CHRISTOPHER Columbus? Captain James Cook? Michael Palin? When it comes to a list of the greatest travellers, there are some formidable candidates to choose from. But a retired US technician has a legitimate claim to rival those legendary explorers.
Donald Parrish is regarded as the most-travelled person, having visited almost every destination on Earth. In fact, the 70-year-old has travelled so extensively that he is now closing in on the record of becoming the first person to visit all of the world’s 875 countries, territories, autonomous regions, enclaves, geographically separated island groups and major states and provinces.
According to mosttraveledpeople.com, Parrish has visited 840, with just 35 destinations remaining. He is currently the number one most-ranked traveller out of more than 9 000 members on mosttraveledpeople.com.
However, fellow traveller Robert Bonifas has managed to visit 839 – just one destination behind Parrish. No one in history has managed to visit each of the 875 destinations on the list. Parrish managed to complete the feat of visiting each of the world’s 196 countries three years ago.
For members to prove they have been somewhere, they must provide a series of documents including everything from visas to ticket stubs.
Born in the US in 1944, Parrish’s first overseas trip was to Mexico in 1957 at the age of 13. – Daily Mail