Category: Lifestyle

Thor Pedersen has become the first ever man to have visited all the countries in the world without flying in an aeroplane. It took him a decade to do so but the major reason for the delay has been the pandemic which halted his journey in Hong Kong for nearly two years.

It all started when he found out that nobody has ever done this before and if he does it, he will be the first person to do it. In his initial estimate, it would take him approximately four years to travel the globe but Covid-19 turned things a bit topsy-turvy.  Thor started the journey in 2013 and completed it in May 2023. The most peculiar part about it was that he never boarded a plane even once. He had the support of his family. His father said to him that even if you hear that one of us has died, do not come back on an aeroplane. 

Thor says he required an average of USD 20 daily but it varied from country to country. In a country like Bolivia, $20 was way more than needed but in Singapore it was less than required. 

He even did a job to support himself during his stay in Hong Kong. Considering the period of ten years and twenty dollars each day, the total amount needed would be between $70 thousand to $75 thousand. 

A company called Ross Energy also sponsored him with 600 dollars a month during the journey. He travelled a distance of 382,000 kilometres and used almost twenty types of vehicles in a span of 3,512 days. The transport he used included buses, taxis, motor-bikes, trucks, trains, trams, rickshaws, container ships, boats, ferries, cruise-ships, carts, police-vans and a yacht. 

Would he recommend it to people?

The answer is a big no. Pedersen believes that the journey was extremely difficult and has taken a big chunk of his life along with money. People should invest their energy in things which are more productive and thrilling.

A woman living in the Canadian region of British Columbia, near the city of Richmond, was paid a surprise visit from a giant tortoise of the endangered African breed Sulcata in the backyard of her farmhouse.

Shelly Smith, a dog trainer, initially presumed the animal to be a rock poking out from the rows of spinach but it turned out that it was moving too-not all of a sudden but at a slow speed.

She called a local animal shelter. Interestingly, while she was asked about the size of the tortoise, she blurted out that “it was bigger than the platter you’d use to serve 24 people a Thanksgiving turkey.”

The tortoise has been named as Frank the Tank and is now living with a foster family until it finds a permanent home.

The Sulcata breed of tortoise is endangered but keeping them could be very overwhelming because of the size they grow to and the care they demand so it is common for owners to abandon them. They are relatively cheap (almost 500 Canadian dollars) but these are the kinds of pets which are passed onto the next of kin in the will. Apart from the huge size they grow up to, they can live almost 150 years.

Frank the Tank currently weighs 35 pounds and is expected to grow to 50 pounds. His age at the moment is unknown but it appears he probably has a century in hand.

The veterinarian at the shelter house said, “You really have to plan on what you have to do with him after you die.”