Sophia Lee took her first solo trip at age 13 and fell in love with traveling instantly — and now she’s nine countries away from becoming the youngest person to visit every country in the world.
She had no idea back then that visiting Costa Rica would lead to a journey that would take her to almost every UN-recognized country or territory.
But Lee, now aged 20, is close to beating the record currently held by Lexie Alford, who visited the full list of destinations in 2019, aged 21 years and 177 days.
While her journey hasn’t always been smooth sailing, Lee — who traveled continuously since age 17 — is grateful to have been able to trek across the globe before being old enough to legally drink alcohol back home in Alaska.
“I think that building that self-confidence at a young age and going to these destinations and meeting with people from other cultures and backgrounds is really one of the best experiences you can have as a young person,” Lee told CNN Travel.
