Life Lessons from the Youngest Person to Travel to Every Country | Lexie Alford | TEDxKlagenfurt

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Published 2019-06-28

Do you know how many countries there are in the world? 21-year-old Lexie does because she took on the adventure to visit them all. She broke the Guinness World Record for the youngest person to travel to every country in the world. To give this achievement some context, more people have been to space than have traveled to all 196 sovereign nations and approximately less than 20 of those people are women. In this TEDx talk, Lexie shares her stories from around the world to inspire others, especially young women, to follow their dreams, to get out of their comfort zone and to stimulate personal growth. Lexie Alford was born in a small town called Nevada City, California. She has been traveling for as long as she can remember with her family who started a travel agency. She traveled to all 196 countries by 21 years old, breaking the Guinness World Record for the Youngest Person to Travel to Every Country by over 3 years. To find out more about Lexie, follow @lexielimitless on Instagram or visit her website lexielimitless.com/. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

All Comments (21)

@YesTheory 4 years ago

Such a good job Lexie 👏
@tamarabrathwaite124 4 years ago

To have travelled around the world but still be nervous to give a talk to a room full of strangers is a lesson that comfort zones can be miles away or right at your feet, it’s not where they are, it’s the distance that it takes to face them and in facing them that’s where the lesson lies! Congrats on your courage!
@soniamartinez8984 4 years ago

Looking at the comments I feel that the message from her talk was not very well understood. It’s not about traveling it’s about you. It about how we stay in our comfort zone because we are scared. She’s not saying hi travel the world she’s saying to start saying yes. When you get uncomfortable is when you start to grow.
@lydia33x15 4 years ago

It's not about how she grew up, or all the advantages she's had that allowed her to break this record. What's incredible to me is that she recognized these advantages she had and started reaching for this goal that was possible, but still crazy! And she did it. There are so many people in her position that don't make the most of their situations, and look at all she's done. Congrats Lexie!
@njr3320 4 years ago

Money s not everything but everything require money
@amazingray3295 4 years ago

Quick question, if you are traveler since kid, would travelling be your comfort zone? And getting out from comfort zone would be ... to not travelling?
@readingsbywitchyvibrations 4 years ago

I do think that comfort zones are not just about leaving but also staying. I backpacked and travelled for 4 years and now I’ve settled because I’m studying my bachelors degree. Staying in one place has proven to be hard and has pushed me out of comfort zones I developed from traveling. It isn’t about distance in my opinion, but about facing internal fears that make you uncomfortable and cause change and growth within you. As a traveler it’s easy for people to think I’m fearless and brave, which I am, but in fact staying still has been a greater challenge for me than solo backpacking ever was. I want to also say thank you for this talk. Amazing to see a young women as the Guinness world record holder!
@georgia3372 3 years ago

“will i regret not doing this?” has now become my motto.
@TCBumby 4 years ago

Try doing that with a developing country passport. You had a head start just by your birthplace alone Lexie. Having said that, well done.
@redone9427 4 years ago

isn't about people's mindset but its problem of money shortage
@JesseJo95 3 years ago

I just found Lexi's youtube channel and have been blown away. I love traveling too but wow, she blows it out the park! So humble
@applebt1 3 years ago

That conclusion dissolved me into tears. “I knew I will regret it for the rest of my life if I didn’t try”
@GorgonDrageil 4 years ago

At 21 I was getting hammered at the club, flirting with shallow girls and having fake friends with no direction in life... I'm 25 now, still dreaming of doing what she's done. Hats off to the amazing young lady she is. I still have life yet to live.
@youknowthedrill99 4 years ago

So inspiring she was given loads of money to travel from her mom and she courageously took the money to go travel. Heroic!
@muhammadawais1118 3 years ago

She is such a happy soul. I love this girl.
@burntforest633 4 years ago

bump the speed to 1.25-1.5 gonna save you a lot of time
@rameshiyer1 4 years ago

Fine talk. Lexie's last sentence "how uncomfortable are you willing to be in order to reach your fullest potential" is the crux of her talk. I feel travelling is one activity which gives such amazing experiences, that it often opens up our mind to entirely new vistas. It also helps us discover ourselves, besides getting to know new places n people n their cultures. For people with inhibitions, travelling can do wonders. Kudos to Lexie for having travelled to so many countries, perhaps to many of them all by herself. It takes immense courage for a girl / woman to do so, particularly to certain regions known to be hostile or even dangerous for women tourists. Way to go !
@marijoseperez-vinas6800 4 years ago

You gave an incredible speech, congrats Lexie!
@nadeeshani 4 years ago

She speaks so clearly and beautifully. She's CAPTIVATING 😍
@jdmohan51 3 years ago

The way she speaks shows her experience world wide. In her age she has acquired so much knowlege and her talk is so fluent, so calm and delivered what she wanted to. She has a capabilities to attract people and make them listen her. Usually travellers possess long vision about future and plan. She has that. When we are in different land as far as safety is concerned ...!!! I know to the max extend we have to be on our own. She is bold and learnt all those point.