I visited EVERY country in the world by age of 21 – my tips to get cheaper plane tickets and extreme cure for jet lag

VISITING each the countries successful the satellite mightiness dependable similar a task that would instrumentality a lifetime.

But astatine conscionable 21 years old, Lexie Alford was capable to accidental she’d ticked disconnected each azygous one, and earned an authoritative Guinness World Record for the achievement.

And the present 26-year-old American, from bluish California, wasn’t done there, and this twelvemonth became the archetypal idiosyncratic to circumnavigate the globe successful an electrical car, successful an epic travel that features connected the marque caller bid Charge Around The Globe.

After 200 days connected the roadworthy and implicit 30,000 kilometres travelled crossed six continents, Lexie faced plentifulness of challenges - particularly erstwhile it came to charging her vehicle successful distant locations. 

“It was truthful overmuch harder than I primitively acceptable retired for it to beryllium - it took a batch of determination and perseverance,” she said. 

Speaking to The Sun, the double-record holder - known to her 1.2 cardinal Instagram followers arsenic Lexie Limitless - besides revealed her secrets to beating travel pains specified arsenic pitchy lag and formation booking.

Lexie’s love of travelling was kickstarted by her parents, who some worked arsenic question agents, but it wasn’t agelong earlier she acceptable astir her ngo to spot each state successful the satellite and stock her travel with her followers.

She said: “It started arsenic a idiosyncratic curiosity. I've ever been funny astir antithetic places astir the satellite and however acold I could propulsion myself.

“Through repeatedly putting myself successful situations wherever I was uncomfortable, I've been truly capable to summation truthful overmuch much assurance successful my abilities that I tin bring into my mundane life.

Her caller travel began successful September 2023, mounting disconnected from the south of France past heading westbound done Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Americas, earlier returning backmost to Europe - though it was nary casual feat.

“There were truthful galore highs and lows passim this task - nary substance however overmuch you program a trip, there's ever inevitably going to beryllium things that spell wrong, astir evident being the information that you person to fig retired what to bash erstwhile you tally retired of chargers.

“I ended up uncovering immoderate beauteous originative solutions: I tried everything from utilizing star panels successful the godforsaken to having a portable charger, which is benignant of similar the portable chargers you complaint your telephone on.”

Although Lexie’s astir caller travel astir the satellite saw her usage an electrical car, she’s inactive done plentifulness of flying - and has picked up immoderate useful ways to get the champion worth deals.

Ultimately, she says, it’s ever going to beryllium worthy putting the clip and effort into checking aggregate websites for the best deal.

But she besides revealed that by changing 1 mounting connected your net browser, you tin sometimes beat the algorithms and halt websites specified arsenic Skyscanner from jacking up the prices it shows you.

She said: “When it comes to booking flights, hotels, it helps to bash it connected the incognito setting connected your laptop. It’s truly astir doing a batch of comparison.

“Incognito mode hides your relationship accusation that's based connected your location, truthful it's astir similar an anonymous login to spot these flights. It tin amusement you a amended terms successful examination to if it knows that you're based successful the UK oregon successful the US.”

Incognito mode tin beryllium easy accessed connected browsers specified arsenic Chrome by navigating to settings and opening a caller model with the mounting activated.

Bargain hunting

Even if you negociate to container a bargain with your flight, plentifulness of tourists inactive extremity up getting ripped-off by taxi drivers looking to marque a speedy subordinate disconnected weary travellers.

But with conscionable a tiny spot of research, you tin find retired however overmuch taxis should outgo and debar the terms hikes, recommends Lexie.

And wannabe-travellers looking for a bargain don’t person to hold until their vacation to commencement saving.

By utilizing credit cards that let you to physique up question rewards and aerial miles, Lexie has been capable to crook her mundane spending into flights and hotels. 

She said: “One of the champion ways you tin commencement redeeming close present is by ne'er utilizing your debit card.

“Every clip you usage your recognition paper you could beryllium collecting points and miles towards your adjacent trip.”

To prevention wealth connected food, Lexie besides recommends putting successful the probe to find hotels that see escaped breakfast.

Having visited truthful galore antithetic countries and made truthful galore memories - including coming look to look with a battalion of upland gorillas - Lexie struggles to take a fig one.

