Thor Pedersen

“A Stranger Is a Friend You Haven’t Met”

When I finally sat down to speak with Thor Pedersen — the first person in history to visit every country in the world without flying in a single unbroken journey — it felt full-circle. I first discovered him six years ago, as a teenager watching a Drew Binsky video. Drew was the first travel creator I ever followed, and Thor was the first traveler whose philosophy made me think about what travel meant, not just where it took you. Interviewing him now, after visiting fifty countries myself, felt surreal.

Thor’s decade-long project, Once Upon a Saga, didn’t begin as the philosophical journey it later became. When he left home in 2013, the goal was purely ambitious: visit every country without flying. But, as he explained, journeys like these develop the way humans do — slowly growing over time. The project became about sharing the positive sides of every country, about humanitarian storytelling as a Red Cross Goodwill Ambassador, and eventually, about perseverance itself.

Among all challenges, nothing compared to the pandemic. Thor arrived in Hong Kong expecting to stay four days. He stayed two years. Borders closed, ships stopped moving, and countries refused entry. Yet he never spoke about it with bitterness. One word kept him going: Hope — hope that restrictions would ease, hope that vaccines would change things, hope restored when his then fiancée managed to join him during that period. “She brought me hope too,” he said. His resilience came from equal parts determination and love.

One of my favourite parts of Thor’s philosophy is his belief that a stranger is a friend you haven’t met yet. I shared stories of my own travel friendships — the couple I met in a Casablanca bar, the children I met in Buenos Aires at age six, the couple in Kyoto who led me to hidden temples. Thor said his father used to tell him: “Trust, but don’t be a fool.” For him, friendships on the road grow from small things: kindness, respect, remembering names, making eye contact. Not everyone becomes a friend, he said, but anyone can. But the energy you bring massively shapes the energy you receive.

This is also why Thor believes in slow travel. Travel has layers — and most people skim only the top. You can rush through a place in three days and leave believing you understand it, but deeper truths only reveal themselves with time. He told me a story from Thailand: many Westerners assume Thai people are timid when they stay quiet while being yelled at by drunk tourists. But, as he learned, they’re not scared — they’re ashamed on behalf of the person acting like a child. And this kind of cultural insight isn’t found on a three-day itinerary. It comes from lingering, observing, listening, and letting your assumptions dissolve.

We also spoke about how western media narrows our view of countries. Thor was blunt: the news shows a keyhole, not the full room. War-torn countries are always depicted as danger zones. But when he visited them, he saw people living full lives — falling in love, celebrating weddings, playing football, making TikToks, laughing, cooking, hosting, dancing. In many of these countries, hospitality was some of the strongest he experienced because locals desperately wanted visitors to see the human side of their country, not the version broadcast on evening news. It reminded me why travel matters: it restores balance to the world we see.

Thor completed his entire saga on an average of $20 a day — something that shocked me. “In India,” he laughed, “$20 can be nothing or everything.” He often skipped meals in Europe, slept on trains, and in other countries lived comfortably. In some countries for instance India, families invited him home, and from the moment he entered their house, he didn’t pay for anything — our culture of Atithi Devo Bhava which translates to “Guest is God”.

When he finally returned home after nearly ten years, he and his wife started a family; their daughter was born last December. He now gives talks around the world, and his book The Impossible Journey is being published in multiple languages. His advice to young travelers like me was beautifully simple: put your phone away. Be kind. Be polite. Learn to say hello, thank you, and sorry in every language. “Magic words,” I told him. These small gestures open doors that no app can.

I didn’t want to ask him about his favourite country — a question both of us dislike — but he spoke fondly of Southeast Asia for its gentleness and ease, Western Africa for its incredible humor, food, and cultural richness, and Central America for its vibrancy. Toward the end, I asked him a simple question: if I placed him in a brand-new place he had never been to, what would he do first? He said he’d orient himself with a map if there was one, otherwise with his senses. He’d look around, find someone to talk to, and when hungry, he’d find local food that wasn’t anything like home.

As we ended, he said something:
“People say it’s a small world. It’s not true. It’s a very big world — and there’s a lot to see and do.”

Speaking with Thor felt like being handed a map — not of countries, but of how to move through the world with openness, gratitude, and wonder.

You can follow Thor’s journey on his website https://thorpedersen.dk/ and you can follow him on instagram at @onceuponasaga.

The full interview is linked below — I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed having the conversation.