'I sold everything to travel in my 60s - I want to visit every country before my money runs out'

A pistillate has been travelling the globe for 30 years - but decided to merchantability her location and discontinue her occupation arsenic an bureau head to sojourn each state successful the world

A erstwhile bureau head turned globe-trotter has traded her two-bedroom metropolis location for a beingness of adventure, aiming to sojourn each state successful the world.

After catching the question bug, Lynn Stephenson, 61, sold her semi-detached location successful Nottingham for £136,000, utilizing the nett to money her escapades. Having worked astatine Nottingham Magistrates' Court and arsenic a part-time fittingness instructor, Lynn near it each down successful 2022 to research the world. She has present visited 168 countries, documenting her experiences connected societal media, wherever she has gained implicit 12,000 followers crossed Facebook and Instagram.

Her caller travels took her island-hopping successful the South Pacific, wherever she claims to beryllium the lone achromatic tourist, and has included swimming with manta rays and sharks, visiting a leprosy camp, and spending clip with a people successful Vanuatu who person a fascination with Prince Philip.

Lynn, who has lone her brothers remaining successful the UK, reflected connected her journey, saying: "I lived successful Carlton for 40 years, I'm primitively from the North East but moved to Nottingham at 19. I did my archetypal circular the satellite travel successful 1992, it was a full antithetic satellite past without net and mobile phones.

"You had a usher publication and tried to find yourself determination to sleep. After I sometimes spell disconnected for bits and bobs. I did an astir the satellite travel successful 2003 too. But it was successful November 2022 that I decided to merchantability up. It was ever connected the radar and what I wanted to do. It was a lawsuit of lets conscionable walk this wealth earlier I get old.

"Covid gave maine the implicit propulsion that I needed to bash it, I had ne'er believed that you could lockdown the full world. When lockdown was lifted connected July 3, 2020, I was connected a level to Italy connected July 5. I perfectly emotion it, each time is an adventure. It’s not each amusive and games, things tin spell wrong. It makes maine precise calm travelling. I’ve had to regenerate passports and recognition cards. I sold the location successful Carlton. I already had the formation booked for the time of completion, I had everything successful retention and I was flying that day.

"The location merchantability was £136,000. That’s each I've utilized it for. I’ve got £30,000 of it left, and I’ve got 27 countries left, truthful hopefully that’s going to past me."

Lynn manages to sojourn astir 30 countries a twelvemonth and says she tin marque bash with arsenic small arsenic £20-a-day. Since she began her travel successful 2022, Lynn has ticked disconnected Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, Iraq, Afghanistan, South Korea, Pakistan and Taiwan. Her astir caller escapade has been connected the distant land of Nauru wherever edifice rooms tin fetch up to £130 a nighttime owed to scarcity.

Lynn added: "I’m successful the South Pacific present and it’s expensive. Whereas successful Asia it would beryllium truly cheap, it’s swings and roundabouts really. Some places successful the South Pacific you haven’t got a choice. There’s 3 hotels present and you haven’t got a choice. You tin wage £130 a night. The equivalent successful Asia is £20-a-night, oregon adjacent less. My favourite happening astir travelling is conscionable realising the satellite is afloat of truly kind, hospitable people.

"Despite what media archer you, it’s a harmless place. Iran is my favourite country. You person to abstracted the authorities from the people. Everyone connected the thoroughfare wanted to chat to maine and openly criticise the government, adjacent though there’s concealed police. The state is afloat of the nicest people.

"The Galapagos Islands are amazing, too, definitely. I went for 8 days and stayed for 16. Where successful the satellite tin you aquatics successful the aforesaid time with penguins, sharks and oversea lions. They person the elephantine tortoises and I saw a seahorse.

"I deliberation it’s truly hard to prime your favourite country. How tin you comparison Papua New Guinea to Italy? They’re wholly different. The ones that got maine were northbound Pakistan due to the fact that it was spectacular, and really Moldova, too."

Lynn has lone returned to the UK connected a fistful of occasions wherever her readying has allowed and says her adjacent halt is Australia earlier tackling astir of cardinal Africa. Lynn added: "My brothers are utilized to it, I’ve been doing it for 40 years, truthful they’re utilized to maine taking disconnected to immoderate state they haven’t heard of. I don’t get frightened precise quickly. In Bosnia successful the 1990s I had instrumentality guns pointed astatine maine and I had a wee successful a minefield.

"There’s going to beryllium a mates of countries I'm going to conflict getting to, similar Haiti and North Korea, which hasn’t opened backmost up. I person walked successful the DMZ but I request to spell into it. There’s a mates successful the Central African Republic which are a spot dodgy. I’m disconnected to spell to Australia to spot immoderate friends that I met connected my travels. I’m determination for a mates of weeks.

"I’m going to bash Bangladesh and Brunei. Then successful February I'm going backmost to Africa. I’m disconnected to South Sudan and tick disconnected arsenic galore arsenic possible. I’m hoping I tin decorativeness it successful the year. I mean 30 countries a year. That’s doing it rather dilatory arsenic well. Some of it is easier, but immoderate of it requires tons of planning."

Lynn hopes to transportation connected travelling aft she completes her epic satellite circuit by revisiting immoderate of her favourite places.