Charles Veley Has Seen It All--and Wants to Go Back
I met a man tonight who's been everywhere. He's Charles Veley, the "most traveled person in America." This moniker is quite a feat, since so many of the people I hang around with have serious stamps in their passports. But Veley is the real deal, and his travels put him in a different league.
No, he doesn't go on press trips. I asked him how he does all of this world traveling, and he said he was once in the software business and made enough to support himself for a long while. Most of his long stretches, checking off country after country, came between 2000 and 2006, when he was virtually on the road non-stop. These days, he says, he has three little kids and only goes to places like Hawaii with them for vacation. He has traveled over 1,250,000 miles during the 6 years of this project.
I asked him the two questions that inevitably, he must get asked everywhere. "What was the worst?" He didn't hesitate. "Lagos, Nigeria. That was the very worst. Piles of garbage taller than a man, people living jammed in under bridges, a city built for about half a million with a staggering fifteen million inhabitants." I asked him about Conakry, the capital of Guinea, which I had read was also pretty bad. He said that indeed, it was pretty grim, especially when you get off the plane after such a long flight, and the locals descend on you, all vying to carry your bags. Fighting over the right to carry your bags for a tiny tip.
The best place? Lord Howe Island, a the small group of islands off the east coast of Australia he said were his favorites. They are a territory of Australia and a World Heritage site, and so wild and so beautiful he loved them more than anywhere else. He said even though he's been to hundreds of countries, he wants to go back and see most of them again. He only got a taste, but places do change, he said.
"How hard is it to get a visa to North Korea or Algeria?" I asked. "I had no problems." he said. "The only place that I think you can't get a visa to now are Saudi Arabia and Angola. Something about a government official whose son was denied a US Visa. And Saudi? Well for business you can go...but not as a tourist."
No, he doesn't go on press trips. I asked him how he does all of this world traveling, and he said he was once in the software business and made enough to support himself for a long while. Most of his long stretches, checking off country after country, came between 2000 and 2006, when he was virtually on the road non-stop. These days, he says, he has three little kids and only goes to places like Hawaii with them for vacation. He has traveled over 1,250,000 miles during the 6 years of this project.
I asked him the two questions that inevitably, he must get asked everywhere. "What was the worst?" He didn't hesitate. "Lagos, Nigeria. That was the very worst. Piles of garbage taller than a man, people living jammed in under bridges, a city built for about half a million with a staggering fifteen million inhabitants." I asked him about Conakry, the capital of Guinea, which I had read was also pretty bad. He said that indeed, it was pretty grim, especially when you get off the plane after such a long flight, and the locals descend on you, all vying to carry your bags. Fighting over the right to carry your bags for a tiny tip.
The best place? Lord Howe Island, a the small group of islands off the east coast of Australia he said were his favorites. They are a territory of Australia and a World Heritage site, and so wild and so beautiful he loved them more than anywhere else. He said even though he's been to hundreds of countries, he wants to go back and see most of them again. He only got a taste, but places do change, he said.
"How hard is it to get a visa to North Korea or Algeria?" I asked. "I had no problems." he said. "The only place that I think you can't get a visa to now are Saudi Arabia and Angola. Something about a government official whose son was denied a US Visa. And Saudi? Well for business you can go...but not as a tourist."
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posted by Max Hartshorne at 11:17 PM
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