EXCLUSIVE'That's the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する ticked off': 会合，会う the 'normal guy from the UK' who's become the world's first person to climb the highest mountain on every continent, visit the North and South 政治家s... and all 197 countries

• e-mail

He's 星／主役にするd death in the 直面する on エベレスト, seen someone get 発射 in 前線 of him in Angola and 勇敢に立ち向かうd -36C 気温s in a frozen wilderness.

会合，会う UK explorer Johnny 区, who has become the first person in history to 完全にする the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する - climbing the 'Seven 首脳会議s', visiting the North and South 政治家, and setting foot in every country.

Johnny, 40, who has 916,000 信奉者s on Instagram, said?his world travels were 'all about freedom' and wanting 'to see the whole world'.

The travel blogger, from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, crossed off his first country as a 十代の少年少女 and by the age of 33, he had visited all 197.

Instead of hanging up his travelling boots, he decided to take his adventures to the next level and 目的（とする） for the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する.

Johnny 区 has become the first person in history to 完全にする the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する - climbing the highest mountain on every continent, the Seven 首脳会議s, visiting the North and South 政治家, and setting foot in every country. Here, he is pictured 完全にするing the 全体にわたる challenge at the South 政治家

LEFT: Johnny at the 首脳会議 of 開始する エベレスト. RIGHT: Johnny at the 最高の，を越す of 開始する Vinson in Antarctica?

This 要求するd him to climb the highest mountain on every continent, the Seven 首脳会議s - エベレスト (29,030ft/Asia), Kilimanjaro (19,340ft/Africa), Denali (20,310ft/Alaska), Aconcagua (22,840ft/Argentina), Elbrus (18,510ft/Russia), Puncak Jaya (16,020ft/Oceania) and Vinson (16,050ft/Antarctica).?

On January 12, 2024, Johnny 完全にするd this 驚くべき／特命の／臨時の 使節団 at his final 目的地 - the South 政治家.

'It feels wild,' he told MailOnline Travel. 'I always said I 手配中の，お尋ね者 to say I've seen the whole world and, while of course, I 港／避難所't seen the whole world, I gave it a pretty good 発射! I'm delighted and proud to have done it.'

He 述べるd himself as 'a normal guy who decided to do something 冷静な／正味の' and said his 業績／成就 has taught him that 'people who do amazing things aren't any different'.

'The only difference is that I committed to something,' he 追加するd. 'We can do anything. Just take 活動／戦闘.'

Johnny, 初めは from Galway, Ireland, grew up in Northern Ireland in a 選び出す／独身-parent 世帯 where 'money was tight' meaning he didn't travel much as a child.

'We were on 福利事業 for over a １０年間 so I didn't leave the country until I was 14 or 15 when my mum went 支援する to work and we finally got our first car and drove to a campsite in フラン,' he said.

'I remember arriving off the boat and 存在 攻撃する，衝突する with a wave of heat and thinking, "Wow, this isn't like Ireland."

The travel blogger, from Kilkeel, Northern Ireland, crossed off his first country as a 十代の少年少女 and by the age of 33, he had visited all 197. Pictured: Johnny 列／漕ぐ／騒動ing across the 大西洋

の中で his travel 最高潮の場面s, Johnny 指名するd the 'quirkiness of Turkmenistan' and its '抱擁する 燃やすing gas 噴火口，クレーター called the Gates of Hell'. Here, he is pictured at the 場所／位置 with a group 小旅行する organised through his blog, One Step 4Ward

'Then, it was just excitement. New foods, new 通貨s, new 形態／調整s of buildings. I loved it. I always 手配中の，お尋ね者 to be 解放する／自由な, both financially and from time or holiday 強制s - and this just 確認するd it all.'

With no money to his 指名する, Johnny took part in a five-week 医療の 裁判，公判 at a hospital in Belfast. He used the money he earned to kick-start his 全世界の jet-setting - a trip to Thailand, where he 始める，決める himself up as an English teacher.

'From there, my life felt like an adventure,' he said. 'I had truly fallen in love with living overseas and feeling alive.'

The first travel goal Johnny 始める，決める himself was to visit 100 countries before the age of 30, which he 'almost accidentally did' with the five years of backpacking that followed - にもかかわらず 収入 a modest £500 per month.

