back there but that was not in the first year when the record was set at 133. I’m sure GWR will scrutinize other border crossings i.e. Cuba and possibly amend the record slightly. Never the less it was still a great achievement no matter how you look at it and as a fellow travel nut I take my hat off to him. Keep on trucking.
How the blithering whatsie can Marshall Islands not be claimed? I spent the day there for heaven’s sake! Oh, and spent three weeks on a cargo ship getting there and back! Russia I returned to last week (see http://www.dev-hell.com for more info on that). Bangladesh and Bhutan are both quite clearly crossed into at official border crossings (as are Chad, Central African Republic, Burundi, Ukraine, Panama etc) and as for Pakistan, I went there on a ship and walked around the port of Karachi. I wasn’t allowed out of the port but so what? I was on Pakistani soil – it counts as a visit.
All in all were are about a dozen countries I crossed into for ten minutes and came straight back out, but I don’t really care as the VAST majority of countries I spent days, if not weeks, travelling through or exploring. Under your rules, the first moon landing was ‘a bit of a sham’ as they only spent 20 minutes on the surface. I really don’t know why they bothered…! *rolls eyes*
Agree with John.
From a comparatively small traveling experience of approx 80 countries it takes much more time and money to do what you claim to have done (I’m sorry, but did you actually get a Pakistan visa then?). I know someone who has been to nearly every country in the world and spent a significant part of their life doing it, a much greater accomplishment in my opinion.
I think I might “step foot” in every country in the world by going to every embassy in London. I’m sure I’ll be done in a few weeks and then set up a website about how great I am.
Cheers
ps the moon is not the same as Karachi Port…
We’ll have to agree to disagree, but not on Pakistan, you can’t tick that off.
I’d be interested to know how you got around on only £10 a day.
I back-packed around the world for 5 years & spent £35 per day.
P.S. I’ll let the astronauts tick off The Moon.
Some people here really seem to not have understood the whole “race” concept. This wasn’t about spending in-depth quality time in every country in the world; it was a RACE to visit them all without flying as quickly as possible! Graham spent over 4 years of his life on this race, and if he didn’t spend time checking out the local culture of 201 countries, he certainly did so with most of them. The rest, yeah, he border-hopped a few, but who cares?
Sure, just running off the ship in Karachi Port and back on again might not give him a ton of insight into Pakistani culture, but it still counts as a visit to the contiguous land of the country, which is within the rules of this journey. What exactly is the big problem here?
Also to add, how did you deal with visa charges (eg. Egypt)…….and how did you legally hitch a lift on a cargo ship, surely health and safety would require quite a bit of paperwork for you to be even allowed on………do you know someone that assisted you in the ferry companies?
Hi, well done on your journey
sounds like a great adventure 
I would be interested to know the breakdown of expenses and how the costs varied from country to country…….can’t believe you could get across england for £10 a day let alone 201 countries…….how did you eat and travel……is there a link to this info?
Hi Graham,
Although there will always be debate over how many “countries” people consider there are, one thing is clear – the list of 193 member states of the UN includes the United Kingdom, which itself constitutes the “four home nations” that you refer to. In other words, you can’t claim to have visited these 193 states PLUS four countries which constitute one of those member states. If you’re going to tangle with lists, it’s important that you understand them.
Tom, please, do you really think I’d make such a schoolboy error??
That was said for the sake of brevity – obviously I didn’t have ‘The United Kingdom’ on my list.
193 UN Nations + 4 home nations (England, Wales, Scotland, N Ireland) + 5 others (Vat City, Palestine, Kosovo, Western Sahara, Taiwan) = 202.
You’ll note the big 201 in the top right corner.
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your reply. From what you’ve stated then, the “United Kingdom” hasn’t been included in the final figure of 201. I’m curious, why not count it? It’s a UN member state and you’ve included every other member state.
I’m guessing it’s because by not counting it as a single state, you’re able to claim an extra three “states” by breaking it down into its constituent nations. Not coincidentally I’m sure, this then takes your total count over what I presume you (and the media) imagine is the “magic 200″ mark.
For the sake of consistency and transparency, rather than brevity, I’m sure you’ll be keen to amend your list to include the United Kingdom and to exclude the “four home nations”. This will avoid any spurious inferences and risk of negating your claim.
Tom
By all means, feel free to copy my adventure and skip Wales, Scotland and N Ireland… it’ll make no difference to the ‘Every Country’ record or the difficulties you will face getting to Nauru without flying. Until then, your pedantry is as amusing as it is unwelcome. Cheerio!
