Around the World in 2497 Days

While the article at the Daily Mail slags him for his photography skills — taking shots in bizarre locations instead of “top tourist sights” — this is actually what endears him to me.

They berate him for not getting in Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, or the white sand beaches of the Cook Islands. But everyone’s seen all that stuff.

Show me the inside of a London office while standing beside some random guy, or a self-portrait in Greenland with a pram arbitrarily placed to your left, and I’m all over it.

Now that’s something you don’t see every day.

An ulterior motive

The idea to travel to every country on the planet occurred to Mr. Samaddar after getting stuck in Johannesburg due to visa issues. He wanted to highlight the difficulties of some nationalities obtaining visas — Indians, for one.

And even though he had opportunities to become a Canadian or Australian citizen — which would have made things much easier — he chose to keep his Indian citizenship. He wanted to prove that someone from India could travel anywhere in the world.

Even though he had major problems getting some visas — it took him almost three years to get one for Moldova — he got it done in the end.

COMMUNITY CONNECTION

What do you think of Mr. Samaddar’s record? Share your comments below!