The Seven 首脳会議s - エベレスト (29,030ft/Asia), Kilimanjaro (19,340ft/Africa), Denali (20,310ft/Alaska), Aconcagua (22,840ft/Argentina), Elbrus (18,510ft/Russia), Puncak Jaya (16,020ft/Oceania) and Vinson (16,050ft/Antarctica)

Once Johnny had 完全にするd this life goal to visit every country, he felt 'a bit lost' and 'went into a bit of a tailspin', eating 不正に, drinking too much, putting on 負わせる and ignoring his 商売／仕事. 'So I started running ultramarathons and climbing mountains and it snapped me out of it and 支援する into loving life,' he said. Pictured: Johnny running the North 政治家 マラソン

LEFT:?Johnny pictured outside the Taj Mahal, India, with Mudita Adventures co-創立者 Josh Henry. RIGHT:?Johnny and his mum Maura on the Yemeni island of Socotra, which he says 'should be a world-famous tourist 目的地'

Johnny said his favourite country to live in is Thailand, where he 現在／一般に resides with his wife Jaa. Here, the pair are pictured visiting Egypt?

These trips 含むd 陸路のing from Cape Town to Cairo, Korea to Australia by boat and bus, and Bangkok to Belfast 陸路の.

'So once I got の近くに to the 100, I 始める，決める the new goal of 存在 the first Irish person to visit every country and - at that time - one of the youngest to do so,' he said.

For five years, Johnny 'worked continent by continent', living off £10 per day.

To save costs he would 株 beds, sleep in bus 駅／配置するs, hitchhike and travel on trains and on 最高の，を越す of public buses.?

He 避けるd taking a 計画（する） where possible, 飛行機で行くing from one continent to another and then spending 10 months travelling around it on the ground.

'Slowly I ticked off all my continents,' he said.

'I'd skip really scary places, or really expensive places, hoping that as I got older, I would have more money.

'Then when I was coming 近づく the end, my blog One Step 4Ward was making me money and I went 支援する and 選ぶd up all the ones I was 行方不明の.

'I really 手配中の，お尋ね者 to feel 解放する／自由な, so I was trying to 普通の／平均（する） two or three weeks a country, rather than spending an hour or two across a 国境 and moving on. Th at's why it took me 11 years, I guess.'

Pictured: Johnny spending time with the Mundari Tribe South Sudan

LEFT:?Johnny and his mum pictured at the Serengeti マラソン in Tanzania. RIGHT:?Turning his attention to the Seven 首脳会議s, Johnny decided to start with 'the 平易な 首脳会議s' and 設立する a 予算 climb up Kilimanjaro, which he thought would be 'a gentle start'. Here, he is pictured at the 最高の，を越す of the 火山 in Tanzania

の中で the last countries Johnny 投機・賭けるd to were Somalia, Congo, Chad and Yemen - where he 遭遇（する）d a '抱擁する' 後退, which 伴う／関わるd him travelling for four days on an Indian 貨物 ship.

And the final country left to visit to 完全にする the 197-strong 始める，決める in 2017??

'It was Norway,' he said.

'I had been saving it from when I was on about 150 countries as I 手配中の，お尋ね者 a place in Europe where my family and friends could come and celebrate with me at the end.'

の中で his travel 最高潮の場面s is Mauritania in West Africa, where 'they have a wild アイロンをかける 鉱石 train that you can hitchhike on from the depths of the Sahara 砂漠' and the Yemeni island of Socotra, which he says 'should be a world-famous tourist 目的地'.

LEFT: Johnny マラソン training in the Sahara. RIGHT: Johnny pictured sailing along the River Nile in Egypt

He also loves Nepal 予定 to 開始する エベレスト and the 'quirkiness of Turkmenistan' and its '抱擁する 燃やすing gas 噴火口，クレーター called the Gates of Hell'.

His favourite country to live in, 一方／合間, is Thailand. He 現在／一般に resides there, in Chiang Mai, with his wife Jaa, and is in the 過程 of building a home for his mum there, too.

While his travels have mostly been a joy - Johnny had some 'scary 遭遇（する）s' along the way.

'I saw a guy get 発射 in 前線 of me 10 minutes after arriving in Angola,' he 解任するd, 追加するing that he was '逮捕（する）d twice in Ivory Coast during the Ebola crises', 証言，証人／目撃するd a 'terrifying' 刑務所，拘置所 break in Conakry, Guinea, and heard '砲火 each night' in Mogadishu, Somalia.

But にもかかわらず the challenges, he said there is no country he is not willing to return to as 'you never know what experience you might have the next time'.

Johnny, pictured above in Italy with his wife Jaa, said: 'I recently turned 40, so it's time for kids I hope'

Once Johnny had 完全にするd this life goal, he felt 'a bit lost' and 'went into a bit of a tailspin', eating 不正に, drinking too much, putting on 負わせる and ignoring his 商売／仕事.

'So I started running ultramarathons and climbing mountains and it snapped me out of it and 支援する into loving life,' he said.

'I 人物／姿／数字d if you're going to run, run the hardest race in the world. And if you're going to climb mountains, 始める，決める your sights on エベレスト. So I honed in on that as a 肉親，親類d of 中央の-称する，呼ぶ／期間／用語 計画（する）.'

