95 and Counting - My Journey to Visit Every Country in the World

Here’s a question for you… if you could travel the world or spend the equivalent on a one bedroom apartment in Harlem which would you do? For architect Norbert Figueroa it was no brainer decision.  Having become addicted to travel the Puerto Rico native spent 18 months building up his blog while downsizing and cutting costs ahead of his trip. Over the last 4 years he has visited 95 countries on his mission to see every one of the 195 countries recognized by the United Nations – his biggest challenge will be getting to Antarctica! We caught up with Norbert where he shares how to get started as a worldwide wanderer, some of the good and not so good experiences of being on the road and how he lives his travel lifestyle for less than $US20000 per month. You can check out his blog at http://www.globotreks.com where you can find his book The Ultimate guide to Travel the World.   What I learned from speaking with Norbert: You may need to make sacrifices if you want to choose this lifestyle. Norbert spent a good period of time prior to traveling building up his war fund and was willing to make sacrifices like leaving his apartment to move in with friends, cutting out cable tv and eating in more. He paid himself first by committing up to 50% of his income towards his travel fund. You just need to decide how badly you want it Norbert has become a master at managing his expenses thanks to his handy tip about the Trail Wallet app. He averages around $US20000 per year of travel, with 2 of the 4 years so far costing him the equivalent of his rent back in Harlem! He has learned to not sweat the small stuff and has had to learn to lose some of his attention to detail mindset so carefully developed as an architect. Travel really can put everything into perspective. He has had more than his fair share of scary experiences showing you still need to be careful out there – but the good has outweighed the bad and his faith in humanity has only been heightened by what he has done.