cassie depecol has been doing cool sh*t.

Warsaw, Poland via Expedition_196

At the moment, nothing is quite as scary as the nightly news. Despite the nightmare on Pennsylvania Ave, something happened today that gives me hope for the future. Cassie DePecol just broke the world record for First Female To Visit Every Country On Earth In Record Time. She visited all 196 sovereign nations in just 18 months. Look, I don’t advise you to print out a world map, quit your job, and follow her trail. That would be incredibly irresponsible, and you’d probably get killed. Cassie worked in remote parts of the Amazon for months, and survived backpacking through Europe for 2 years on $2,000. If anyone was meant to beat this record, it was her.

Gutenberg Castle, Liechtenstein via @expedition_196

I’ve been following her instagram account @expedition_196 for a few months now, and I love her photos and stories. Unlike following destination travel accounts and instagram models to get my wanderlust on, Cassie travels to places you’d never think to visit. I’ve found myself googling ways to get to Turkmenistan. Short story, with A LOT of time, effort and money. But look how pretty it is.. don’t you want to visit too?

Ashgabat, Turkmenistanvia via @expedition_196

Cassie has spent the past few years promoting peace through tourism, and it’s clearly working. She’s been to countries who are in the midst of civil war, and receives kindness and hospitality. I had to google several locations, including “Azerbaijan” and “Niamey”, among many others. Her fearlessness is inspiring, and her journey is contagious.  Had I never discovered this woman’s journey, I definitely never would have known I kinda wanted to visit Pakistan.

Her last stop, Yemen. via Expedition_196

Checkout her website and learn more for yourself. I also highly recommend going through her Instagram for really interesting posts on travel, sustainability and entrepreneurship. Congrats girl, you the baddest.