This next goal put Johnny on the path of 完全にするing the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する, which he did over seven years.

'I thought, "Imagine if a normal guy like me, from my background, could be the first to do it all - that would be pretty 冷静な／正味の."'

With no background in 登山, Johnny decided to start with 'the 平易な 首脳会議s' and 設立する a 予算 climb up Kilimanjaro, which he thought would be 'a gentle start'.

In the years that followed, he visited the North 政治家 and worked his way through the remaining Seven 首脳会議s, with the penultimate climb 存在 開始する エベレスト in 2023.

Johnny, pictured here in the North 政治家, said he wants 'to show "normal" people just how many 利益s they can get from wild experiences'

Johnny 述べるd the 29,030ft (8,849m) 頂点（に達する） as his favourite 首脳会議 but also 'the hardest thing I've ever done by a distance'.

にもかかわらず his training and 準備, he said the climb was '残虐な' and 'so, so difficult' but that it comes with a 抱擁する sense of 業績／成就.

'The deaths on エベレスト are 井戸／弁護士席 文書d,' he said. 'I thought I was 用意が出来ている for it but it 攻撃する，衝突する me like a トン of bricks. So many times, 氷点の in my テント at night, I was 十分な of self-疑問 thinking, "What am I doing here?" and, "Is this 価値（がある） dying for?"

'I guess it's a personal choice at the end of the day. Better to live a day as a lion, than a lifetime as a sheep, as they say. But I was 脅すd many times on that mountain.

'They don't give those 首脳会議s to anyone and I'm very proud to have stood 頂上に of the world.'

Once he had 征服する／打ち勝つd エベレスト, Johnny '即時に' began training for his last 首脳会議, 開始する Vinson in Antarctica, and said he 'went broke 支払う／賃金ing for it'.

'It wasn't so hard from a climbing 視野, just 血まみれの 氷点の,' he 追加するd. 'Frostbite is more dangerous than 落ちるing.'

After 首脳会議ing on January 7, he continued に向かって the South 政治家, in 気温s as low as -36 degrees, which was the final piece of the puzzle in 完全にするing the Ultimate Explorer's Grand 激突する.

Comparing the North to the South 政治家, Johnny said 'they're やめる different'.

Of the North 政治家, which he visited first and where he ran a マラソン, he 述べるd 存在 surrounded by 'nothingness' and 'endless ice', with only your GPS and compass to 示す when you've reached it.

反して the South 政治家 is home to an American base, he said, so there is 'some 組織／基盤／下部構造 there' along with 'a cere monial 政治家'.

反映するing on the highs and lows of his experience 全体にわたる, Johnny said one of the main challenges was loneliness. He 解任するd spending one Christmas 'alone eating vending machine chocolate'.

But the 最高潮の場面s are plentiful, he said, such as taking his mum, Maura, to 60 countries and his wife to 50, and 開始する，打ち上げるing the charity Mudita Adventures, which 焦点（を合わせる）s on building playgrounds, nursery schools and water 井戸／弁護士席s in developing communities 世界的な.

Having c ompleted his 使節団, Johnny said he will '絶対' keep travelling and 計画（する）s to make the most of the life he has built, 'making money online, travelling the world and doing epic stuff'. Here, he is pictured in Nepal on a group trip with his charity Mudita Adventures

Johnny pictured with his mum in Thailand, where he is in the 過程 of building a home for her

And his message is （疑いを）晴らす: 'Anyone can do it if they commit to it.'

He 追加するd: 'It doesn't 事柄 if you're overweight and unfit now, on a five-year timeline, it can be done. And also, it's 価値（がある） it.

'To 苦しむ, to 直面する 恐れるs, to feel that 不明瞭 and 疑問 but to come out the other 味方する and having 達成するd the goal you 始める，決める... you can't （警官の）巡回区域，受持ち区域 that. It 始める，決めるs you up for every other challenge in life. Quitting and failing is a habit, but so is 押し進めるing through it, however messily, and getting to the finish line.'

Now, having 完全にするd his 使節団, Johnny said he will 'absolutel y' keep travelling and 計画（する）s to make the most of the life he has built, 'making money online, travelling the world and doing epic stuff'.

明らかにする／漏らすing his next ambitions in life, he said: 'I recently turned 40, so it's time for kids I hope.

'Then, from an adventure 視野, I really, really, really want to show "normal" people just how many 利益s they can get from wild experiences.

'So I'm creating four 年一回の endurance events, the first one 開始する，打ち上げるs in December this year - the 注目する，もくろむ Of the Sahara Ultra マラソン - which is 150km (93 miles) through sand, over three days.'

He 追加するd: 'I never could have imagined a life like this for me. Damn sure, I'm going to make the most of it now I have it.'