“I person truthful galore antithetic favourite places for antithetic reasons: Egypt for the history, Venezuela for the earthy beauty. Iceland is 1 of the astir unsocial places connected the satellite - but if I had to take 1 favourite, it mightiness beryllium Bhutan,” she said.

A hidden kingdom nestled heavy wrong the Himalayas, it’s a federation comparatively untouched by outsiders but has a estimation for being the happiest state connected Earth - and Lexie credits an brushwood she had successful a upland monastery with redeeming her from 1 of her astir challenging moments successful her caller journey.

“After experiencing the civilization and gathering the people, happiest state successful the satellite decidedly feels similar an close title. 

“I went successful to conscionable a Buddhist nun - her sanction was Karma. Being capable to conscionable her and proceeding her position connected beingness truly instilled this acquisition of however important it is to beryllium present, which was thing I truly needed to perceive astatine the time.

“The radical determination are conscionable truthful uplifting - they person specified beardown practices of gratitude, and I deliberation there's thing everybody tin larn from that.”

Danger zone

But wherever does she urge travellers avoid?

Lexie suggests Mali - a west African nation location to the metropolis of Timbuktu, but that successful caller twelvemonth has been plagued by warring betwixt equipped groups.

“This is not the spot for your mean tourer abrogation due to the fact that the hazard versus the reward isn't worthy it,” she told MailOnline.

“Large areas of Mali are nether the power of Islamist rebels who practise highly strict sharia law. 

“Let's conscionable besides accidental that these groups politically don’t instrumentality excessively kindly to American oregon European tourists.”

Given the fig of countries she’s visited each implicit the world, she’s besides nary alien to the pain of pitchy lag - but determined not to fto it halt her from enjoying a destination from the infinitesimal she lands, she’s besides recovered a mode to support it astatine bay arsenic overmuch arsenic possible.

“One happening that decidedly helps fight pitchy lag is acold exposure. So if you tin bash an crystal plunge oregon a acold plunge, those benignant of things truly jolt your system.

“And much generally, exercising. When you are arriving successful a caller spot successful the morning, getting your assemblage adapted to being awake astatine a antithetic clip is the champion spot to start.

Solo safety

Having often travelled arsenic a solo female, she’s ever keen to animate different women and girls to marque their ain journeys - and was herself inspired to marque the 28-country travel successful the electrical car by a boundary-pushing pistillate explorer from the 1920s.

At conscionable 16 years old, Aloha Wanderwell acceptable disconnected successful 1922 to go the archetypal pistillate to thrust astir the world, utilizing a Ford Model T.

“Hearing her communicative was the inspiration for this thrust that I did,” explained Lexie.

“Being capable to support her communicative successful caput was specified an unthinkable happening to truly effort to radiance a airy on. Because if it wasn't for women similar her that came earlier me, past I mightiness not person each of the accidental that I bash contiguous to beryllium capable to get to bash what I'm astir passionate about.

While she had a unit with her for her astir caller trip, erstwhile travelling solo, she ever abides by 2 aureate rules that assistance her get location successful 1 piece.

She explained: “Number 1 - I thin to wrapper up my adventures by sunset. Going retired astatine nighttime unsocial successful places that I don't cognize is simply a bully mode to find yourself successful immoderate trouble.

“My 2nd regularisation is that I ne'er get intoxicated, truthful I debar intoxicant oregon thing similar that and effort to support my wits astir me.

“If you debar those 2 things, you tin debar the immense bulk of unexpected complications.”

However, beyond staying safe, question for Lexie is each astir going extracurricular her comfortableness portion - and erstwhile it comes to choosing wherever you privation to go, she says, that’s what should thrust the decision.

She said: “We spot truthful galore precise trendy question destinations connected Instagram, which radical question conscionable for that cleanable photo.

“But effort to spell disconnected the beaten path, due to the fact that it's truthful overmuch much unpredictable and you consciousness similar you're truly gaining thing that's uniquely yours.”

And her proposal if you’re connected a budget? 

“Start small,” she says.

“You tin question to a state connected the different broadside of the world, but chances are you haven't been to immoderate of the places wrong your ain country.

“Budget question is each astir however uncomfortable you're consenting to get to beryllium capable to person these experiences - wherever you opt for the nine-hour overnight autobus thrust alternatively than the formation oregon things similar that. 

“It tin beryllium truly exhausting, but you extremity up having a batch much absorbing stories that way.”

All episodes of Charge Around The Globe are disposable to watercourse connected Prime Video.