Hi Graham,
Sorry if I upset you. One of the most valuable lessons we can learn from travel is tolerance. I hope in time you will see the futility of turning the world into a game, as a place to speed through as quickly as possible in pursuit of senseless records. I hope in the future you can make a positive contribution to the places you visit. You’ll discover that by doing so, they’ll have a positive influence on you.
Never thought I would be grateful for insomnia! Heard you on the radio overnight last night, you have prompted me to check out your website and find out more about your amazing trip. Congratulations, what an inspiration, look forward to hearing more in 2013. Best wishes.
Congratulations guy, I saw on TV here in Brazil you coming back to Liverpool after this incredible journey. I envy you..you are brave. Thanks for inspire all of us. Let’s go travel more and more. Good Luck.
Well done Graham, you did an inspirational job and all for a good cause.
Congratulations. I’m looking forward to reading your book!
Hi Graham, well done. First of all I really loved a particular expression of yours which said – This trip reaffirmed my faith in humanity. I think at this point we all need to walk on your fottsteps as I believe that is the way foward in the crazy life we are living.
I am an feature journalist for a Sunday Newpaper in Malta and whould like to ask you some questions about your experience on our small island. I found some quote of yours regarding our flag but would like to know when you came to malta? what are your impressions of the island and the maltese? How you got her and on what floating vehicle you left for Tunisia. Is your newt adventure in the oven?
Thanks for you time and I would apreciate if you could send your answers dirictly to my email.
Regards and may I wish you a Happy New Year
DORIS AZZOPARDI
Congratulations Graham. Great work. Dont know whether I want to do this in my life but your story has inspired me for sure. Thanks.
Waaow! What an expedition. Giving so much of yourself for a worthy cause is the best reason to live. How I wish many more people share the same positive thoughts about humanity the way you. Humans are essentially the same every where you go. You are likely to come across the rouges that exist every where but that shouldn’t deter us from believing in the essential goodness of humans. Bravo brother. More grease to your elbow and may we have many more like you.
Hi, I am a single female and would love to travel somewhat like how you did. How did you get on those ships for free? Experience has taught me that people like to gouge hapless tourists. ie even if the ship is sailing, they will try to extort and arm and a leg out of you if you want to get on.
Secondly, if someone has a method of minimising contact with thugs/hustlers/touts eg corrupt policemen, I’m all ears. No one I know of any gender or ethnic background seems to be exempt from these types. I know you went to prison in the congo because of them. As a single female, I can think of worse things….
I will embark on a round-the-world trip soon and am trying to do as much as I can so looking for ways to stay safe and save!
Thanks alot!
Woooow men! I just send your story to all my friends! Shit man, crazy guy!
I guess you did kind of a «Map Trip» and schedule for the places you wanted to go, how can I prepare that? Did you establish yourself some kinda of limit of days you could stay in some country?
Do you think taking a tent to sleep for a travel like this it’s available or too risky?
Hoping you have time to answer me.
Congratz from Lisbon!
Welcome MATE
But were is Pitcairn? 201? or 204? i will done all pack!
Im not find you in Mos travel People http://mosttraveledpeople.com
regards AND ENJOY!
Nuno Lobito
Great accomplishment!
I know there is a lot of debate about what constitutes a definitive list. I wonder what the most definitive list is.
To your list I might have added Greenland, Transdniestr, Aruba, Cayman Islands. You won’t find them at the UN, but when they have full control and autonomy over their land, issue stamps and money (and probably passports), they’re contenders.
FIFA has 209 members, for example, then lists 8 other states that could be members; so 217 in total.
I hope you had a local beer in each country — that would be my bucket list aim.
If we’re going to have Transdniestr, I think we also need South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. And if we’re going to have Aruba, what about Bonaire and Curaçao? Montserrat? Bermuda? And then there’s Nuie, Tokelau, The Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Pitcairn… Maybe I’ll do another expedition called ‘The Ones That Got Away.’
Ooh, You should!
Just to also add……..what about visa expenses…..some countries require a visa to enter (eg. Egypt)
I’d read that.
But I think you should start with Greenland for two simple reasons:
(1) It’ll make the map look better, ’cause Greenland stands out as a conspicuous white block in a sea of green right now.
(2) This blog needs more pictures of polar bears!
He’ll have to pick up the trail when Bougainville most likely gets independence.
Yes, yes I will. I’ve got the route all planned out!! I bet I could get there from the UK without flying in a month.